Panama Online Gambling: $626.2m Bets and a 5.4% Hold

Key Points

• Gross bets placed by online gamblers in Panama amounted to $626.2 million in nine months, but operators pocketed only $33.9 million in profits after paying out winners.
• The growth of the September market dropped to 20.2 per cent, although a good September 2025 makes the comparison hard.
• Law 527 gives the regulator the authority to order immediate blocking of gambling websites that are not licensed. Implementing regulations will be issued by late November.

This year online gambling operators in Panama kept an average of $5.41 of every $100 gambled after paying their winners. Slot halls kept $13.40 per $100 gambled and continue to contribute the bulk of the segment’s income. But the rapid development of online gambling has seen wagers grow 53.7 per cent. However, September has seen a dramatic slowdown in the growth rate, as it fell from 63.4 per cent to 20.2 per cent in just a single month. Has the market lost steam or are the figures for last year to blame? That will depend on the period compared, payout rate and a new law requiring providers to block unlicensed gambling sites instantly.

Online Operators Get Only $33.9 Million of $626.2 Million in Bets

INEC publishes gross bets data which means the total amount staked, rather than profits made by operators. It is important to note that figures for 2026 are preliminary and don’t include Type C slot machines, while the national lottery is reported separately. The stated $2.49 billion is, therefore, a minimum value rather than the total market volume. In this regard, online bets grew 53.7 per cent, reaching $626.2 million from $407.5 million.

Bets at slot halls grew considerably slower at 7.5 per cent, reaching $1.70 billion, while remaining the largest segment. Online gambling was responsible for 25.1 per cent of bets reported, up from 19.1 per cent a year earlier. The national lottery went in the opposite direction, decreasing 1.7 per cent to $612.7 million. Just $240.0 million was staked online during the nine-month period two years ago.

Slot Halls Still Bring In Three-Quarters of Operators’ Income

Market share of online gambling becomes much smaller when operators remove the amount of money paid in prizes to players. Total winnings by online players were $592.3 million, which leaves operators with $33.9 million or 5.4 per cent hold. The hold means the share of wagers left after paying the prizes, compared to 5.8 per cent last year. Hold on slots halls is 13.4 per cent, while the table games’ hold is 18.6 per cent. Online gaming brought in $23.8 million after paying the prizes, which represents an 8.7 per cent rise, compared to $128.1 million worth of wagers. Online gambling gave 94.6 cents worth of prizes per dollar wagered compared to 86.6 cents in slot halls.

All segments together operators kept $295.1 million, which represents 7.6 per cent rise, while wagers have increased by 16.6 per cent. Slot halls brought in $227.6 million or about 77 per cent of total, while online gambling accounted for 11.5 per cent. The numbers are not profits as operators need to cover expenses of employees, marketing, technology and taxes.

Growth in September Has Slowed, but Last Year’s Figures Influence Comparison

Wagers in September totaled $78.6 million, which was an increase of 20.2 per cent compared to last year’s September. This was a major decline compared to growth rates of 57.9 per cent in July and 63.4 per cent in August. Six months generated $379.7 million in wagers, while additional $246.5 million were wagered between July and September. Compared to $83.9 million wagered in August, there was 6 per cent decrease in September.

September 2025 was the strongest month in that year of online gambling, with wagers totaling $65.4 million. Comparison of figures with unusually strong months of last year can result in a decline in growth rates even when the market grows. Even though September 2026 had wagers worth $13.2 million more than last year’s September, one month is not enough to conclude about slowing or reversing of growth.

Law 527 Demands Swift Blocking of Illegal Betting Websites

The bill that forms the legal basis of Law 527 was passed by Panama’s National Assembly on 19 March, while the law itself was dated 23 May. The legislation was published in the Official Gazette on 28 May and entered into force on the following day. The Gambling Control Board (JCJ), which is run by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is authorised to require internet service providers to block illegal gambling websites, applications, domains and IP addresses. Internet and telecoms operators should execute the blocks instantly, otherwise they will incur fines between $300,000 and $1 million for each violation.

Law 527 defines problem gambling as a public health challenge and imposes obligations on platforms to detect problem gamblers. Failure to comply with prevention standards results in fines of $25,000 to $100,000, while repeat violations are punished twice as heavily. Operators should identify each customer and his/her age by using biometrics and set limits on playing time and spending on gambling. Full-service casinos and Type A halls should implement facial recognition systems for excluded customers within six months. The government is obliged to issue the regulations for the implementation of the law within six months after its promulgation, meaning November.

Interest in Offshore Gambling Rises, but Blask Estimates Demand, Not Bets

Blocking obligations established by Law 527 might turn out particularly crucial, if more and more people begin to use offshore gambling platforms. One dataset shows that international brands become increasingly popular among the gambling customers. According to the report issued by Blask on 3 June, the share of international brands in Blask’s Panama index was 14.9 per cent in April 2026 against 9.6 per cent two years ago. Local brands still account for roughly 85 per cent.

Blask’s index gauges demand for gambling brands, not the volume of bets, revenue or numbers of platform switching. Also, the April figures were published before Law 527 entered the Official Gazette.

October Figures and November Regulations Hold the Answers

INEC’s October betting tables will give an indication of whether September’s lower growth was a one-off or a trend. The implementing regulations expected before the end of November should clarify the technical requirements and compliance responsibilities that operators are supposed to meet. There is no information from Panama regarding whether biometric checks discourage players from registering and whether website blocking affects their locations.

Expert Opinion: Panama Is Barking Up the Wrong Tree

The fact that the gross growth rate of 53.7 per cent is the most interesting statistic in INEC’s tables does not agree with our opinion. Gross wagers indicate how much money players bet, whereas net wagers indicate how much money operators keep. Growth in net wages for online operations was merely 43.4 per cent, while slot halls increased their net wagers by 4.3 per cent. Despite the low growth rate, slot halls earned 6 times more than online operators. Growth in gross wagers makes a nice headline, but we would like to see the net wagers getting some attention.

While gambling sites may disappear from a certain network overnight, Blask’s 14.9 per cent demonstrates that there is already an audience waiting for the offshore operators. The highest penalties apply to the providers of the internet and not to the gambling operators, which is surprising to us. Providers have to pay the price of fulfilling the orders they did not receive; moreover, they have to start immediately without any grace period. iGaming Times holds the same point of view claiming that the blocking will work only in case when JCJ decides to use its powers. It seems more difficult to us to get these offshore players to become licensed operators. Biometric registration may complicate the situation further, but there is no information from Panama yet about this factor’s effectiveness.

Also, we do not know the amounts that the government receives from gambling operators. Law 527 requires that 0.5 per cent of that be put into addiction treatment, but these numbers are not present in INEC’s tables. The separate information about online sportsbooks and casinos may give an explanation of the low hold ratio.