The majority of gambling activities and facilities are legal in Central America. The casinos primarily offer Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Baccarat, Texas Hold’em Poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, Slot Machines, Three Card Poker, American Roulette, and Video Poker. As a side note, some casino games have local names in Central America. For example, Blackjack, Roulette, and Caribbean Stud Poker are called Rummy, Canasta and Tute respectively in Costa Rica.
In addition to casinos, there are two racetracks in Central America used for pari-mutuel and fixed-odds betting on horse races. One, Castleton Racetrack, is located in Burell Room, Belize, and the other is located in Panama City, Panama: Hipódromo Presidente Remón. Apparently, horse racing is not as popular in Central America as in other regions.
Sports betting, on the other hand, is widespread throughout all cities, municipalities, towns, and villages in the region. Football (soccer) is the most popular sport, followed by rugby, tennis, golf, basketball, and baseball. However, only foreigners are allowed to participate in any form of sports betting and a number of gambling activities in Costa Rica.
In all Central American countries, there is either a National Lottery run by a state monopoly or video lottery operators licensed to private companies. Panamanian Loteria Nacional de Beneficiencia (LNB) operates in Panama, Puntos MAX in Costa Rica, the Nicaraguan National Lottery in Nicaragua, El Salvadoran Loteria Nacional de Beneficencia in El Salvador, Thunderbird Resorts have four video lottery operators in Guatemala, the Belizean National Lottery in Belize, and Loterías Electronicas de Honduras S.A. in Honduras. Also, these lottery operators offer Keno, Bingo, Lotto, and other lottery games.
In regards to online gambling and Bitcoin gambling, legislation is divided into three status. In Costa Rica, both forms of gambling are legal but only foreigners are permitted. In Belize and Panama, online gambling is legal and regulated while Bitcoin gambling is unregulated but players are not prosecuted. In Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador, there are no laws governing both forms of gambling and players are not prosecuted for participating in any form of online or Bitcoin gambling.
