The national survey carried out by DataSenado was released between 21 February and 1 March this year. A total of 5,039 people were interviewed by telephone, selected through stratified random sampling (divided into strata) of the Brazilian population aged 16 or over. The average margin of error is 1.72 percentage points, with 95 per cent confidence.

The Senator Irajá (PSD-TO) is the rapporteur for Bill 2.234/2022, by former deputy Renato Vianna (MDB-SC) which authorises the operation of casinos and bingos in the country. The bill also legalises gambling and allows betting on horse races, among other games of chance. The rapporteur's intention is to subsidise the deliberation of the bill.

Results

After learning about the main points of the bill, 60% of those interviewed were in favour of approving the text being debated in the Senate. Those against the bill represent 34 per cent of the population. Another 6 per cent don't know or didn't want to answer. When asked if they would be interested in attending or participating in these games if they were authorised and regulated, 26% said they would.

When asked about the effectiveness of banning establishments and games, 50 per cent of those interviewed said they believed that banning games had little (21 per cent) or no effect (29 per cent) on reducing the supply of games. On the other hand, 45% believe that the ban results in a reduction in supply: 25% believe that the ban helps a lot and 20% believe that the impact is moderate.

The majority of those interviewed (58%) said that legalising gaming and casinos would help to increase revenue and 44% said that there would be an increase in the number of jobs. Regarding jobs, 36% said there would be no difference with the legalisation of gaming.

Control

The survey also showed that although the majority of Brazilians are in favour of legalising gambling, they are concerned about the commission of illicit activities, such as money laundering, and that they are worried about gambling addiction. For this reason, many are in favour of measures to prevent these people from gambling.

A significant majority of those interviewed (82%) consider it very important (65%) or important (17%) that there are rules to prevent gaming companies and casinos from being used for money laundering and financing organised crime. Another measure included in the bill, the inspection of games and machines available in casinos, such as slot machines, also received support from the Brazilians interviewed in the survey: 62 per cent rated the proposal positively.

The creation of a confidential national register of people with an addiction to gambling and casinos, so that they are prevented from playing and frequenting these places, was supported by 54 per cent of those interviewed. Another concern is the adoption of rules to prevent people from getting into debt from gambling, a measure supported by 77 per cent of those surveyed.

Project

PL 2.234/2022 was put on the Plenary agenda in December 2024, but was eventually withdrawn at the request of the rapporteur, in the search for an agreement. The text has a request for an urgent vote, which has not yet been voted on by the senators.

At the time, Senator Flávio Arns (PSB-PR) submitted a request to obtain data from public bodies projecting the specific effects of the proposal on the services of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers in the public network for the treatment of gambling addiction problems.

Before asking for the proposal to be withdrawn from the agenda, Senator Irajá pointed out that some of these games already operate in Brazil, but are illegal.

“We are living through a great dilemma in Brazil. There are those who advocate keeping gambling controlled and dominated by organised crime in the country. And others like me, who are in favour of responsible gambling in the country, controlled by the government, which is supervised and which can also collect taxes and punish those who commit crimes”, he argued.