Brazilian Supreme Court justice Luiz Fux has frozen every lower-court case challenging the country's betting ban, in an order signed on 8 November 2026. It closes the ordinary courts to operators until the Supreme Court rules on the ban itself.
Online poker is not part of that fight. Provisional Measure 1.394 never names poker, as the breakdown of what MP 1.394 does to online poker in Brazil shows, and the six-page order speaks only of fixed-odds betting.
BSOP Millions, the last stop of the Brazilian Series of Poker season, opens in São Paulo on 13 November. Congress has yet to begin its review, and without a vote the measure can run until 4 March 2027, two trade titles report.
What the Supreme Court Order of 8 November Does
The Prosecutor General's Office asked for a nationwide stay on 6 November. Fux, the rapporteur for the betting cases, granted it two days later.
The order suspends all proceedings in the ordinary courts that discuss whether the measure is constitutional. They stay frozen until the Supreme Court gives final judgment in four direct actions against it, numbered 8.024, 8.027, 8.028 and 8.035.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 25 September | Provisional Measure 1.394 signed, published and in force |
| 28 September | Industry bodies ANJL and IBJR ask the Supreme Court to suspend it |
| 8 October | São Paulo federal court lets Stake Brazil operate until 25 October; suspended the next day |
| 3 November | Supreme Court holds a public hearing on the ban |
| 3 November | Appeal judge clears Casa de Apostas, Betsul and Jogo Online; later suspended |
| 6 November | Prosecutor General asks for a nationwide stay |
| 8 November | Fux signs the order |
| 9 November | Supreme Court publishes the order |
Fux decided alone, and the full court still has to confirm the order. The petition listed 13 case files and cited two rulings in operators' favour: one for Stake Brazil on 8 October, one for CDA Gaming's three brands on 3 November.
The four actions at the Supreme Court are not frozen, and none has a hearing date. The court's press office told NEXT.io there was no forecast for judgment.
Why 23 November Is Not a Deadline for Congress
Congress's own calendar gives lawmakers from 25 September to 23 November to deliberate. That date ends the first 60-day term and nothing more.
The term then extends automatically for 60 days. With the clock stopped during recess, the measure lapses on 4 March 2027 if it has not been voted, the two trade reports say.
From here it can leave Congress in three ways. Only the last has a date.
- Congress converts it into law as written.
- Congress converts it into law with amendments.
- Congress does not convert it into law before the time runs out, and it lapses.
Work on the review has not started. The joint committee that must report first had not been installed when the measure entered its urgency regime on 9 November. Lawmakers filed 99 amendments before the window closed on 13 October.
The Supreme Court can also end it, by upholding any of the four challenges. Until one of those things happens, the ban stays in force.
Where the Brazil Betting Ban Leaves Online Poker
MP 1.394 bans fixed-odds betting, which it defines as a stake placed for a prize set by a multiplication factor. Read against that text and the new order, poker's position comes down to three points.
- The measure does not name poker in any of its 30 articles.
- The Supreme Court order describes the activity at issue as fixed-odds betting, and the word poker does not appear in its six pages.
- No case asking a court whether poker falls under the measure has been reported, so no court has ruled that it is exempt.
No poker room has publicly announced a change for players in Brazil since early October. PokerStars said then that its poker sat outside the measure and that some players in Brazil had trouble connecting.
Pix Is Where the Pressure Has Moved
Enforcement now runs through payments. On 5 November the Federal District's civil police, with forces in five states, launched Operation Azzardo against betting sites with no federal authorisation.
Investigators say payments made on those sites through Pix, the instant-payment system of Brazil's Central Bank, went into shell-company accounts at a São Paulo fintech. A court ordered up to R$3.483 billion blocked.
Article 14 of the measure points the same way: it bars banks, payment institutions and instant-payment schemes from processing fixed-odds betting transactions. Poker is not the target, but rooms that take Pix use the same system, and on this reading a wrongly filtered payment would show up there.
What a player in Brazil can check: that the cashier still lists the payment method used last time, that a small withdrawal clears before a large one is requested, and that a record of balances is kept.
BSOP Millions Opens With the Ban Still in Force
Live poker carries on in the middle of it. BSOP Millions runs from 13 to 28 November at the Complexo WTC in São Paulo, and the organiser calls it the last and largest stop of the 2026 season.
The Main Event starts on 16 November with a R$5,000 buy-in and R$10 million guaranteed, R$1.5 million of it for the champion. A Super High Roller Series runs alongside from 14 to 23 November, and online satellites were still on the schedule on 8 November.
The first term of the measure ends on 23 November, while the festival is still running. The dates to watch after that are the committee's installation and the full court's vote on the Fux order.
Both will be reported in the latest poker industry news.
FAQs
What did Brazil's Supreme Court decide on 8 November 2026?
Justice Luiz Fux suspended every lower-court case that questions whether Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 is constitutional. The stay lasts until the Supreme Court gives final judgment in four direct actions against the measure, and the full court still has to confirm it.
When does Brazil's betting ban expire?
Not on 23 November 2026: that date ends the first 60-day term, which extends automatically. Trade reports put the lapse date at 4 March 2027 if lawmakers have not voted by then.
Does the Brazil betting ban apply to poker?
The measure bans fixed-odds betting and does not name poker in any of its 30 articles. No court has been reported as ruling on the question either way.
Is BSOP Millions 2026 going ahead?
BSOP Millions is scheduled for 13 to 28 November 2026 at the Complexo WTC in São Paulo, with a Main Event that starts on 16 November and guarantees R$10 million.
