Portugal opens public consultation on online gambling rule changes, adding “bonus buys”, “bet boosts”, bet builder and cash-out

Portugal’s gambling regulator is moving to modernise its regulated product toolkit by formally defining and limiting popular mechanics for online slots and fixed-odds sports betting, with the draft amendments now open for industry input.

Portugal’s Gaming Commission at Turismo de Portugal has approved draft amendments to two core online gambling rulebooks: Regulation No. 828/2015 (online slot machines) and Regulation No. 903-A/2015 (online fixed-odds sports betting). The decisions were adopted on 19 December 2025 and 2 January 2026 respectively, and sit within Portugal’s Remote Gambling Legal Framework (RJO) under Decree-Law No. 66/2015.

On the casino side, the draft would explicitly introduce and regulate two mechanics that are widespread in other markets but not clearly framed in the Portuguese rule text: “bonus buy” (buying direct access to a bonus round) and “bet boost” (a paid stake increase that changes the bet conditions). The proposal builds in player-protection limits, including caps per play and restrictions on repeated use within a session, plus requirements for clear player confirmation and disclosure of the change in value/probability.

On the sports betting side, the draft adds a clearer taxonomy of bet types (single, multiple, combined and personalised), formally introducing personalised fixed-odds bets (“bet builder”) and early settlement (“cash-out”). It also proposes more detailed rules on odds calculation for combined/multiple bets, prize determination, the moment a bet is deemed placed, the conditions under which cash-out is offered, and how partial voids should be treated.

The consultation period is set at 20 business days from 27 January 2026 (inclusive), with stakeholders invited to submit comments to the email address indicated in the consultation notice. If the amendments are adopted after consultation, the draft foresees entry into force the day after publication and includes republication of the relevant annexes.

For licensed operators and suppliers, the practical signal is that Portugal wants to close grey areas around modern product features rather than leave them to fragmented operator-by-operator approvals. The final shape of the rules, and how strictly the safeguards are enforced in practice, will determine whether these changes improve channelisation toward the regulated market without increasing player-risk exposure.