Cape Verde’s gambling culture is small, tourist-facing and defined by one modest success and one big failure: a working casino on the island of Sal, and a collapsed 250-million-euro mega-resort in the capital. Gambling has been legal since the 2005 Games Law and is regulated by the Inspeção Geral de Jogos, but it functions as a leisure amenity for visitors rather than a deep-rooted local pastime in this predominantly Catholic archipelago.

A Short History

Modern gambling regulation in Cape Verde rests on the Games Law, Law no. 77/VI/2005 of 16 August, amended and republished by Law no. 62/VII/2010, which set the legal framework for casinos and betting. The sector was conceived largely as part of the country’s tourism strategy, concentrating gaming in resort areas rather than city neighbourhoods.

The defining chapter came in 2015, when the government granted Hong Kong-listed Macau Legend Development a sweeping gaming concession, including exclusive rights to online gaming and sports betting for ten years. The company laid the first stone in early 2016 on a roughly 250-million-euro resort with a casino, hotel and marina in Praia, a development described as one of the largest tourism projects in the country’s history.

The project never delivered. Construction stalled for years, and in November 2024 the government cancelled the concession, citing repeated contractual breaches, including an unauthorised transfer of more than 20% of share capital. In January 2026 the state completed its takeover of the unfinished hotel-casino. Macau Legend has said it intends to contest the decision.

The Casino That Did Open

Against that backdrop, the country’s real gambling anchor is Casino Royal in Santa Maria, Sal. It began operating on a small scale in December 2016 and was officially inaugurated in March 2017, after an investment of about US$5.4 million (roughly 5 million euros), and was built alongside a Hilton hotel under a 25-year concession. Sal is Cape Verde’s tourism hub, and the casino serves the beach-resort crowd. It remains the country’s one operational casino.

Given the tourist orientation, the popular activities are the familiar casino staples:

ActivityWhere / how it happens
Table games (roulette, blackjack, poker)Casino Royal, Sal
Slot machinesCasino Royal, Sal
Sports bettingLargely via offshore sites (no active local licensed operator)
Bingo / lottery-style gamesOccasional, small-scale

Because there is no active locally licensed online operator, online sports betting and casino play take place on international offshore sites rather than through a Cape Verdean brand.

Attitudes

Gambling in Cape Verde is best understood as a tourism amenity rather than a national pastime. In a predominantly Catholic society, casino gaming has stayed concentrated in resort zones aimed at visitors, and the failure of the flagship Praia mega-resort underscores how modest the domestic market remains.

Sources

18+ only. Gambling should be entertainment, not a way to make money. If it stops being fun, seek help.