Portuguese regulator approves regulations for crash games

The Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos will allow Portugal’s licensees to apply to offer crash games.

Portugal.- The Portuguese gaming regulator, the Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), has approved regulations allowing crash games in the country. Existing licensed operators can apply for permission to offer them.

These are games banked by the house that let customers play against the operator with a multiplier, which increases through the game from 1 to a maximum of 100. The idea is that players aim to pull their bet before the end of the game to recover their stake multiplied by the current multiplier if they manage to do so.

The new regulations state that the return to player must be at least 80 per cent.

Earlier in the year, the SRI implemented a new rule taking a hard line on live odds. Rule No.1/2022/SRIJ prohibits gambling operators from publishing live odds on sports events on any platform, physical or online, including on advertising boards at stadiums and arenas.

The display of live, up-to-date odds will be considered illegal advertising and could result in regulatory action, it said. The move follows the national legislature’s approval of new limits on gambling advertising last October. Other countries, including the Netherlands, have introduced similar measures