Betting sites Portugal

The top six betting sites in Portugal in 2025 at a glance:

What are the most popular sports among Portuguese punters?

Every nation has its own favorite sports, and Portugal is no different! Here are the top four sports which are the most popular among Portuguese punters:

Cycling

Cycling is very popular in Portugal, be it as a means of getting around the country, or as a sport to bet on. The country also has a pretty long history hosting one of the biggest European cycling events, the Volta a Portugal. It was first started in 1927, making it older than some other popular cycling competitions like Spain's cycling circuit. The competition has been carried out annually, with a couple of brief interruptions, and has had 84 editions at the time of writing! It is a popular event to bet on, as many famous international and Portuguese cyclists compete for the coveted first prize in the Volta!

Athletics

Portugal has a history of dominating various athletics competitions at the highest international level. In particular, the country's strongest discipline has long been cross-country running. It hosts one of the biggest events in that field, the Oeiras International Cross Country. We should mention that Portuguese athletes have also managed to win several gold and silver medals in Olympic and European competitions in a couple other disciplines, too: Triathlon, Long Jump, Triple Jump and Pentathlon. So with a long and proud history of excellence in these sports, it's no wonder they are among the most watched and bet on in the country!

Out of all of them, it seems that the most preferred discipline for betting in particular is cross country.

Golf

In general, Portuguese people love outdoor sports, and golfing is just another one of their favorite outdoor activities! Reports include that there are more than 400 000 golfers in Portugal, and the country is a major destination for golf tourism. The sport is organized at the national level by the Portuguese Golf Federation. The Federation is actually fairly old at this point, and has been around since the 50s.

Of course, since people in Portugal love playing golf, they also love watching it and betting on it too!

Football

We left the most popular sport for last. Football is the absolute undisputed king when it comes to popularity in Portugal! The game is not only played by millions of Portuguese casually, but also professionally, at the highest international levels. This was proven in 2016 when the Portuguese national team won the European Championship title, and then again in 2018 when it won the UEFA Nations League.

Also, the country has a fairly popular national league, which attracts the attention of many bettors internationally, too. Every year, the Primera Liga is watched and enjoyed by millions, domestically and abroad!

Browse the top 10 Football betting sites

The six main types of betting sites in Portugal you should know about:

Now, after having examined the sports which Portuguese people love betting on, let's turn our attention back to their favorite betting sites! There are many types of bookmakers out there. So, in the interest of helping you find the best place for you to bet in, let's go over the main types of betting sites you need to know about:

The best payment methods in Portugal in 2025

We would now like to go over the most widely used payment methods to cash in and out of betting sites in Portugal. If you are wondering whether there's a way to transact with your favorite betting sites faster and cheaper, then you should check out these competitive payment methods:

Credit/debit Cards

Without any doubt, MasterCard and Visa cards are among the most widely used within betting sites in Portugal. And that is no wonder, too! Pretty much everyone has a credit or debit card nowadays. The advantages of cashing in via them to betting sites in particular are quite numerous, too. For instance, deposits via cards are instant and have very little fees, if any. On the other hand, card deposits are also very safe.

But when it comes to withdrawals, things might not be so simple! In fact, if you wish to cash out, you might have to use a different payment method, because some bookies in Portugal avoid processing card withdrawals. On the other hand, when they do process them, cards are actually one of the slower withdrawal methods, as they take a couple of days at the longest to reflect that your winnings have been sent to you.

Neteller, Skrill and other e-wallets

E-wallets were first introduced in the beginning of the century to make it easier to transact with online vendors, and have long been used to cash in to betting sites. They provide for instant payments, with a very high level of security. Not only are the transactions themselves very safe, but adding the e-wallet as a layer between your bank account and wherever you cash in can improve your safety even further.

On the other hand, you should know that payments via e-wallets can come with some pretty staggering fees. For instance, you will be expected to pay said fees when you add money to the e-wallet and when you spend it! There will also be a fee for cashing money out of the e-wallet.

Still, many Portuguese punters love using this convenient means of deposit, because it is instant. Both deposits and withdrawals are cleared in the blink of an eye! So, for many in Portugal, Neteller and Skrill are very popular payment methods. Other e-wallets which often see use by bettors in the country include Revolut, MiFinity, eZeeWallet and so on.

PaysafeCard and other prepaid cards

Prepaid cards, or e-vouchers have long been a very popular means of paying betting sites! That is because they can be bought online or in physical stores. Each voucher has a one-time use code, which is required to deposit with said voucher. And since the maximum value of the voucher is never higher than €100 at most, someone getting the code cannot cause you serious financial harm.

Also, deposits via such prepaid cards are instant and free, which is why so many Portugues stick to PaysafeCard, as well as CashToCode and other methods. On the other hand, withdrawals to these cards are just not possible, which means you will simply have to use a different payment method to cash out.

Bitcoin, USDT

Crypto is widely accepted as a payment method by most betting sites nowadays. In fact, we are more surprised to discover them not being available with one of the sites we cover. If you wish to deposit with crypto, then you would have access to quite a lot of advantages. For instance, you would be able to benefit from faster deposit and withdrawal speeds, as well as lower minimum and higher maximum transaction sizes. Also, we should note that crypto payments provide a fairly high bit of anonymity.

On the other hand, they do have a couple of notable downsides as well. For example, the fees: Crypto miners, who process any blockchain transaction collect said fees. They are pretty unpredictable, since they change with how many people are currently using the blockchain. There is also the fact that crypto deposits can have a steep learning curve. This makes them far from the best option for everyone. But for people who know how to use them, cryptocurrencies are a great mode of transaction.

Open banking solutions

Open banking solutions like Volt are getting more and more widespread in Portugal, and we are starting to see bookies accept them too. These payment methods allow you to perform an instant, and free, bank deposit to the account of the betting site. They are the best way to cash in, because using them is also incredibly convenient. However, there are a couple of downsides to note as well!

For one, Volt might not be available within the payment methods of the bookie. Secondly, bookies never want to process withdrawals via Volt. So, you will have to cash out with a regular bank transfer, which can be slow and expensive, or via an e-wallet, or a similar payment method. Still, we believe that open banking is here to stay, and more and more bookies will start embracing it, so it's worth including on our list!

Finding a great betting site in Portugal: vital tips and tricks

If you wish to bet like the best of them, you need the best bookie. And there are as many best bookies as many Portuguese punters there are, because the needs of each bettor are different from the rest of them! However, there are some tips and tricks that we believe every bettor in the country could stand to pick up! They will help you find more worthwhile places to bet overall. So, let's take a look at this comprehensive list of tips for finding betting betting sites:

• Check the license of the site yourself: Regardless of what you read about the site online, you need to verify it is licensed by yourself. That is the only way that you can know said betting site is really what it claims to be!
• Ask around: If you know anyone who's bet with the site before, do not hesitate to reach out and see what they have to say about it. The opinions of your fellow Portuguese bettor might be a better indicator of what the site does right and where it fails than reviews! What's more, if your friends point to a specific problem with the bookie, you are most likely to experience the same issue. So, asking them about it can let you avoid that entirely!
• Check with the Support agents: The Customer Support of any betting site should be responsive, fast and helpful. That is because you might need their help with a withdrawal which has been delayed, with verification and so on. In order to ensure that the support agents of the betting site are really as helpful as they should be, you can reach out to them before opening an account and ask them something about, say, the deposit methods. Based on their response, you will be able to see whether the betting site is good or not! If they speak Portuguese, that's even better!
• Take a look at the payment policies: A betting site should have its betting policies prominently featured on its website. Now, checking them serves two goals. First, if they are nowhere to be found, you need to find a better, more transparent, bookie. But if the conditions are not to your liking, for instance, because you can't cash in via your preferred deposit method, we recommend also finding a more suitable place to bet.
• Examine the sportsbook: This might sound simple, but you need to actually ensure the betting site does allow you to wager on whatever you want to bet on before opening an account. Since each bookie makes the decision of what to offer in terms of betting opportunities, sports which you are used to might not be available. So make sure that you are comfortable with the range of betting makers before making an account to avoid that!

Are betting and betting sites legal in Portugal?

Yes! It is completely legal to bet in Portugal, and the sector is pretty well-regulated. The authority which is responsible for overseeing it is called the Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal, and it is the license issuer that bookies have to obtain approval from in order to offer their services in the country. 

The regulatory requirements of this license issuer are mainly concerned with the safety of the bettor, and the development of preventative measures against problem gambling. For instance, bookies in the country need to offer you information on what betting safe and responsibly looks like, as well as how to self exclude. 

Betting sites in the country also need to do their utmost to combat money laundering and other financial crime, via KYC measures, AML rules and so on. 

Just how reliable of a tool are betting predictions for the Portuguese punter?

There are tons of people offering, and even selling, betting predictions online. However, are they actually a helpful means of betting, or just a hoax?

We are pretty distrustful of betting predictions, or at least, the ones which we've seen online. Who knows if the people making them are actually qualified to do so, or have done sufficient research to be able to make any predictions! On the other hand, if the prediction is well-justified with facts about the past performance of the teams, athletes and so on, it can be somewhat credible. But even so, there's always an element of chance to betting, which means that it is likely the prediction can fail, no matter how credible it is.

So where does that leave us? Well, we see betting predictions as a way to get a general indication of how a game can shake out, but not as something to put a lot of faith in. Especially predictions by people online, who might very well not know what they are talking about!

What are betting offers? Which are the best offers you can get from Portuguese betting sites?

Betting offers are one of the favorite things of punters in Portugal! They are freebies which are offered by betting sites to either attract new players or to reward their loyal player base. However, before you accept any of them, it is important to know that such bonuses come with their own Terms and Conditions, which you will need to get familiar with before accepting them! They can alter the way in which you can play, and can even restrict you from placing certain bets.

With that in mind, what kind of betting offers are available in Portugal? Let's take a look at the most popular among them:

Free bets

Free bets are offered by pretty much any Portuguese bookie nowadays. They represent the ability to bet on a game without fearing a loss. Here's how they work:

The Free bet is a sum of money which you can wager on one or multiple events in the sportsbook. What makes it different is that, if the bet is lost, the money to settle it will be taken out of the free bet sum before your account is taxed. This is the opposite way that regular deposit bonuses work. And if you win the bet, you can generally cash out as normal, or after you have wagered the winnings a certain amount of times! 

Other betting offers in Portugal

Here are a couple other betting offers which you can find with most Portuguese betting sites: 

• Cashbacks: These offers allow you to recover a certain percentage of your funds lost over a certain amount of time. A 5% daily cashback, for instance, lets you get 5% of the losses back every 24 hours! 
• Deposit Bonuses: Such promotions are generally awarded to newly signed up clients of the betting site. They match the deposit you have placed, up to a certain percentage. So, a 100% welcome deposit bonus would mean doubling your first deposit! 
• Special sportsbook features: These are extra bonuses which trigger when a special event takes place in the match. For instance, an early cashout bonus lets you settle a bet before the match is called, if your team takes a certain lead over the other team. 

The ABCs of responsible gambling: Vital tips for Portuguese Punters

We believe in promoting responsible gambling, and that is why we would like to share a couple of important tips on how to make sure that you are betting safe. Here is what you need to know: 

• Set clear boundaries: Decide how much you want to spend before you actually start betting. Do not consider all of your money as available for gambling! That way, if you are on a losing streak, once your cash is over, you should stop playing. 
• Consider the nature of betting: As much as betting is generally more predictable than casino games, there's still an element of chance! So, you need to make it clear to yourself that you cannot use it as a source of income! Instead, let it be a fun activity. Also, avoid betting for larger amounts of time without interruption. 
• Reach out for help: If you notice that betting is no longer fun, or that you are falling out with your friends and close ones, there's nothing wrong with seeking help! We will cover where Portuguese bettors can do so in the next section of the article. 

Author's notes on Portuguese betting sites:

There are many things about Portuguese betting sites which surprised me quite pleasantly. The first of them was that every site I checked had an impressive range of betting events. This creates a diverse and fun betting environment, which I don't see all that often. Also, nearly all of the betting sites in Portugal nowadays are licensed! The betting sector is quite safe and mature as a result of that. 

Overall, I am sure you will have a lot of fun with these betting sites, because I did, too. And I was impressed by their commitment to safety, which is why I find it so easy to recommend them! 

Where can Portuguese bettors seek gambling addiction help:

When you suffer from gambling addiction, you might feel hopeless, but that is not true at all! There are many ways to get the much needed help you are looking for, and most people who receive gambling therapy report it being fruitful. Here is where you can turn to if you need aid:

•  Voz de Apoio: This is a crisis helpline for any Portuguese person who feels like they need someone to talk to! It is open every day, from 23:00 till 2:00.
• Quitgamble.com: This non-profit organization is dedicated to combating gambling addiction, and is quite well-suited to help anyone who might need it! Its website is available in Portuguese and includes many useful tips for quitting gambling, self-excluding and more! 
• Self-exclusion: Even if you don't want to use any of these resources, you might find it useful to know that you can self-exclude from betting sites. Any licensed betting site allows you to close your account, but you should also delete any betting software you have and block its domain in your browser! 

Current State of The Sports Betting Market in Portugal

Over the last few years, there has been a dramatic shift in the Portuguese online gambling market. From  gambling regulation enforcement to new technology trials, these are some of the changes that are now redefining the market:

Stricter legislation and illegal site shutdowns

The Portuguese government is becoming progressively strict at stopping illegal gambling. Over 480 illegal sites were blocked, and 176 were issued with legal warnings in 2024 alone. A few of the illicit sports betting operators were even taken to court. The regulatory agency even compelled ISPs to block numerous sites.

Enhancing responsible gambling measures and advertising

Statistics collected by the end of 2024 indicate that more and more bettors are making use of self-exclusion tools. In total, nearly 300,000 bettors had self-excluded from online gambling at the year's end.

Additionally, the Portuguese are also concerned about being bombarded by gambling promotions everywhere, from TV to social media and sporting events. This is leading to a national debate on whether the government should control the extent of gambling advertising in front of citizens or not.

Regulatory innovation

Portugal is considering, in a shocking twist, using artificial intelligence to regulate betting better. The national regulator SRIJ has collaborated with local universities to pilot AI systems that identify potentially undesirable behavior and help operators conform to the rules.

The experiments will also try to establish whether there can be an opportunity for gamblers to gain faster access to gambling assistance. If this is successful, it could pave the way for more sophisticated and intelligent gambling control.

In conclusion

To sum everything up, Portugal has an unique and vibrant betting market, which is also quite safe to bet in. We hope that this deep dive into it was interesting for you, and we would be more than happy if you have also managed to find a bookie you'd like to check out, too. And if not, then you could always check the rest of our reviews out so that you can find something more to your taste!