Brazil's Big Bet
Brazil's Big Bet
Brazil’s Congress is moving to lift a seven-decade ban on casino gambling in an effort to raise tax revenue, attracting interest from U.S. investors.
In 1946, the last year casinos were legal in Brazil, the ritzy Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro was pulling in nearly $100 million a year from roulette and other table games. A frequent gambler was Benjamin Vargas, brother to a former president, who was notorious for chasing away bad luck by firing bullets in the air.
The money, the jobs and – some worry – the shady characters may soon be returning.
A growing number of Brazilian legislators want to roll the dice on gambling as a source of billions of dollars in new tax revenue. Amid ...
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