The bill for the authorization and regulation of online gambling in Uruguay

Álvaro Viviano – Representative of Partido Nacional; Sebastián Cal – Representative of Cabildo Abierto 

Viviano: Bill will spend a year in the Senate. It comes from a technological reality that is changing worldwide, which has us somewhat behind. It was imperative to adhere to those changes. And also as a way to contain an advance in illegal online gambling of a high proportion.

Cal: Uruguay in 2017 generated a specific ban on online casino games. It is true that you can continue playing in different modes, using a VPN. The Uruguayans continue to play despite the fact that an enormous effort is made to block the pages; there are more than 1500 blocked pages.

I understand that online gaming is gradually becoming a source of support for physical gaming. We also know that the physical game uses and moves work.

Viviano: The bill entered the Senate with a fairly simple framework. And the Senate gave it a more specific format that goes to the heart of the regulation. It includes the reaffirmation of a gambling control strategy that Uruguay already has.

It also reaffirms things that is the relevance of the regulation that has to have a strong content. Because there are aspects of online gambling that a rigid law cannot regulate.

The project is under discussion.

Cal: It should be a more comprehensive gaming law, taking into account the historical problems that Uruguay has. We started working with the issue of gambling addiction. We want to generate mechanisms, some of which already exist in the physical game, that are very poorly applied in reality. Like self-exclusion, which is when a person decides to sign an agreement not to enter a casino anymore. But I can enter another.

That it be a comprehensive self-exclusion, when it is signed, apply to virtual games. Because they have a peculiarity: they are real, with real people and they have a camera in front of them. Higher repetition even than a land-based casino, which spins approximately once every two minutes. Here they throw two balls per minute. Repetition in the game becomes a public health issue.Another issue is sports betting, which is not included in this project and continues to be a private monopoly.

Viviano: The controls on gambling addiction that already exist must be strengthened. Greater control, panic buttons, game level, name registration, etc.

Cal: It already sounds strange that the National Casino Directorate is satisfied with the mechanisms that are applied to the issue of gambling addiction. It is an issue that should depend on the Ministry of Public Health.