Chile’s Online Gambling Website Blocks Rise to 143: Subtel Orders ISPs to Implement DNS Blocking Under a Court Procedure as Betano and Other Platforms Mount Legal Challenges

File photo: Chile’s National Congress in Valparaíso, photographed 3 September 2023. Institutional context for the Senate debate on online gambling; not the October 2026 committee meeting or a site-blocking operation. Photo: Carlos Figueroa Rojas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Display cropped to fit where necessary. Image source.

Chile’s Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Romina Garrido, told the Senate Economic Affairs Committee on October 20 that Subtel had instructed internet service providers to block 143 online gambling websites. At the same meeting, Eduardo Cáceres, head of the Superintendency of Casinos (SCJ), gave a higher figure: 174 web addresses had so far been referred to Subtel for blocking, of which 49 were reported by the state lottery institution Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and 125 by Lotería de Concepción.

Chile still has no specific law governing online gambling, and offshore platforms remain unlicensed. The only tool currently in use is a blocking procedure built on court rulings.

From 12 Websites to 143

Subtel clearly set out the origins of this procedure in the material it submitted to the Senate on September 8:

• On September 29, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld Lotería de Concepción’s application for a protection order, directing the respondent telecommunications companies not to transmit or promote unauthorized gambling and to block the websites covered by the ruling;
• On March 18, 2026, the Santiago Court of Appeals found that the providers had complied with the ruling by blocking the 12 websites initially listed;
• On April 10, the Supreme Court overturned that finding, stating that blocking was only a means to an end: getting providers to stop transmitting and promoting unlicensed gambling;
• On June 10, Subtel reported a technical proposal to the court, proposing a uniform DNS-blocking procedure;
• On August 7, the Court of Appeals adopted DNS blocking and endorsed this procedure.

The procedure has five steps: the lottery institutions report domains, subdomains, and mirror sites; the SCJ verifies whether they are gambling platforms; Subtel notifies the six respondent providers (Entel, Movistar, Claro, GTD, WOM, and VTR) of the list; the providers implement the blocks within the deadline set by Subtel; and the providers demonstrate compliance directly to the court.

The first list was issued on September 1, covering 42 web addresses with a 48-hour deadline. According to the list published by Subtel, these included websites belonging to brands such as Betano, Coolbet, 1xBet, Betsson, Stake, bet365, Novibet, Rabona, Melbet, TonyBet, Jugabet, and Estelarbet. By October 20, the total had reached 143, an increase of 101 in roughly seven weeks.

A Gap of 31 Between 174 and 143

There is a gap of 31 between the 174 addresses referred by the SCJ and the 143 for which Subtel has issued blocking orders. The meeting did not explain the difference. It could represent a new batch still being processed, or addresses excluded after verification; no official explanation has been seen so far.

Another notable figure is the source of the reports: 125 came from Lotería de Concepción, accounting for about 72%. This regional lottery institution was the original applicant that sued the telecommunications companies, while Polla accounted for just 49. In other words, Chile’s blocking list depends to a large extent on reports from a state lottery institution that competes directly with offshore platforms. Subtel also specifically emphasized in its material that it does not determine whether a website is legal, nor does it actively search for new websites; it only passes on lists verified by the SCJ.

Subtel Itself Acknowledges the Limits of DNS Blocking

Subtel explained that it chose DNS blocking because it is targeted, carries a lower risk of blocking the wrong sites, and is less intrusive for users. It considers SNI-based identification and deep packet inspection (DPI) to be more intrusive, with DPI “not considered proportionate.” But the material also states that no technical measure alone can guarantee that circumvention is impossible. Platforms can switch to new domains, subdomains, redirects, or mirror sites, so effectiveness depends on whether the lists can be kept up to date. The first list of 42 web addresses already contained multiple domains for the same brands, illustrating precisely this point.

The Platforms Fight Back

According to Garrido’s remarks at the meeting, Grupo Latamwin and EpicBet have applied to the courts for protection orders; Jugabet, Betano, Betsala, and Estelarbet have sought reconsideration and other administrative remedies in an effort to halt the blocking. No public information indicating that the courts have ruled on these applications has been seen so far.

The Bill Is Waiting on Government Amendments

Both Garrido and Cáceres told the meeting that only legislation could truly resolve the problem and give the SCJ the authority to regulate the industry. The bill to regulate online gambling (Senate bill No. 14.838-03) is in its second reading in the Senate, awaiting government amendments. Those amendments were originally due on October 16 but were not submitted on time. The Economic Affairs Committee has asked the Finance Ministry to submit them by October 26 and summoned Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz to attend on October 27 to explain the situation.

According to earlier reports in the Chilean media, the government proposal could set the gross gaming revenue tax rate at 22% (compared with about 30% in the original proposal), with no cap on the number of licences. However, there is no official text supporting these figures yet; the amendments actually submitted on October 26 will be authoritative.

Until a law is enacted, Chile’s situation is this: there are no licences to issue, offshore platforms can only be blocked in successive batches, and the blocking lists are supplied mainly by state lottery institutions. The amendments on October 26 and the finance minister’s appearance on October 27 are the next developments to watch.

Sources

Original source document: The timeline submitted by Chile’s Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (Subtel) to the Senate Economic Affairs Committee on September 8: from the Supreme Court ruling to the current blocking procedure. Document attribution: Chilean Senate legislative records.

Subtel’s submission to the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, “Unauthorized Online Gambling Platforms: Domain-Blocking Measures and Subtel’s Role” (September 8, 2026): https://tramitacion.senado.cl/appsenado/index.php?ac=getDocto&iddocto=26203&mo=tramitacion&tipodoc=docto_comision

Subtel press release: blocking of 42 online gambling websites ordered (September 1, 2026): https://www.subtel.gob.cl/subtel-ordena-bloqueo-de-42-sitios-de-apuestas-online/

Proceedings of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee meeting on October 20 (the figures of 143 and 174, and the platforms’ legal challenges), based on Diario Financiero’s reporting and accounts based on it: https://www.df.cl/empresas/industria/subtel-ordena-bloquear-143-sitios-de-apuestas-y-senadores-presionan-a ; https://periodismo2.cl/article/dabd732a-2884-40f2-a91a-25f23c359bf1

Senate bill No. 14.838-03 legislative records: https://tramitacion.senado.cl/appsenado/index.php?ac=getDocto&iddocto=19096&mo=tramitacion&tipodoc=docto_comision