The Association of Argentine State Lotteries (ALEA) announced through its official website the holding of a virtual training on responsible gambling aimed at owners and staff of official lottery agencies across the country.
Read more China sets its GDP growth target at up to 5% for 2026
The initiative, framed within the sector’s social responsibility agenda, aimed to strengthen the role of retail points of sale as key actors in the prevention of problem gambling and the promotion of safe gambling practices.
The session was coordinated by Carolina Molina, representative of IAFAS, who chairs ALEA’s Social Responsibility Coordinating Unit, and featured the participation of specialists and representatives from various provincial lotteries in Argentina.
The role of lottery agencies in responsible gambling
The training, titled “Responsible and Safe Gambling: the key role of the retailer,” focused on official lottery agencies as the first point of contact between the formal gambling system and users.
From this perspective, agency owners and employees not only fulfill a commercial function but can also act as preventive agents, capable of detecting risk signs and guiding players toward responsible gambling practices.
This approach is aligned with international trends in responsible gambling policies, where sales staff training is considered one of the most effective tools for the early detection of problem gambling, due to direct and frequent contact with players.
Prevention: sales to minors and detection of risk behaviors
One of the central pillars of the training was the prohibition of the sale of lottery products to minors, a key regulation within player protection policies.
The early detection of risk behaviors was also addressed, a fundamental aspect for agency staff to identify problematic situations and act preventively.
Various studies indicate that early initiation into gambling constitutes one of the main risk factors for the development of addictive behaviors in adulthood. For this reason, reinforcing controls at points of sale is considered a high-impact preventive measure.
Read more New Zealand pushes for online casino regulation to curb the illegal market
Self-exclusion and tools for players at risk
Another module was dedicated to self-exclusion programs, one of the most widely used mechanisms internationally for the protection of vulnerable players.
Self-exclusion allows a person to voluntarily request their exclusion from gambling services for a specific period. For the system to function effectively, it is essential that operators—including retail agencies—are trained to recognize self-excluded players and deny service when appropriate.
Training staff on the operation of these tools and on guidance channels for people with gambling problems represents an important step toward a more responsible operating model focused on user protection.
ALEA’s strategy to promote responsible gambling
ALEA highlighted that this activity is part of a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening the role of official agencies in building a legal, safe, and sustainable gambling ecosystem in Argentina.
The promotion of responsible gambling not only responds to regulatory obligations but also contributes to socially legitimizing the activity of state lotteries, especially in the face of the growth of illegal gambling.
In a regional context marked by the expansion of online gambling, the training of in-person operators takes on additional relevance. Physical lottery agencies remain one of the main access points to legal gambling in Argentina and can play a key role as preventive filters within the system.
Within this framework, ALEA’s Social Responsibility Coordinating Unit, led by Carolina Molina, fulfills a central function by articulating the efforts of the various provincial lotteries and promoting common standards of responsible gambling with a federal scope.
