Supplier News
Argentina – Plans to monitor slots and Quinela Online in Mendoza
By Phil - 1 August 2014
The government of Mendoza has announced that it will launch two separate tender processes this month: one for companies interested in providing online monitoring control over slot machines and the other for the online capture of Quinela bets.
The announcement, which was made this week by the Provincial Institute of Games and Casinos of Mendoza (IPJC), will open the tender processes up in August and will give the winning company in both cases just over a year in which to comply.
The announcement comes at a time when gaming is continuing to boom in the province with the industry becoming an increasingly vital source of tax income especially for the Health Sector. Located in the western central part of Argentina the province of Mendoza is the heart of the winemaking industry and is one of Argentina’s most popular tourist destinations. New controls will apply to a total of 2,500 machines operating in the ten privately owned and run casinos as well as the 3,700 slot machines located in the seven private casinos in the province.
According to official statistics, in 2013 slot machines in casinos generated total revenue of around $1,8bn pesos (US$220m) a year. Of this around 8 percent is earmarked for the health service. Plans to connect all slot machines to a centrally controlled server means that a total of 6,200 slot machines operating in both privately owned casinos and state owned casinos will be monitored online with the winning bid for Quinela worth an estimated 348m pesos (US$42m). Meanwhile, the bid for the online monitoring of slot machines will be worth around “half that amount” according to the President of the institute Carlos Bianchinelli.
Ivisa, the company currently in charge of running quinela in the province, has a long history in the business locally and is linked to popular betting game “Telekino.” The company has run the game for the last fifteen years and the IPJC had previously planned on renegotiating the contract. However, the offer will now be offered to other operators.
The move to monitor slot machines online comes after some controversy after tighter controls were called for by the local government with calls for more transparency when it came to the local government and its relationship with local gaming company Mendoza Central Entertainment (MCE).
