Online casinos and betting in Mauritania

The law in Mauritania

Mauritania takes the strictest position in West Africa. Gambling is prohibited in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and there is no licensing regime for online casinos, sports betting or any other form of gambling.

That makes Mauritania different from almost all of its West African neighbours. Senegal, Mali and the rest run legal betting through a state lottery; Mauritania, as far as our research found, has no legal operator at all. In that respect it sits closer to Algeria and the other North African states than to the francophone south.

This is the position from our research in November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. If you need to know where you stand personally, speak to a Mauritanian lawyer.

Why offshore sites appear on this page

The ranked list above shows international brands that accept Mauritanian accounts, according to their restricted-country lists, with 1Win first:

• 1Win, licensed in Curaçao, with a casino, live tables, its own crash games and a sportsbook;
• The 1xBet family: 1xBet, 22Bet, Melbet, Betwinner, Megapari and PariPesa;
• Crypto brands: BC.Game, Cloudbet and Rollbit.

We list them because they accept sign-ups and people search for them. That’s a business decision by each operator. It doesn’t make gambling legal in Mauritania, and it doesn’t give you any local protection.

The risks, set out plainly

If you are thinking about using one of these sites from Mauritania, these are the things to weigh:

1. The law. Gambling is prohibited. A licence from Curaçao or Anjouan doesn’t change Mauritanian law.
2. No local recourse. If a site refuses a withdrawal or closes your account, there’s no Mauritanian authority to complain to. Your options are the site’s support, its complaints process and its foreign regulator. Our guide to offshore licences explains how limited those routes are.
3. Payment trails. Domestic wallets keep records, and payments linked to gambling can be questioned or blocked.
4. Account closures. Brands update their restricted lists. If Mauritania is added while you hold a balance, the site may close the account.

We’re not here to tell you what to do. We want the trade-off to be clear before you decide.

Bankily, Masrvi, Sedad and crypto

Mauritania’s digital payments have grown quickly, and our data lists three local wallets plus crypto:

• Bankily, the most widely used mobile banking app;
• Masrvi;
• Sedad;
• Tether (USDT), the stablecoin used at crypto-friendly sites.

The local wallets are built for domestic transfers in ouguiya (MRU, shown as UM), and offshore cashiers rarely support them. In practice, players who use offshore sites tend to buy USDT and send it to the site.

Crypto has real costs and risks:

• spreads when you convert ouguiya to USDT and back;
• irreversible transfers, so a wrong address or a fake site means lost money;
• peer-to-peer sellers who take payment and never deliver.

If you go this way, use a seller with escrow and a track record, send a small test amount first, and double-check the network. Our crypto casino guide covers the basics; it’s written for South Africa, but the safety advice is universal.

Verification and withdrawals

Offshore sites ask for identity documents before your first withdrawal, and sometimes proof of address. Some apply extra checks to players from countries where gambling is prohibited. Upload documents before you deposit much, so a winning balance isn’t stuck in review.

Withdraw winnings promptly rather than leaving them on the site. A balance sitting with an operator you can’t hold to account locally is a balance at risk.

If you decide to play anyway

The decision is yours, and if you make it, a few rules reduce the damage when things go wrong:

• Keep amounts small. Deposit only what you could lose entirely, including to a closed account.
• Skip the bonus. It locks your money behind wagering; a plain deposit can be withdrawn sooner.
• Verify before you play. Upload your documents first, so you know whether the site will pay you at all.
• Keep records. Screenshot the terms and save the transaction ID of every USDT transfer, plus your support chats.
• Withdraw often. Don’t let a winning balance build up on the site.

None of this makes offshore gambling legal in Mauritania. It simply limits how much you can lose to problems that have nothing to do with the games themselves.

A word on bonuses

On this page, offers appear only as percentages and spins: amounts in our data are set for South Africa and don’t apply in Mauritania. 1Win’s welcome package is a 500% match spread over your first deposits in the version we track, with the cap and conditions set in its cashier.

A bonus with wagering ties up your money until you’ve bet it many times over, which is a poor deal when withdrawals are already uncertain. Our guide to wagering requirements explains how to judge an offer, and you can almost always decline the bonus in the cashier.

Football in Mauritania

Football is the most popular sport. The national team, the Mourabitounes, has qualified for recent Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, which has lifted interest at home. The domestic Super D1 has a following in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou, but international bookmakers offer few markets on it.

Most Mauritanian fans follow European football: French Ligue 1, the Premier League, the Champions League and La Liga. Those are the leagues offshore books price most fully.

If gambling is causing harm

We could not confirm a national gambling helpline in Mauritania. Because gambling is prohibited, people with a problem often feel they can’t talk about it. You can still get help:

• Gamblers Anonymous runs online meetings that anyone can join;
• a doctor can help confidentially and refer you on;
• on any site, self-exclusion locks your account, and deposit limits cap what you can lose.

Never bet with money you need for family, rent or food, and never borrow to gamble. Our responsible gambling page lists the warning signs.

Neighbouring countries

Morocco to the north runs legal sports betting through a state monopoly, while Algeria prohibits gambling apart from state pools. To the south, Senegal and Mali both have state lotteries that offer legal betting.