PT shifts against online casinos after backing regulation in 2023

The PT, which told its lawmakers to vote against banning online casinos when Brazil’s betting regulation was approved in 2023, is now discussing restrictions on the sector. For high-risk PSPs, the point is simple: the political line in Brasília has moved, and the next round of rules may be tighter than the last one.

1. In 2023, the PT and the Lula government opposed two amendments that would have banned online casinos, including the “jogo do tigrinho” format. The government line in both the Senate and the Chamber was that it was regulating betting, not creating or authorizing it, so lawmakers were instructed to vote against the bans.
2. In the Senate, Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) proposed an amendment to prohibit online casinos. Then government leader in the Senate Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) recommended a no vote, saying: “We are not creating or authorizing. We are only regulating, so we recommend a ‘no’ vote.” The amendment still passed in the Senate with 37 votes in favor.
3. Only two PT senators voted for the ban: Teresa Leitão and Humberto Costa, both from Pernambuco.
4. In the Chamber, Deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ) pushed to keep the Senate amendment against virtual casinos. The PT and the government again instructed their benches to vote against it. None of the 58 PT deputies present voted for the ban, and the government won that vote, leaving online casinos permitted.
5. The PT now says its position has changed. The party says that in 2023 it wanted to regulate a market that had operated without rules during Jair Bolsonaro’s government, but now acknowledges that the platforms have been harmful to the population. This year, the PT leadership submitted a bill to ban bets, and the Lula government is expected to announce restriction measures soon. One option under discussion is a ban limited to online casinos only.

For PSPs, acquiring teams, and banking partners, the useful signal here is not ideology but policy direction: Brazil is moving from legalization and supervision toward narrower access and possible product-level bans. That tends to change risk appetites faster than anyone’s slide deck.