Gambling in our country is going through a critical situation that urgently demands the creation of a solid, comprehensive, and updated regulatory framework. The delay in resolving or reviewing all matters related to regulatory issues has allowed the activity to develop in a landscape marked by illegality, opacity, and the absence of clear public policies, with serious social and economic consequences. Let’s agree that the State’s actions have been extremely erratic.
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One of the main problems is the proliferation of slot machines operating without authorization: it is estimated that there are almost ten times more illegal slots than authorized ones throughout the national territory. This situation not only erodes tax collection and fosters parallel economies but also leaves players in a completely unprotected environment.
At the same time, the lack of regulation of online casino games exposes users to complete lack of protection and the risk of addiction, while the current scheme for online sports betting is monopolistic, which restricts competition, discourages innovation, and carries the certain risk of shifting towards illegality.
A recurring argument in favor of monopoly is that, by restricting supply, gambling addiction rates would be reduced. However, there is no empirical evidence to support this claim. Gambling addiction is due to multiple factors—psychological, social, and economic—and not to the number of existing operators. On the contrary, limiting regulated access could expand the segment of players on clandestine platforms, where there is no control or prevention mechanisms. In other words, far from mitigating the problem, a large portion of the market is shifting to an invisible and riskier terrain.
All of this evidences institutional weakness in several aspects and requires a more committed State in both control policies and addiction prevention programs.
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In this context, the need to design and implement intelligent regulation, capable of balancing legality and transparency with user protection, is imperative. It is not just about regulating, but about doing so with a future vision, carefully evaluating the consequences that deficient regulation could entail and avoiding the generation of greater evils, such as monopolistic concentration, the expansion of illegal gambling, or an increase in gambling addiction.
Poor regulation of the sector could lead to even more serious consequences than the absence of regulation. A poorly designed, restrictive, or unrealistic legal framework can foster market concentration, encourage the expansion of illegal gambling, and weaken the trust of legitimate operators and citizens. Regulating for the sake of regulating is not enough: it must be done with a strategic vision, adapted to the national reality, which considers the social, economic, and institutional particularities of the country. The central objective must be to reduce illegality, build a transparent and competitive market, and at the same time maintain coherence with the regulatory frameworks of the region, to avoid comparative disadvantages and strengthen regional integration in terms of control, oversight, and responsible gaming.
While our neighbors advance with modern regulatory frameworks, the speed of technological advancements has revealed that current legal provisions were conceived for a very different context, and today they are absolutely insufficient to respond to the new challenges posed by this digital era.
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Written by: Luis Gama, Independent Consultant
