Three leading Congress Commissions have voiced their support for significant gaming legislation changes in Mexico. The State, Tourism and Treasury Commissions have declared that the “doors are definitely open for the installation of roulette; games with numbers, symbols, colours or graphics; sports betting and competitions relayed in real time; dice; and cards”.

The Commissions say that as long as the properties are not termed casinos, almost every gaming activity can take place at gaming centres that would be controlled by a Gaming, Betting and Lottery Federal Commission, which would be the regulator independent of the State Department (Secretaria de Gobernacion) – the current regulator under the old 1947 gaming Law.

There is no date on the Congress Agenda for debating the proposed legislation, which is where all previous proposals have found a languorous death knell. The new Federal Gaming, Betting and Lottery Law would include operations for “mechanical devices, electronic, electromechanical or any other technology, which by means of bills, coins, cards, tickets, codes, tokens, magnetic bands or electronic payment solutions allows the user to obtain, through chance or skill, immediate receipt or payment of prizes in cash or kind.”

Long winded as law making in Mexico is usually, this piece of legislation also carries a euphemism for casinos, which could be called anything other than what they actually are. The mystery however does not lie in the name - after all a rose by any other name still smells as sweet - but on the Congress date for debating the Law. (E-04.16.09)

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