Tag: Chile
Sun Dreams and Marina del Sol merger on hold
Sun International’s proposed merger of its Chile-based subsidiary Sun Dreams with the gaming assets of Marina del Sol has been shelved after the two companies were unable to come to an agreement.
Merkur Gaming Americas welcomes Santiago Salvestrini as its new Marketing Director
With immediate effect, Santiago Salvestrini will be joining the sales and marketing team of Merkur Gaming Americas as the new Marketing Director (LATAM). Salvestrini, a native of Chile, will be responsible for standardising and optimising marketing activities in the Latin American markets and, in cooperation with the local subsidiaries, supervising the marketing-related implementation of existing and future business strategies.
“We...
SCJ: Second licence tender for Arica and Puerto Natales will launch with revised conditions
The superintendent of the SCJ, Vivien Villagrán Acuña, has stated that the regulator is in talks with the municipal authorities to revise the special conditions for both licences before relaunching the tender.
While the licence tender for Chile's seven municipal casinos finished in June, the licences for Arica and Puerto Natales failed to received any bids.
Speaking during GET in Chile,...
Appeals Court overturns Comptroller General’s ruling on gaming machines outside casinos
The second chamber of the Santiago Appeals Court has revoked an order by Chile's Comptroller General requiring the country's municipalities to request a report by the regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos y Juegos (SCJ), prior to authorising a gaming machine licence.
The Court found that Ruling 92.308 by the Comptroller General was illegal, adding that the SCJ “does not have...
Sun Dreams challenges SCJ over municipal licence decision
Chilean operator Sun Dreams has launched a legal challenge against the Superintendencia de Casinos y Juegos (SCJ), over the regulator's decision to award two concessions in the recent tender for the country's seven municipal licences, to its rival Enjoy.
Sun Dreams filed a legal challenge with the Santiago Appeals Court, disputing the SCJ’s resolutions awarding the casino resort concessions for...
Enjoy comes out on top in tender for municipal casino licences
Enjoy was the clear winner in the contentious tender for Chile’s seven municipal casino licences, with the company’s general manager, Gerardo Cood, emphasising that the outcome will allow the firm to consolidate its “position as market leader in Chile”.
The Chilean gaming regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SJC), has awarded five of the country’s seven municipal casino licences,...
Arica City Center to act as a ‘benchmark’ for Luckia
Luckia’s president, Jose Gonzalez Fuentes, suggested that the company’s new property in Arica, could serve as a model for its future developments in Latin America.
Spanish gaming firm Luckia has invested €82m in a casino resort project in Arica, Chile's northernmost city, which the company’s president suggests could serve as a benchmark for future investments.
Arica City Center includes a 129-room...
Enjoy sets out investment plans for municipal properties
Chile-based Enjoy has informed its shareholders that it plans to invest as much as $116.7m over the next two to three years in the municipal casinos in Viña del Mar, Pucon, Coquimbo, and Puerto Varas.
“We're very happy with this result, which allows us to consolidate our position as market leader in Chile and renew our commitment to each one...
Sun Dreams buys Park Hyatt Mendoza
Chile-based Sun Dreams is set to enter the Argentinian market with the acquisition of Nuevo Plaza Hotel Mendoza SA, which owns and operates the Park Hyatt Mendoza hotel and casino.
“It's hoped that the sale will be finalised by the end of July,” said Ecocuyo Leandro Livschitz, general manager of the Park Hyatt Mendoza. “While the ownership of the Park...
Chile’s controversial municipal tender to be published in June
The results of the tender for the seven Chilean municipal casinos are now expected to be announced in June, according to reports in the local press.
The casinos licences are up for tender in the municipalities of Viña del Mar, Coquimbo, Iquique, Arica, Pucón, Puerto Varas, and Puerto Natales.
The process has come in for criticism given that only two local...
Country Roundtables return for Juegos Miami
Juegos Miami, the unique invitation only, C-Level event for the Pan Latin American and Caribbean gaming industry, taking place at The Biltmore Hotel, Miami, May 30 – June 1, will be providing delegates with an unrivalled opportunity to engage with the region's key decision makers courtesy of a series of country specific roundtables.
The initiative will bring together regulators from...
Chile’s casino industry at risk of stagnation
Francisco Leiva Vega, former superintendent of the national regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ), discusses the factors which led to one of the worst years for Chilean casino revenue in recent memory.
International Casino Review: 2017 has been one of Chile’s worst years for casino revenue. What are the factors that have contributed to these results?
Francisco Leiva Vega:...
Development of Chillán casino underway
The president of Chilean operator Marina del Sol, Nicolás Imschenetzky has confirmed that work on the company’s new venue in Chillán will “begin immediately”, after the project has received its final out- standing approvals.
The move comes after the Environmental Assessment Commission for the Bío Bío Region unanimously approved the project’s environmental impact statement, following a lengthy process which began...
Mexican stand-off in Chilean municipal licensing process
The municipal casino licensing process is hotting up with two of the country’s largest operators competing for some of Chile’s most lucrative venues.
In the popular card game Puerco, players exchange cards in the hope of assembling a winning hand before their competitors; Chile’s major operators are currently in the midst of their own high-stakes version of the game as...
Game changer: Fiden aims to broaden Chile’s regulatory horizons
Dubbed ‘popular casinos’, Chile’s slot parlours exist in a legal grey area, but with an estimated 33,000 machines operating outside of casinos, the Association of Operators, Manufacturers and Importers of Electronic Entertainment (Fiden) is lobbying hard for the slots sector to be regulated, explains the association’s vice president, Sebastián Salazar.
Fiden has been lobbying to regularise slot machines in Chile,...
Chilean operators look to appeal against municipal licensing process
A ruling by the Chilean Supreme Court has cleared the way for the national regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juegos, to recommence the tender process for the country’s seven municipal casino licences but a number of major operators are unhappy with the move.
The Chilean Supreme Court has unanimously rejected six protection appeals filed by casino operators Enjoy, Marina...
Ed Roberts underlines the importance of Juegos Miami
Argentina-based Ed Roberts has become the first indigenous Latin American company to book stand space at Juegos Miami (May 31 - 2 June, The Biltmore, Miami).
The manufacturer, distributor and operator of equipment for both the bricks-and-mortar and online casino sectors is active in countries including Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, the Dominican Republic and throughout the Caribbean.
Ed Roberts welcomes the...
BMM Testlabs receives accreditation in Chile
BMM Testlabs continues its game and systems certifications for land based and online gaming in South America with new Chilean accreditation.
The world's leading gaming testing laboratory, BMM Testlabs, received an accreditation to provide testing and certification services from the Superintendencia De Casinos De Juego for the country of Chile.
Commenting on the new accreditation, Martin Storm, BMM's President & CEO...
Huenchumilla defines the regulated industry in Chile
The regulated casino industry in Chile, based on a casino resort model, is engaged in an ongoing battle with unregulated slot parlours, dubbed ‘popular casinos’, with an estimated 33,000 illegal machines operating throughout the country. Sun Dreams’ Mariela Huenchumilla explains the company’s efforts to delineate the nation’s legal industry.
As head of Responsible Gaming for Sun Dreams, Mariela Huenchumilla, has...
Chilean casino licensing process stirs conflict between regulator and operators
In the coming days, the Chilean Supreme Court will define the way forward in the convoluted tender for the country’s seven municipal casino licences, a process that after more than a year of delay is causing conflict between operators and the authorities.
Delays over the tender for the seven municipal casino licences are provoking a furore amongst the major players...
Dream big: Sun Dreams looks to new horizons
2016 was a landmark year for Chilean operator Sun Dreams as the firm completed its merger with Sun International in June and opened a new venue in Panama. Patricio Herman, the company’s Gaming Business Director, gives his take on what will be the challenges and opportunities for Sun Dreams in the year ahead.
International Casino Review: What were the...
Regulation on the horizon for Chile’s slot machines?
A persistent issue for Chile’s regulator, the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ), has been the steady growth of illegal gaming in ‘neighbourhood slots’.
Despite the fact that slot machines outside of casinos are strictly prohibited, these establishments, often situated in small businesses and shops, have been able to proliferate due to loopholes in local government regulations which do not...
Juegos Miami - Illegal gaming drives problem gambling
Combating illegal gambling should go hand in hand with developing self-regulation. This was the consensus among the panellists on the Regional Spotlight on Responsible Gaming at Juegos Miami.
The Regional Spotlight on Responsible Gaming at June’s Juegos Miami highlighted that, beyond the loss in revenue, there is a higher human cost to illegal slot machines which are targeted directly at...
Guidelines out for Chile’s latest licence tender
Operators interested in gaining a foothold in Chile’s expanding casino industry should look to its regulator’s website, where new guidelines as to the application procedure for one of seven new licences have been published.
According to a press release from Chilean casino regulator the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego, operators interested in vying for one of Chile’s seven upcoming casino...
South America News Round Up
A police-raid in Venezuela has seen an illicit gambling venue closed down. Officers of the Directorate for Intelligence and Strategy (DIS) seized 18 slot machines at a house in Guárico state last month.
Meanwhile, equipment investment firm Bravo Multinational has announced that it will purchase 500 slot and video poker gaming machines from a casino operator in Nicaragua. Centro de...
Reinvention required: ACCJ president speaks out over Latin America’s casino industry
Ahead of his introductory address at the inaugural Juegos Miami event in May, Marcelo D’Amato calls for Latin American operators to do more in order to attract younger players to their venues.
As president of the Chilean Casino Association (ACCJ) and executive director of international Latin American gaming operator, Latin Gaming, Marcelo D’Amato is something of an authority when it...
Chile begins tender process for new casino concessions
Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SJC), the independent body focused on the regulation of Chile’s gambling industry, has opened the tender process for seven new casino concessions.
The cities where new concessions will be awarded are Arica, Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, Pucón, Puerto Varas and Natales.
This process is the first one to be undertaken under Law No. 20,856, which...
