Online betting considered to be legalized in the City of Buenos Aires

Online betting is banned in the City of Buenos Aires, because the Contraventional Code of the City punishes illegal gaming and its coverage, but the Mayor of the City, Mauricio Macri, analyzes to modify the law and call to a tender process to operate the business.

In Argentina there is a legal void, because there isn’t a law on the matter and is just regulated by regional laws. The provinces may issue gaming licenses in their jurisdictions, which would bring green light to Macri. But, at the same time, the Prode law grants the monopoly of sports books to the National Lottery. Besides, AFA (entity that gathers the football clubs) should pay for the “use” of official equipments.

There is a „jurisdictional invasion“ that „starts with the advertisements, generating confusion in the bettor, who thinks that it is a legal game, who is not aware of the fact that the site is not authorized or controlled in its territory“, explained Estela Varsavsky, from Consultora 137Bet.

Thanks to this legal void, several sites may operate, such as Formoapuestas, which operates with a license from the Social Assistance Institute of Formosa, but bets may be performed from Buenos Aires, where it does not have a license. It has USD 98,856 in bets and brings USD 3,295 in taxes. Vcapuestas and 888 are the other online gaming sites located in the country.