Industry under threat from government plans
Slot parlour owners in Chile are fighting plans by the government to eradicate at least 200,000 slot machines in a dramatic policy backed by the country’s formal casinos.
The South American nation is admired in Latin America for its transparent and business-friendly gaming legislation, but industry leaders from the formal sector have complained about the growth of so-called “neighbourhood casinos” and called for a crackdown on machines they brand illegal.
Many mayors and municipal authorities also grumble about the slot parlours, accusing them of targeting youngsters and encouraging alcohol abuse and excessive gambling, especially in lower-income districts.
Such concerns prompted the centre-right administration of President Sebastian Piñera to unveil a plan earlier this year to regulate slots operating outside Chile’s 24 licensed casinos, a move that was welcomed by the owners of the slot parlours who had long called for clearer rules.
The government has since changed its mind, however, and decided instead to eradicate the machines by amending the country’s 2005 casinos law.
“The law’s been made a mockery of here,” Cristobal Lira, the government’s deputy crime prevention secretary, said in a radio interview. “Unless we add a couple of articles to the law to allow eradication, we’re never going to resolve this problem,” he added.
Slot machines are only permitted in licensed casinos in Chile. But many slot parlours have been able to skirt current rules by describing the machines as “games of skill” rather than “games of fortune.”
Read the full article in the October issue of InterGaming.
