Brazil bans online betting: Betano, bet365 and other Brazil gambling sites face October 6 blocks

Brazil’s online betting ban is set to reshape access to some of the country’s biggest gambling brands, with website and app blocking scheduled to begin on October 6, 2026.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Provisional Measure No. 1,394 on September 25. It prohibits the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting, covering both sports betting and online casino games. New deposits are already prohibited.

The restrictions concern operations in Brazil. They do not amount to a worldwide shutdown of international betting brands, whose services and availability differ between countries.

Which popular betting sites are affected?

The ban reaches a market dominated by several recognisable brands. According to Aposta Legal’s August 2026 website traffic report, the five most visited authorised betting brands were:

Betting brand	Website visits in August 2026
Betano	333.5 million
Superbet	172.1 million
bet365	82.5 million
Brazino777	69.9 million
7Games	64.5 million

These figures count visits, rather than individual players, and exclude activity within apps. Together, Betano, Superbet and bet365 accounted for approximately 42.4% of the measured traffic.

Sportingbet and Esportes da Sorte are also prominent names: both appeared among the top five brands in Blask’s August ranking of Brazilian consumer interest. That ranking measures brand interest rather than website visits.

Betano has already confirmed changes to its Brazilian platform. Its September 26 customer notice says deposits, new bets and registrations have been suspended, while withdrawal requests continue to be processed.

Can a VPN help access betting websites from Brazil?

A gambling VPN routes your internet connection through a server in another country. This changes the public IP address websites see and can help overcome some IP-based or network-level access blocks.

For international betting brands, the distinction between their Brazilian and overseas websites matters. Stake, for example, lists Stake.com and Stake.bet.br as separate operations under different licences on its official licensing page. A restriction on the Brazilian service does not mean every international version disappears.

However, access through a VPN depends on the particular website and its location checks. Stake.com’s current terms explicitly exclude people located in or residing in Brazil, so an overseas IP address alone does not establish account eligibility.

Readers comparing VPNs for encrypted browsing and location-based access should consider server coverage, connection speeds, a kill switch and DNS leak protection.

When should players withdraw their money?

The government’s official timetable gives players until October 5 at 23:59 to withdraw balances voluntarily. Website and app blocking is scheduled to start the following day.

Banks are scheduled to return remaining balances between October 9 and 14, with Caixa Econômica Federal involved where the normal repayment process encounters obstacles. Customers should follow their operator’s official instructions and retain withdrawal confirmations.

Does Brazil’s betting ban include criminal penalties?

The government also announced a separate proposed criminal bill. According to the Ministry of Justice’s announcement, it proposes prison terms of four to six years for operating or intermediating betting, and two to four years for advertising betting or recruiting players.

These proposed criminal penalties require legislative approval, as explained by Agência Brasil. They should not be described as automatic prison sentences for ordinary players or people using VPNs.

The immediate dates for existing customers are October 5 for voluntary withdrawals and October 6 for the scheduled website blocks.