Mexico New Gambling Law To Segregate Country’s Online Players

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Friday, December 5th, 2014 | Written by Stephen Smith

The Mexican Gambling and Gaming Bill will finally make its way onto the country’s House of Representatives agenda next week, and if passed will result in a ring-fenced online poker market separated from the rest of the world. Furthermore, operators will be required to base their servers in Mexico, with all players then filtered through a “.com.mx” portal, a development which has sent a chill down the spine of US poker grinders who based themselves in Mexico following the US Department of Justice’s Black Friday operation. The bill had been expected to be made law in September this year, but was subsequently stalled until next week’s potentially landmark vote at the Mexican parliament.

The Mexican iPoker Market

The Mexican gambling market presents a potentially lucrative draw for online operators, with its sizable 122 million population bigger than that of both Spain (46 million) and France (66 million) combined. Unlike in the USA, it is believed online gambling will then be permitted throughout the whole of the country rather than the piece-meal state-by-state approach adopted by US authorities. This is more likely to lead to a viable, competitive online poker environment, rather than the situation stateside where a lack of liquidity has resulted in lower than forecast revenues.

According to eMarketer.com, the number of Mexicans gambling online could increase by 114% to 18 million people in 2018, with mobile gaming presenting one of the biggest opportunities for operators. As Cristina Romero of business law firm Loyra Abogados, explains: “Mobile gaming and social gaming are the biggest things around at the moment, as some people do not have a computer at home but certainly have a smartphone and almost everybody is using one or more social networks.”

Details Of The New Bill

Up until now Mexico’s gambling industry has relied on the Federal Law of Games and Raffles (1947) for guidance. If passed, however, the new bill is expected to take effect in 2015, and will provide a new set of regulations for governing the country’s live and online gaming industry. As President of the Mexican Gaming Commission (AIEJA), Miguel Sanchez, explained a few months back:

“Anything that involves this business [gambling] must be certified, and the information must be transparent. [The AIEJA is] going to regulate and reorder online play, too, [which will help recovery] of the horse and greyhound racing industry.”

The Mexican Gambling and Gaming Bill will also include measures to help tackle the problems associated with money laundering, and the thousands of illegal gambling shops which have mushroomed across Mexico offering slots and iGaming products.

Biggest Effect To Be Online

The bill’s greatest effect, however, will be on the online arena, with the legislation designed to ensure Mexican players are kept separate from the international market, and can only compete with each other. As a result, off shore sites will find their internet service providers (ISPs) blocked, and will thus be forced to relocate their servers inside Mexico if they want to continue offering their products.

The move would therefore be of major concern for US online poker players, who currently reside part-time in Mexico in order to pursue their online poker careers post Black Friday. Needless to say, next weeks potential change to the law has stirred a great deal of debate on the poker forums, with one poster by the name of mos_shark stating:

“This should have US pros playing in Mexico shaking in their boots or, at least, considering where to move next. As a Mexican, I can say with all the shame in the world that we have the most greedy, corrupt and ignorant people making/passing laws. If they want taxes, they will get them, period.”

The same poster even suggested the Mexican government may have missed a trick by removing its online poker pool from the international market, cutting itself from a potential huge source of extra income. By the same token, mos_shark questioned the liquidity and sustainability of a Mexican only online poker landscape, stating:

“Simply judging by the amount of actual Mexican players I see in the tournament/sit and go lobbies, I don’t think we have a big enough player pool to sustain a healthy poker economy. 80% of the population is basically poor.. excess “gambling” money [isn’t there]. Mexican pros and U. S. players playing on Mexican soil should be monitoring this closely.”

While the debate goes on, both Mexican and US players alike will eagerly be awaiting the outcome of next week’s bill in the Mexican parliament.