Juan Carlos Santaella, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Gaming Commission, has announced plans to open three new casino rooms across the island in the coming years.
Outlining a two-to-three-year timeline, Santaella projected that the new casino rooms – set to open in the regions of Ponce Mayagüez and Carolina – will be developed as part of separate projects expected to reach completion across 2028 and 2029. The rooms will come as part of the reopening of Ritz-Carlton hotel complexes in Puerto Rico and will bolster the number of casino rooms on the island from 21 to 24.
Commenting on these plans, Santaella said: "The casino industry in recent years has been in constant growth. Casinos have become, in addition to gaming halls, entertainment centers. It has been observed how the different casinos maintain activities for the enjoyment of all and that has been seen in the numbers reported."
Over the past six months, Puerto Rico’s gambling industry has undergone significant changes, with key players having entered the market and a flurry of regulatory updates following the mandatory interconnection of route-based machines which was implemented at the beginning of the year.
Over the course of Q1, DraftKings announced the launch of its online sportsbook in the region, an update which was followed closely by a new partnership announcement from Puerto Rico BSN and Sportradar. On the regulatory side, March also saw the Puerto Rican Senate float a proposal to further expand the jurisdiction’s regulated gambling verticals.
More recently, the island’s gambling regulator partnered with idPair to join its voluntary self-exclusion program – with Lotto.com also making its entry into the market in May 2026.
Puerto Rico’s gambling industry has been formally regulated since 1948 as part of the Games of Chance and Gambling Devices in Casinos Authorization Act
