“Online gaming has to be regulated for the state’s benefit

Within EY!2010 Encuentro Yogonet, there were present Silvio Vivas, General Manager of IAFAS (Entre Ríos), José Luis Tolosa, Giocomovile President / Azar Móvil, Ulises Martorell, General Manager of Pálpitos Deportivos, XX Alarcón, from the Credit Union of Tucumán, and Martín Lapadú, member of the South East Fiscal Unit of the Fiscal Public Minister of the City of Buenos Aires, who were part of this round table.

After an introduction to the issue, which explained that in Argentina each province has its own police control on gaming, Varsavsky asked Vivas on how did they consider in GAFAS the inclusion of the new technologies. “We face a new challenge; the fact of being able to instrument something that does not compete with our neighbours and that we are not involved in the power of police of other jurisdictions. It is a challenge because each of the 23 jurisdictions has its own legislation. A private initiative has been disacarded by a decree, so we performed a tender process of a platform, which generates current games and games to be created. With an inter-provincial agreement, we can offer it so they can implement it with their own games”, explained Vivas.

Continuing with the issue, Varsavsky consulted how can the control be implemented without invading other jurisdictions, on which Tolosa explained: “We are in Argentina from 2006 and we have always maintained ourselves on the mobile channel. When we were asked about the concretion of a platform, what we did was to bring IAFAS the “chassis”, we could say, to mount different bodyworks and they can compete in all the races. For the end of November we will be launching the first of the games chosen by IAFAS, called Tómbola. The mobile channel allowed us to develop the necessary security for not invading other zones.”

Besides, with regards to the question of preserving the jurisdiccional issue compared to other provinces, Alarcón said: “We started working so the benefits stayed in the provinces together with Pálpitos Deportivos, so bets are attracted through them. It was necessary to have the control on the
bets and leave them inside the jurisdiction”.

“Pálpitos Deportivos is a sportsbook company that has the commercialization of the game Pálpitos 24, because the Savings Bank of Tucumán is the owner of the game; we just have the commercialization. We have two ways of capturing bets in the province of Tucumán, which we believe are the best for not to invade a jurisdiction and do not let another jurisdiction invade us. One is the ticket system in points of sale; the other method has to do with the implementation of a pre-paid card, that guarantees that the customer has to buy the card in the limits of Tucuman and take his jackpot in one of the points of sale. We believe that, which this, we are guaranteeing the compliance of the jurisdictional limits,” commented Martorell.

Besides, Tolosa commented that in Entre Ríos they plan the bet to be placed in the same jurisdiction and in the same way, through a pre-paid card. “We believe it is the most suitable way. It is one of the most suitable methodologies nowadays”.

After Dr. Lapadú talked about the legal norm on which games without the proper authorization are forbidden in the Province of Buenos Aires, Varsavsky asked the rest of the speakers if they thought more concrete actions could be taken towards illegal gaming. However, Vivas assured that not always there are actions performed in each province in particular, but together through ALEA (Association of State Lotteries, Pools and Casinos of the Argentinian Republic).

With regards to the growth of online gaming in Argentina, Lapadú commented that “with regards to the City of Buenos Aires, we have been making changes in the organization of the finance department for a year and a half, trying to change the legal structures with the aim to have a more agile system and carry out the constitutional order. And with regards to the persecution of illegal gaming, there is a lot to adjust. I have been thinking that specialized prosecutors are needed, considering the expansion period and the quick changes of this industry”.

 “The market arrives before the norm, that adapts to the market impositions as time goes by. It has been happening to us for a while, with the arrival of new technologies applied to games of chance. The most important thing is that people is becoming aware of the issue. All the provinces should reach a regulatory instance, althouth if we did it together, that would be the best”, added Vivas. “As a businessman, I think gaming should be regulated for the state’s benefit. While betting houses that encourage irregular gaming are permitted, our position is worsening”, said Tolosa.