Costa Rica Jurisdiction

Information about the Costa Rica online gambling jurisdiction, licensing requirements, player complaints and dispute resolution process, and a sortable list of casinos licensed under this jurisdiction.

1

Our rating: Very Bad

2

List of casinos operated from Costa Rica

The country of Costa Rica is located in Central America, and it borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. The government of Costa Rica is stable and the country has enjoyed democracy since 1949. But even with a stable government, Costa Rica's online gaming regulation has remained anything but stable. In fact, the country's central government has failed to establish any sort of authority over the gambling companies residing there.

usCasinoSoftwareRatingPlay
Las Vegas USA CasinoRTGPlay
Old Havana CasinoRTGPlay
Slots Plus CasinoRTGPlay
Sun Palace CasinoRTGPlay
Vegas Casino OnlineRTGPlay
123 Slots OnlineParlay
Captain Jack CasinoRTG
Club Player CasinoRTG
Cool Cat CasinoRTG
Dreams CasinoRTG
Gold VIP Club CasinoRTG
Le Bon CasinoRTG
Palace of Chance CasinoRTG
Planet 7 CasinoRTG
Planet 7 Oz CasinoRTG
Prism CasinoRTG
RingMaster CasinoRTG
Royal Ace CasinoRTG
Ruby SlotsRTG
Silver Oak CasinoRTG
Slot MadnessNuWorks
Slots Garden CasinoRTG
Slots of Vegas CasinoRTG
The Virtual CasinoRTG
Vegas Strip CasinoRTG
Wild Vegas CasinoRTG
BetUS CasinoDGS, Rival

More information about Costa Rica

Companies offering gambling services out of Costa Rica do not exactly inspire confidence in customers. After all, this jurisdiction's main requirement for licensing is that companies pay for a regular business license. Then they can do whatever they like as long as they do not accept Costa Rican customers. In fact, Costa Rica has no real laws that apply to online gaming and, along with the negligible tax rate, it has inevitably become a haven for numerous rogue online casinos.

Requirements for Costa Rican licensing

One reason why over 300 online gaming companies have come to reside in Costa Rica is because of the lack of requirements for licensing. A company only needs to pay $5000 for a general purpose business license, $5000 for license renewal at the end of the year, and $500 for legal costs. These companies don’t even have to pay taxes since all their revenue is from foreign sources.

Other than the financial aspects there are no further requirements that must be met. Do you lack a longstanding reputation within the gambling industry? Are audited payouts and software an annoyance that you would rather avoid? Would you have difficulty passing a fitness of character test enforced by other jurisdictions? If a prospective operator answers yes to any or all of these kind of questions, Costa Rica is one of the go-to destinations.

Over the years we have seen several less than honest online casinos claiming to be licensed by the "Costa Rican Gaming Commission" or other such official sounding organisation. Do not be fooled by claims such as these as there is simply no such thing!

Complaints and Dispute Resolution (non existent!)

To date, Costa Rica does not have a central governing body that handles complaints from customers. Instead, Costa Rican online gaming companies govern themselves, which leaves players at the mercy of individual operators when it comes to disputes.

We advise players to research long and hard before depositing a cent at an online casino operating out of Costa Rica. There are some decent ones around which have proven themselves over many years of solid operation, but as for the rest - forget about it.