Olivetto aims for an October vote on Buenos Aires gambling bills
The committee is working with the legislative secretariat on a single text and wants as few bills as possible reaching the floor.
Argentina lists 37 gaming venues in the iGaming.bet B2B directory, across 31 cities. Cities with the highest concentration of venues: Buenos Aires (2), Mar del Plata (2), Mendoza (2), Salta (2), San Miguel de Tucumán (2).
Among the most popular casinos in Argentina are: Casino Central Mar del Plata (Mar del Plata), Casino Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo (Buenos Aires), Casino Magic Neuquén (Neuquén), Casino Club Trelew (Trelew), Casino Melincué (Melincué), Casino Federación (Federación), Casino Sucursal Hipódromo Corrientes (Corrientes), Casino Golden Palace Arenas de La Punta (Ciudad de La Punta), Hotel Casino Catamarca (San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca), Casino Hermitage Mar del Plata (Mar del Plata).
The history of organized gaming in Argentina dates to the late 19th century, when the first gaming houses began operating at the Buenos Aires Atlantic coast resorts. Mar del Plata Central Casino, inaugurated in 1939 and integrated into the Gran Hotel Provincial designed by architect Alejandro Bustillo, is the oldest continuously operating casino in the country and one of the largest in South America, with capacity for more than 3,000 simultaneous players in its historic French-style hall. Bustillo also designed Bariloche Casino and several Patagonian hotels in the same era, establishing an architectural style that identifies the golden age of mid-20th century Argentine tourism.
Argentina gaming regulatory framework is markedly federal and decentralized. No single national regulatory body exists: each province issues its own licenses through specific bodies including the Buenos Aires City Lottery, the Buenos Aires Provincial Institute of Games and Casinos (IPJyC), Mendoza Lottery, Córdoba Lottery, Santiago del Estero Gaming Institute, Chubut Social Assistance Fund, Corrientes Lottery, Misiones Institute of Beneficence Lotteries and Casinos (IBLyC) and La Rioja Lottery. This regulatory architecture means requirements, gaming taxes, permitted hours and operating conditions vary significantly from province to province. Online gaming advanced in regulation since 2020, with Buenos Aires Province approving Online Gaming Law 15,226 and the Autonomous City regulating digital gaming under Law 6,085.
The country largest casino is Trilenium in Tigre, operated by the Codere group on the Paraná Delta corridor 30 kilometers from Buenos Aires, with more than 3,000 slot machines, 130 gaming tables and a high-level poker room. In the federal capital, Casino Buenos Aires operates on a casino boat anchored in Puerto Madero on the Rio de la Plata, being the country only floating casino. The Atlantic Coast concentrates the most active seasonal gaming: Casino Central and Casino del Mar in Mar del Plata compete for the two million tourist market visiting the city in summer. Mendoza has in Park Hyatt Regency Casino and Casino Arena Maipo its Cuyo region reference establishments. Northern Patagonia concentrates its gaming in Bariloche and Neuquén under the Casino Magic group, while southern Patagonia has in Comodoro Rivadavia and Trelew the Casino Club chain halls.
The groups with the highest presence in Argentina are Casino Club, with halls in more than 20 provinces, and Codere Spain, with presence in Buenos Aires and the main urban markets. Provincial State casinos have relevance in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Santa Fe, where provincial lotteries operate directly without private concession. The Argentine player profile distinguishes the country from the rest of Latin America: the preference for Texas Holdem poker and table games is significantly higher than in other regional markets, where slot machines concentrate 80% of gaming volume.
The committee is working with the legislative secretariat on a single text and wants as few bills as possible reaching the floor.
The national campaign targets families, teachers, and young people, and is supported by surveys from UNICEF and the Argentine Red Cross.
Biometric verification, deposit limits, and IP blocking in schools are among the key topics on the agenda chaired by Micaela Olivetto.
Javier Bee Sellares warned that many minors start gambling around the age of 13 and called for greater control over virtual wallets.
Two opposition blocs in Buenos Aires are demanding technical certifications and the specific allocation of funds raised by Resolution 1149/2026.
The gambling addiction commission meets on September 16 with approximately twenty projects on the agenda and the authors invited to present.
A 37-year-old man received a three-year suspended sentence following a complaint filed by IAFAS, which originated from his own statements to a local media outlet.
ARCA collected 106.601 billion pesos between January and August, with almost a third of that amount coming in the two months of the World Cup.
The province estimates additional revenue of between 35 and 40 billion pesos per month with a tax rate that applies only to instant-win games.
The Buenos Aires initiative proposes that sports entities help detect and refer cases of problem gambling in minors.