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The Argentine province of Mendoza has published a 133-page resolution which sets out the regulatory guidelines and technical requirements for online casino games and sports betting.
Mendoza, which approved a law to legalise online gaming nearly two years ago, is a popular vacation destination and wealthy province in Argentina’s west that is home to nearly two million people.
The province's regulations, which were published on October 20 as an annex to a formal resolution of the Mendoza gambling authority, sets out typical regulations for the online gaming industry governing the technical requirements for gaming systems, automated and live-dealer online casino games, peer-to-peer games, sports-betting operations and virtual sports.
Unlike the City of Buenos Aires, where an unlimited number of licences are available for online gambling, the regulation in Mendoza is limited to between two and seven operators to be selected through a forthcoming tender process. Preference will be given to companies that already operate in-person gaming in the province.
The Mendoza regulations stipulate that online casino games must be evaluated for compliance at least yearly. Game design will be assessed for “bet frequency, event frequency, event duration, payout interval, amongst others.”
In addition, games will be monitored for violence, indecency and design features that give players of games of chance the false perception that skill is in any way involved. Free games cannot yield a win any more often than paid games, another rule states.
It remains to be seen if Mendoza will require game providers to follow the same strict rules as other regions, noted Tomás García Botta, gambling lawyer and partner at MF Studio.
“They are going to ask for certification under the Mendoza standard, they are going to allow a conditional approval of games. It’s unclear whether they are going to ask game providers and other providers of the industry to register them the way LotBA [Loteria de Buenos Aires] is doing,” he said.
A tender for operating licences is expected to take place around the same time that the Association of Argentine State Lotteries (ALEA) holds its annual assembly from November 8 to 10, which this year will be held in Mendoza.
“The only thing we can say at this point is that they are in the final steps before launching the tender,” García Botta said.
In establishing a concession system with only a limited number of licences available, Mendoza will follow both the province of Buenos Aires and the province of Cordoba. The latter jurisdiction recently held its tender process to award up to ten licences, with a total of eight operators found qualified.
