Three Argentine Provinces Agree To Introduce Shared Gambling Self-Exclusion System

Three Argentine provinces have signed an agreement to establish a shared gambling self-exclusion system, extending player protection measures across San Juan, Mendoza and San Luis for the first time.

The agreement, signed in Mendoza and announced by the San Juan government on 2 November, will allow individuals who voluntarily exclude themselves from gambling in one province to have their restrictions recognised across all three jurisdictions. The arrangement will cover both land-based gambling establishments and authorised online platforms, addressing gaps created by Argentina's province-by-province regulatory structure.

Provincial authorities have been given a maximum of 120 days to implement the system, which will replace the current arrangement under which self-exclusion measures are generally limited to the jurisdiction where an individual registers.

Provincial Regulators Agree To Coordinate Player Protection

The agreement was signed by representatives of the three provincial gambling authorities, including Juan Pablo Medina, President of San Juan's Caja de Acción Social (CAS), Ida Magdalena López, President of Mendoza's Provincial Institute of Games and Casinos (IPJyC), and Héctor Rodolfo Mazzina, head of San Luis's Caja Social y Financiera.

San Juan's CAS played a leading role in developing the agreement, which provincial officials have described as an unprecedented step towards coordinated gambling regulation. The initiative responds to concerns that individuals who voluntarily exclude themselves from gambling can continue participating by travelling to a neighbouring province where their restrictions are not recognised.

Medina highlighted the geographical proximity of the three provinces as a central reason for introducing a shared system. “It is very likely that someone who cannot gamble here in Mendoza will go to San Juan or San Luis,” he explained, emphasising the limitations of maintaining separate provincial registers.

The CAS President added that the agreement would extend existing safeguards beyond individual provincial boundaries, stating: “We maintain protection for our citizens by making it interregional.”

Agreement Addresses Gaps In Argentina's Provincial Gambling Framework

Gambling regulation in Argentina is primarily the responsibility of individual provinces, each of which establishes its own licensing requirements, supervisory arrangements and player protection measures. Although San Juan, Mendoza and San Luis already operate self-exclusion systems, those restrictions have historically applied only within their respective territories.

The new agreement will introduce a mechanism for recognising voluntary exclusions across all three jurisdictions, reducing the possibility of individuals circumventing restrictions by accessing gambling services elsewhere in the region. Once implemented, a person registering for self-exclusion through one participating authority will be able to receive equivalent protection across the wider network.

The three provinces have different gambling regulatory structures. San Juan's CAS oversees the sector and is preparing a tender for up to five online gambling licences, while Mendoza's IPJyC already regulates licensed online gambling alongside land-based operations under Provincial Law 9,267.

In San Luis, gambling regulation falls under the Caja Social y Financiera, although legislation establishing a replacement authority, ADEAS, has introduced the prospect of changes to its regulatory arrangements. The implementation status of that institutional transition has not been confirmed.

Despite these differences, the agreement establishes a common approach to recognising self-exclusion requests without requiring the three provinces to adopt identical gambling licensing frameworks.

Existing Self-Excluded Players Can Join Regional Register

Individuals already included in a provincial self-exclusion register will be offered the opportunity to voluntarily extend their restrictions to the new regional system. This arrangement is intended to ensure that existing participants can benefit from the broader protections without assuming that their previous registrations automatically authorise information sharing across jurisdictions.

For new participants, the coordinated system is expected to simplify the process of restricting gambling access throughout the three provinces. The authorities must now establish the operational arrangements necessary to exchange registration information and ensure that participating gambling businesses recognise the applicable restrictions.

The agreement also leaves open the possibility of additional Argentine provinces joining the initiative, potentially expanding the system into a wider interprovincial player protection network. However, no further jurisdictions have been confirmed as participants, and detailed technical arrangements for implementing the shared register have not yet been published.

San Juan, Mendoza and San Luis have committed to completing implementation within 120 days of the agreement. Once operational, the system will represent a significant development in Argentina's fragmented gambling regulatory environment, providing a coordinated approach to self-exclusion while preserving the individual licensing responsibilities of each provincial authority.