Casino association disputes official illegal gambling figures
The official estimate placing the illegal share of online gambling in Buenos Aires Province at 80 percent has faced pushback from an unexpected quarter: not from the regulated private sector, but from the casino workers' union. The Asociación Gremial de Administración, Maestranza y Servicios de Casinos (AMS) argues that this figure falls short.
Its Secretary General, Roberto Páez, stated on the Extra Radio 102.1 program that the union's numbers are "frightening" and described official data as being "far off" from what the union is tracking. The claim carries an obvious caveat: Páez offered no alternative data to allow for a direct comparison, leaving the discrepancy stated but unsubstantiated.
The figure disputed by the union was presented by Gonzalo Atanasof, head of the Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos (IPLyC), before the gaming committee of the Buenos Aires Province Chamber of Deputies. Addressing lawmakers, the official attributed 80 percent of provincial online gambling to the black market and estimated the size of the nationwide illegal betting market at US$3.6bn, while acknowledging that the regulatory agency lacks the tools to directly police this activity and relies on cyber-patrolling and filed reports to track down unauthorized platforms.
Páez extended his criticism to the regulatory framework itself. He branded the legislation currently governing online betting in the province—enacted under the administration of María Eugenia Vidal—as being of "dubious legality," asserting that the sector's two labor unions were excluded from those deliberations. While this legal objection lacks an accompanying court filing, the union is leveraging it to demand a seat at the table in the ongoing legislative review.
Above all, AMS is demanding stronger enforcement capabilities. The union is calling on the province to tighten oversight and ensure criminal proceedings remain an active avenue against operators of unlicensed platforms, with the creation of a specialized prosecutor's office as a core measure. Once an illicit platform is identified, Páez maintained, "the corresponding raids" and the shutdown of points of sale or distribution channels must follow.
The bill for the Comprehensive Regime for the Prevention and Regulation of Online Betting, currently under review in the provincial Legislature, centers on that very approach. Sponsored by Fuerza Patria lawmakers Micaela Olivetto and Facundo Tignanelli, the draft proposes establishing a Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Illegal Betting, introducing stricter player identification requirements, and overhauling the chapter on advertising and promotion. The union's position, therefore, challenges the scale of the official assessment while aligning with the remedy already laid out in the text, shifting the dispute toward who has the authority to quantify the problem rather than how to solve it. This paradox works in favor of the provincial administration: if even those challenging its diagnosis are demanding harsher enforcement powers, the bill's criminal enforcement chapter reaches the legislative floor facing less resistance than the rest of the text.
AMS represents administrative, maintenance, and service staff across casinos in the province of Buenos Aires, whose land-based venues operate under the IPLyC. The provincial body oversees the lottery, casinos, and authorized betting within the jurisdiction, and is the same entity that delivered the assessment on illegal gambling amid the debate over a new regulatory framework for online betting.
Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, AMS, illegal gambling