Central America and the Caribbean have some of the most unusual gambling markets in the world.
The region includes countries that helped create the offshore online gambling industry, countries with regulated online casino markets, countries built around tourist casinos, and one country where commercial gambling is still banned.
Antigua and Barbuda started issuing online gaming licences in 1994. Curaçao became one of the biggest offshore licensing centres in the world. Costa Rica took a different path and allowed gambling companies to operate as data-processing businesses instead of creating a gambling licence.
At the same time, Panama and the Dominican Republic built regulated online gambling markets for local players.
This means two questions matter when looking at the region:
Can people in the country legally use locally regulated online casinos?
And:
Does the country license or host gambling companies that serve players in other countries?
The answers are often very different.
This guide looks at the main models used across online gambling in Central America and the Caribbean and compares how 18 markets handle the industry.
What the Regional Data Shows
The 18 markets covered in this guide fall into six main groups.
markets are mainly built around tourist-facing land casinos rather than regulated domestic online casinos.
became important bases for gambling companies serving players outside the country.
have clear regulated online gambling markets aimed at domestic players.
maintains a near-total ban on commercial gambling.
The main pattern is clear.
Land-based gambling is much more common than fully regulated domestic online gambling.
The region also played a major role in the growth of offshore gambling. Antigua, Curaçao, and Costa Rica all became important bases for operators serving players in other countries, although they used very different systems.
Six Gambling Models Across the Region
| Model | Markets | Main Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Offshore Licensing Hubs | Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao | License gambling companies that mainly serve players overseas |
| Business Registration Model | Costa Rica | Host international gambling companies without a formal gambling licence |
| Regulated Domestic Markets | Panama, Dominican Republic | Regulate online gambling for local players |
| Online Regulation Still Developing | Jamaica, Puerto Rico | Build online rules on top of existing casino and betting systems |
| Tourist-Facing Casino Markets | Bahamas, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador | Regulate land casinos, often around tourism |
| Prohibition | Cuba | Ban commercial gambling |
1. Offshore Licensing Hubs
Countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao
Antigua and Barbuda became the first country in the world to issue online gaming licences in 1994.
Its system was built around companies offering online casino games and sports betting to players outside Antigua.
The country later became famous in gambling law because of its long dispute with the United States over cross-border online gambling.
Curaçao followed a different path.
For many years, four private master licence holders issued sub-licences to hundreds of gambling companies. This made Curaçao one of the easiest and most widely used gambling jurisdictions in the world.
That system ended on 24 December 2024 when the National Ordinance on Games of Chance, known as the LOK, came into force.
The Curaçao Gaming Authority now issues licences directly. Sub-licensing has ended, and operators face stronger rules around compliance, local presence, and anti-money-laundering controls.
What Makes This Model Different?
The main purpose is not to create an online casino market for local residents.
It is to give gambling companies a legal base from which they can serve players in other countries.
That makes Antigua and Curaçao very different from countries such as Panama, where the main goal is to regulate gambling for people inside the country.
2. Costa Rica’s Business Registration Model
Country: Costa Rica
Costa Rica became one of the biggest homes for international gambling companies without ever creating a normal online gambling licence.
Operators set up a Costa Rican company and obtain a municipal data-processing permit.
They are treated as businesses processing data for customers outside Costa Rica rather than as locally licensed gambling companies.
They cannot target Costa Rican residents or use Costa Rican banks for gambling transactions.
Land casinos operate under a separate system inside licensed hotels.
Why Costa Rica Is Different
Costa Rica shows that a country does not need a gambling licence to become important to the online gambling industry.
That makes it different from both Antigua and Curaçao.
All three became important offshore gambling centres, but Costa Rica did so through company registration and data processing rather than a dedicated gaming licence.
3. Regulated Online Gambling for Local Players
Countries: Panama, Dominican Republic
Only two of the 18 markets in this guide fall clearly into this group.
Panama has regulated online gambling since 2002.
Its system covers online casino games, sports betting, and other remote gambling products.
The Dominican Republic joined this group much later.
In 2024, it created a formal system for online casinos and online sports betting.
Operators must be approved by the country’s gambling authorities and meet local rules before serving players.
Why This Matters
This is a very different model from the offshore systems used by Antigua, Curaçao, and Costa Rica.
Panama and the Dominican Republic are trying to regulate gambling that takes place inside their own markets.
They want operators to follow local rules, pay taxes, and operate under government control.
4. Land Gambling Is Regulated, but Online Rules Are Still Developing
Markets: Jamaica, Puerto Rico
Jamaica has had regulated betting and gaming for decades.
It also has rules for large resort casinos.
Several different regulators currently oversee different parts of the industry, while the country has been working toward a more unified gambling system with clearer online powers.
A small number of operators have already been allowed to offer online services under existing rules.
Puerto Rico also has a regulated casino industry and later expanded into sports betting.
Its system covers both physical and online sportsbook activity linked to licensed operators.
Why These Markets Sit in the Middle
These markets are not unregulated.
They already have gambling regulators, licensed operators, and established gambling laws.
The gap is that their online casino systems are not as complete or as clearly defined as the domestic systems used in Panama and the Dominican Republic.
5. Tourist-Facing Casino Markets
Markets: Bahamas, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador
This is the biggest group in the dataset.
Ten of the 18 markets fall mainly into this category.
These countries generally have land-based casino sectors linked to hotels, resorts, tourism, or major visitor areas.
Their online gambling rules are much less developed.
Nicaragua is an exception because it has allowed licensed online gambling since 2005.
In many of the other markets, local players can reach offshore casino sites even though the country does not run a full domestic online casino licensing system.
The Main Regional Pattern
This group tells us something important about gambling in Central America and the Caribbean.
Physical casinos arrived much earlier than online casino regulation.
For many governments, casinos were first treated as part of tourism rather than as part of a wider online gambling market.
That helps explain why land casinos are common while full domestic online regulation is still rare.
6. Gambling Prohibition
Country: Cuba
Cuba is the clear outlier.
Casinos were closed after the 1959 revolution, and commercial gambling remains banned.
There is no domestic commercial casino industry and no licensed online gambling market.
This leaves Cuba in a completely different position from the rest of the region.
Domestic Gambling and Offshore Licensing Are Not the Same Thing
One of the most important lessons from the region is that a country can play a major role in the gambling industry without having a large local online gambling market.
Antigua, Curaçao, and Costa Rica are the clearest examples.
Their importance came largely from helping gambling companies serve players in other countries.
Panama and the Dominican Republic use a different model.
Their online gambling systems are built around regulating gambling inside their own borders.
That gives the region two very different types of online gambling centre:
| Type | Main Goal | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| International / Offshore | Give operators a base for serving players abroad | Antigua, Curaçao, Costa Rica |
| Domestic Regulation | Control online gambling used by local players | Panama, Dominican Republic |
Why Land Casinos Are More Common Than Online Regulation
The numbers show how large the gap still is.
Ten of the 18 markets reviewed here sit mainly in the tourist-facing land casino group.
Only two fall clearly into the regulated domestic online market group.
This happened because casinos became part of the tourism business long before online gambling became a major issue.
Hotels and resorts could offer casino games to visitors without governments needing to build a full online gambling system.
The internet changed that.
Players no longer needed to visit a resort or casino floor. Offshore gambling sites could reach them directly.
Governments have since had to decide whether to regulate those sites, tolerate them, restrict them, or build their own licensed online markets.
Different countries have chosen different answers.
How the Region Has Changed
The history of online gambling in the region can be split into several stages.
1994: Antigua and Barbuda starts issuing online gaming licences.
2002: Panama creates a regulated online gambling framework.
2005: Nicaragua allows licensed online gambling.
2024: The Dominican Republic introduces a formal online gambling framework.
24 December 2024: Curaçao replaces its old master licence system with the LOK and direct licensing through the Curaçao Gaming Authority.
The early history was heavily shaped by countries helping gambling companies reach players overseas.
More recent changes have focused more on direct government control, local regulation, and clearer rules.
What Comes Next?
The biggest change is the move toward clearer online gambling laws.
Curaçao has already replaced its old sub-licensing system.
The Dominican Republic has created a domestic online framework.
Jamaica has been working toward a more unified gambling system.
These changes do not mean every country will follow the same model.
Tourism will remain important across the Caribbean, and offshore gambling will continue to play a large role in countries without domestic online casino systems.
But the old divide between land casinos and online gambling is slowly getting smaller.
Conclusion
Central America and the Caribbean do not have one gambling model.
They have six.
Of the 18 markets reviewed here, ten are mainly tourist-facing land casino markets. Three became important bases for operators serving players overseas. Two have clear domestic online gambling markets. Two sit between established land regulation and fuller online rules. Cuba remains the only prohibition market in the group.
That mix explains why the region has played such a large role in gambling history.
Antigua helped create the online licensing industry.
Curaçao became one of its biggest offshore centres.
Costa Rica built a major gambling business without creating a gambling licence.
Panama regulated online gambling early.
The Dominican Republic joined the regulated online market much later.
The biggest lesson is simple:
Being important to the online gambling industry does not always mean having a regulated online gambling market at home.
That difference between domestic gambling and international gambling services is what makes Central America and the Caribbean so unusual.
Gavin analyzes online gambling regulation, licensing systems, and market structure across international jurisdictions. With over a decade of experience covering the iGaming sector, his research focuses on how national gambling laws, regulatory authorities, and compliance frameworks shape legal online casino markets. This guide was prepared using primary regulatory sources and official publications from European gambling authorities.