Information about Chile casinos
Playing on an online casino should always be a safe experience: the minimum players should expect is quality customer care and a selection of good games to choose from.
If you're based in Chile, then you're entitled to this, too, and there are many reliable online casinos that accept deposits from Chile out there. On this page, you can use Casino Guru's rating and review system to find the best Chile-friendly casino sites, as well as key information on gambling legislation affecting you.
And there's a special section on bonuses for Chilean players, because it's always good to know about those.
Table of contents:
Land-based gambling in Chile
Chile has had a gambling culture for a long time and even had its first licensed casinos appearing in the mid 19th century. Despite this, gambling legislation was quite rigid: obtaining a license was very difficult and limited to only a handful of venues – the famous Vina del Mar, the oldest in Chile, being one of the few successful applicants.
Things stayed much the same way until the 21st century, when pressure from within the country's government to combat the industry's black market led to the passing of the Chile Casino Act in 2004. The creation of the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ) followed, and this became the body responsible for regulating the industry and granting casino licenses. The maximum number of casino licenses increased to 24, one for each of the country's cities, however, there are only 18 in use according to the official website at the time of writing in November 2020.
Chilean players can play a variety of casino games in these establishments, including old favorites poker, roulette and blackjack, as well as enjoy sports betting and pari-mutuel facilities. There are several legal Chilean lotteries, too, including the Loto Clásico, which is regarded as the national draw.
Online gambling in Chile
Unfortunately for online casino players in Chile, internet gambling laws are more complicated. The country's law originally prohibited the operation of online gambling sites, stating that running online games of chance fell outside the gambling license.
In 2008, two companies, Loteria de Concepción and Polla Chilena, were given permission to run interactive sports betting and lottery games. However, this did not extend to online casino and slot games, and so it remains. Today, no domestic companies are allowed to offer online casino games to their customers.
That said, Chilean law does not exclude foreign casino sites from operating in the country. That means that Chilean players can play on them and it's perfectly legal — players face no consequences for doing so. Many sites are available in Spanish, so playing on these sites is quite a common activity. Though this is good news for casino fans in Chile, regulations can change, so it's always sensible to do your own research before playing on an offshore site.
Note: In light of this, there has been pressure for the Chilean authorities to bring online gambling laws in line with those for bricks-and-mortar venues so that domestic companies are given a chance to enter the market. It also allows for better regulation and taxation, a positive element for any government.
Although there are many offshore sites for Chile players to choose from, it's useful to know how to find reliable options, which the next section will discuss.
How to choose the best online casino for players in Chile
To search for the best online casinos for Chilean players, safety has to be top of the list. While the majority of sites are safe, there will always be those that seek to exploit players or provide inadequate customer service.
Using this page's features will lead you to online casinos you can trust. Our ratings and review system, compiled by our team of experts, holds casinos to high standards, including their ability to pay out winnings and treat players well. We have designed a set of filters, too, that will let you arrange the sites according to your preferences.
By highlighting the 'Recommended' tab, you'll see those Chile-friendly sites that have passed our review process with flying colors. These represent the best chance of a great iGaming experience. The 'Newly opened' tab, meanwhile, will give you the newest sites out there, useful if you want to try out modern features and competitive bonus offers before most people. The 'All' tab will give you the full list of options for Chilean players.
Other filters that you might find useful include the 'Currency' option, so to find sites that accept the Chilean Peso, for example, simply check 'CLP' in the currency section. You might also like to see which sites are compatible with mobile devices, in which case just select 'Mobile-friendly casinos' in the Popular Filters section. Alternatively, you can jump to our list of mobile-friendly casinos and select 'Chile' there.
Note: Just in case you want to read up on all the details involved in a thorough casino search, check out our How to choose an online casino article which talks about the process in-depth.
How to find online casino bonuses available to Chile-based players
Online casino bonuses are a perk that work for both parties: they help the casino attract new customers and they give players the chance to try out the site's games and possibly win money (subject to waging requirements — our How casino bonuses work article has more on this).
Several Chile-friendly casinos offer bonuses for new players, and these typically fall into two types: deposit (or welcome) bonuses and no deposit bonuses. You can see the full range of these by going to our list of casino bonuses and selecting 'Chile' in the 'For players from' filter. To sort these by type, just go to the 'Bonus Type' section and select the one you want, so for deposit bonuses hit the 'deposit bonus' box. You can also go to our list of deposit bonuses and get the same results there.
You can rest assured that all of these bonuses will be up to date due to our team working hard to eliminate any expired offers.