Online gambling in Honduras: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Honduras?

Honduran gambling law is the Ley de Casinos de Juegos de Envite o Azar (Decree 488 of 1977), which lets the executive, through the tourism ministry, license casinos in first-class tourism establishments to Hondurans by birth or Honduran companies, with the Instituto Hondureño de Turismo supervising. The law was written to attract foreign tourists and taxes casinos at the greater of a fixed annual sum or 20% of gross revenue less prizes. It says nothing about the internet, so no licence exists for online casino, sports betting or poker, and Hondurans who bet online do so with internationally licensed sites outside any local supervision. The national lottery is run by the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia. A congresswoman announced a draft bill in October 2024 to regulate online casinos with a 10% tax for health spending; as of September 2026 it had not become law.

Restricted: Online gambling is prohibited for operators or licensing is closed; enforcement varies.

Who regulates gambling in Honduras?

• Instituto Hondureño de Turismo / Secretaría de Turismo (IHT) — Supervises licensed casinos under Decree 488; casino licences are granted by the executive through the tourism ministry
• Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) — State body that runs the national lotteries and uses proceeds for child welfare

Honduras gambling licence: how it works

The only gambling licence in Honduras is the land-based casino licence under Decree 488. Hondurans by birth and companies incorporated in Honduras may apply to the executive through the tourism ministry to operate a casino inside a first-class tourism establishment with a fixed investment above the statutory threshold; licences run for up to 25 years, extendable in five-year periods, and can be exploited through a foreign operator with ministry approval. The licensee must file internal rules for approval before opening and pay the casino tax monthly. Reforms since 1988 have changed who may enter: a later amendment bars anyone under 21 from gaming rooms, while the original text limited play to foreign passport holders. There is no online gambling licence, no regulator for online products and no provision allowing a casino licensee to extend its licence to the internet. Whether an internationally licensed operator may accept Honduran residents is a question for the operator's counsel.

What an applicant needs

• Applicant is a Honduran by birth or a company incorporated under Honduran law
• Casino located in a first-class tourism establishment with the minimum fixed investment set by the law
• Internal regulation submitted to the tourism ministry at least 30 days before opening
• Monthly payment of the casino tax to the Treasury and access for tourism and tax inspectors
• No online licence exists; the 1977 law covers physical casinos only

Gambling taxes in Honduras

• Operators: Land-based casinos: the greater of L700,000 a year (L300,000 in island zones) or 20% of gross revenue less prizes paid, payable monthly (Decree 488, article 8 as reformed). No tax regime exists for online gambling; the 2024 draft bill proposed a 10% tax earmarked for health.
• Players: Not specifically addressed for casino or online play; general income-tax rules apply and should be confirmed with counsel.
• Also: Casino licensees receive a one-time exemption from import duties on gaming furniture and equipment not produced in Honduras. General corporate income tax and municipal taxes apply.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

No gambling advertising rules beyond general consumer and broadcasting law; casino marketing has historically targeted tourists.

Responsible gaming

Decree 488 as amended bars persons under 21 from gaming rooms and originally admitted only foreign passport holders; there is no statutory responsible-gambling framework for online play.

Identity and age verification

Casinos check identity and age at entry; Honduras's AML law (Decree 144-2014) applies to designated businesses, and no online-specific KYC rule exists.

Payments

No online gambling payment rules exist. Cards, bank transfers and mobile wallets such as Tigo Money are common in the formal economy; cash dominates. Crypto is not addressed by gambling law.

Notable restrictions

• No online gambling licence exists
• Casino licences only for Hondurans by birth or Honduran companies, in tourism establishments
• Under-21s barred from casinos under the amended law
• Lottery reserved to the PANI
• Fines and licence cancellation for admitting ineligible players or breaching the law

Honduras iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate; there is no regulator collecting online revenue data.

A handful of licensed casinos in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and the Bay Islands, the PANI as lottery operator, and internationally licensed online sites with no local authorization.

Timeline: how Honduras got here

1. 1977-07Decree 488, Ley de Casinos de Juegos de Envite o Azar, enacted to promote tourism
2. 1988-09Decree 100-88 amends the entry rules for casino players
3. 2024-10Congresswoman Dunia Jiménez announces a draft bill to regulate online casinos with a 10% tax for health
4. 2025-03Local reporting confirms the online bill has not been approved or implemented
5. 2026No online gambling law enacted as of September 2026

Outlook

The 2024 draft bill would place online casinos under the Ministry of Governance and Justice with a 10% tax, but no vote had been recorded by September 2026 and a new Congress took office in January 2026. Expect the 1977 casino law to remain the only framework in the near term, with any online regime depending on a fresh legislative push.

Launching in Honduras with GameBridge

Model decided with counsel. Honduras has no online gambling licence, so GameBridge cannot recommend a launch model; whether an internationally licensed operator may accept Honduran residents is for the operator's counsel to decide.

Honduras is excluded in GameBridge geo-controls by default. If an operator's counsel concludes that its international licence permits Honduran residents, the brand can be enabled with Spanish as the site language, a lempira or US dollar wallet, KYC before play, per-brand responsible-gaming limits and AML case management, with the compliance dossier recording the legal opinion, geo lists and payment rails. Should Honduras enact an online law, the same brand can be reconfigured to the new licence's requirements. GameBridge Studios and Originals ship with certification packages for the operator's licensing regulator.

• Geo allow and deny lists with Honduras excluded by default
• Spanish site language with HNL and USD wallets on request
• KYC before play and AML case management
• Per-brand responsible-gaming limits and self-exclusion
• Compliance dossier recording counsel's opinion and payment rails

Football betting and slots lead Honduran interest; content is curated to the operator's licensing regulator and GameBridge Studios exclusives ship certification-ready for that regulator's test house.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Ley de Casinos de Juegos de Envite o Azar (Decreto 488 and reforms) — Tribunal Superior de Cuentas de Honduras, accessed 2026-09-11
• Regulación del juego online: en Honduras preparan un nuevo proyecto de ley — Focus Gaming News, accessed 2026-09-11
• Anuncian un anteproyecto para regulación de casinos en línea en Honduras — El Recreativo, accessed 2026-09-11
• Juegos en línea y los casinos de Honduras: un negocio con riesgos para la salud mental de los jugadores — Soy Datos, accessed 2026-09-11
• Honduras online gambling licence 2026: IHT compliance brief — GamblingMaps, accessed 2026-09-11
• Honduras: proyecciones de población 2013-2050 — Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Honduras, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.