Atlassino Academy · How casinos work · Lesson 6

Who runs Argentine casinos and who checks them

Each province makes its own gambling rules, and the answer to who runs its casinos is written in its own law. Here are the five answers, and who checks the room.

  • About 12 minutes
  • Illustrated hosts: Leo and Maya
  • Last checked 25 October 2026

You are at a casino in Argentina and something at the table goes wrong. Who is in charge of that room: the casino, the province, or someone else?

The short answer

Gambling is a matter for each province and for Buenos Aires City (CABA): each one regulates it in its own territory, and a game needs the authorisation of that province’s body. Who runs the casinos is written in each province’s own text, and the answer is not the same everywhere. In some provinces the state body runs them and the law rules out concessions; in others companies run them under a concession, licence or permit; in many the body may do either. Where the state body runs the rooms itself, the same body checks them. Where companies run them, the province’s body is their regulator: in Mendoza it authorises every game before a casino may offer it, and in Salta it approves the bet limits and decides disputes between a casino and a player.

Leo raises an open palm to ask a question over a finished hand while Maya looks at the small table sign beside them — two unequal circles, a dividing rule and two bars — with two cards face up on the felt and two uneven groups of chips beside them.
Leo smiling, explaining with an open hand.

Leoformer dealer · rules and maths

There is no single answer for the whole country, and that is the lesson. Each province wrote its own, so the way to find out who runs a room is to read what that province wrote.

Gambling is a matter for each province

Each jurisdiction, the provinces and Buenos Aires City (CABA), has the power to regulate gambling within its territory. To offer a game, a casino needs the authorisation of the competent body, and only the games each jurisdiction regulates may be offered.

Running or organising any form of gambling without that authorisation is a crime, punished with prison. The national tax agency keeps a list of the gambling body of each province and of Buenos Aires City (CABA).

Five answers to who runs the casinos

Read side by side, the provinces’ texts give five different answers. The table puts each province under the answer its own text gives, and quotes that text. It says what the law or the body writes, not who is behind a particular room today.

Who runs the casinos, province by provinceWhat each province’s own text says. The button beside each line shows the sentence it rests on.
ProvinceIts gambling bodyWhat the text says
The state body, with no concessions (2)
Buenos Aires City (CABA)Lotería de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires S.E.The City runs betting games directly and admits no privatisation or concession; gaming rooms concessioned to private companies are prohibited.
Buenos Aires ProvinceInstituto Provincial de Lotería y CasinosThe Province keeps the running of all its casinos for itself, and its constitution admits no privatisation or concession of the state bank.
The state body; the text names no one else (3)
CorrientesInstituto de Lotería y Casinos de CorrientesThe main purpose of the provincial institute is to run gambling games.
La RiojaAdministración General de Juegos de Azar de La RiojaThe purpose of the provincial body is pursued by regulating, controlling and running gambling rooms.
Santiago del EsteroCaja Social de Santiago del EsteroThe games allowed are the ones the State runs and the provincial government authorises.
The state body, or others it lets run them (9)
CordobaLotería de CórdobaEvery regulated activity needs a licence, and the licence names its holders and the length of their concession.
NeuquenInstituto Provincial de Juegos de Azar del NeuquénThe provincial institute was created to authorise, regulate, administer, run, oversee and control gambling.
Tierra del FuegoInstituto Provincial de Regulación de ApuestasThe provincial institute may act directly, or through concessions or permits to private parties; casino concessions go to public tender.
JujuyInstituto Provincial de Juegos de Azar de JujuyThe purpose of the provincial institute covers both authorising and running gambling games.
TucumanCaja Popular de Ahorros de la Provincia de TucumánAll gambling is prohibited, except the games that the provincial savings bank runs, administers or authorises.
FormosaInstituto de Asistencia Social de la Provincia de FormosaThe provincial institute holds the exclusive right to regulate, sell, run or grant concessions for gambling.
CatamarcaCaja de Prestaciones Sociales de CatamarcaThe provincial fund may authorise, administer, run, regulate and control gambling.
La PampaInstituto de Seguridad Social de la Provincia de La PampaThe provincial body may grant concessions or permits, for a limited time, to run the gaming rooms.
Santa CruzLotería para Obras de Acción Social de la Provincia de Santa CruzThe provincial lottery runs its games, casinos included, through agencies, official agents or concessionaires.
Both: rooms of the state body and rooms run by companies (2)
Entre RiosInstituto de Ayuda Financiera a la Acción SocialThe provincial body lists its casinos and its own slot rooms, and also slot rooms run under concession.
MendozaInstituto Provincial de Juegos y CasinosThe provincial institute runs the official games, including the bank games of the provincial casino; a company that meets the law’s conditions can obtain a permit to run a casino.
Companies, under a concession, licence or permit (5)
Santa FeCaja de Asistencia Social – Lotería de Santa FeThe provincial government may grant the running of casinos by concession, through a public tender, for a limited term.
MisionesInstituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos Sociedad del EstadoThe provincial body follows, in real time, the cash desks and tables of every permit holder.
Rio NegroLotería para Obras de Acción Social de la Provincia de Río NegroThe provincial lottery awarded a company the concession of several casinos, for a fixed term.
SaltaEnte Regulador del Juego de AzarGambling is run through licences that the provincial government grants.
ChubutInstituto de Asistencia Social de la Provincia del ChubutPrivate parties run casinos under a concession regime, with no more than one casino in each town.

For the provinces that are not in the table, the documents we read do not say who runs the rooms, and this page does not guess.

The two ends of the table are worth reading closely. Where the text rules out concessions, the state body runs the games itself, and the text does not let it hand them to a company. Where the text hands the rooms to companies, the company runs the floor, and the state body grants the concession, licence or permit and checks the room.

Who checks the room

In Buenos Aires Province, the Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos describes itself as responsible for the administration, running, control and authorisation of gambling in the whole province: one body does all four. There, the body that runs the casino is also the one that checks it. The institute counts ten casinos among the gambling it is responsible for, and lists them by name on its own page of the province’s casinos. Who runs the machines inside a given room, that page does not say.

In Salta, where the rooms are run under licences, the law names a separate body, the Ente Regulador del Juego de Azar, as its authority, with the power to issue the operating rules that enforce it.

Leo raising one finger, thinking something through.

Leoformer dealer · rules and maths

Both arrangements have a regulator. What changes is whether it is checking somebody else, or checking itself.

Who does what on the floor

Two provinces describe the floor in the most detail among the texts we read: the gambling law and the regulator’s page in Salta, and the casino regulations in Mendoza. Between them they split the work like this.

Who does what on the floorFrom the gambling law and the regulator’s own page in Salta, and the casino regulations in Mendoza.
The jobWhose jobWhere
Sets the minimum and maximum bet for each game, and sends them in for approval.Whoever runs the roomSalta
Approves those minimum and maximum bets, and checks that the tables keep to them.The regulatorSalta
Shows at every game, at all times, a table of the bets and what each one pays.Whoever runs the roomSalta
Records every game on closed-circuit cameras, and sends the recordings to the regulator every day.Whoever runs the roomSalta
Watches every authorised machine in the province, around the clock.The regulatorSalta
Decides a dispute between a licensee and a player.The regulatorSalta
Authorises each game before any casino may offer it, and any change in the number or place of tables.The regulatorMendoza
Keeps a register of excluded people, with a description and a photograph of each.Whoever runs the roomMendoza
Hands in the result of the traditional tables at the close of each day.Whoever runs the roomMendoza

“Whoever runs the room” is the licensee in Salta and the casino operator in Mendoza.

Two more rules from Mendoza belong here. The casino keeps closed-circuit cameras on the tables and machines, and keeps the recordings for as long as the institute says. And nobody who works at a casino, from a director to an employee, may play there, directly or through someone else.

Maya with a hand on her chest, speaking gently and seriously.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

Knowing who checks the room does not change what an evening costs. Set the limit for the evening before you go in, and keep to it whoever runs the casino.

If it stops feeling like a night out, the lines below are there for exactly that.

If it stops being fun

If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.

Show all provinces
0800-666-6006Buenos Aires City (CABA) · Línea de orientación por juego problemático (LOTBA) · Monday to Friday, 9 to 17
0800-444-4000Buenos Aires Province · Programa de Prevención y Asistencia al Juego Compulsivo (IPLyC)
0800-777-2983Cordoba · Línea 0800-777-AYUDA (Lotería de Córdoba) · 24 hours
0800-268-5640Santa Fe · Línea gratuita de la APRECOD (Santa Fe) · Every day, 8 to 24
0800-888-2202Entre Rios · Departamento Juego Responsable (IAFAS, PREVENJUEGO)
0261-424-7536Mendoza · Programa de Juego Responsable (IPJyC) · Monday to Friday, 8 to 14
0800-888-5836Misiones · Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (0800-888-LUDO)
0800-888-2008Chaco · Línea de Juego Responsable (Lotería Chaqueña)
0299-403-8900Neuquen · Líneas de contacto, orientación y tratamiento (IJAN, juego responsable) · Monday to Friday, 8 to 15
0800-222-1700Rio Negro · Línea de Orientación al Jugador Problemático (Lotería de Río Negro)
02901-433515Tierra del Fuego · Departamento Juego Responsable (IPRA, Ushuaia)
0800-555-7678Tucuman · Juego Responsable, Ley 8986 (Caja Popular de Ahorros)
0800-999-1314San Juan · Línea gratuita del Programa Provincial de Juego Responsable (Caja de Acción Social) · Monday to Friday, 08 to 12

If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country

Practice: who runs it, who does it

Level 1 gives what a province’s text says and asks who runs its casinos under it. Level 2 gives a job on the floor and asks whose job it is.

Nothing is bet here, and nothing is random. Each question is a set situation, and the answer comes from the text quoted on this page.

The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one question from it, with the answer.

Under this text, who runs the casinos of the province?

  • The state body The text: The City runs betting games directly and admits no privatisation or concession; gaming rooms concessioned to private companies are prohibited. The state body, with no concessions.
  • Companies Not by this text. The text: The City runs betting games directly and admits no privatisation or concession; gaming rooms concessioned to private companies are prohibited. The state body, with no concessions.
  • Either or both Not by this text. The text: The City runs betting games directly and admits no privatisation or concession; gaming rooms concessioned to private companies are prohibited. The state body, with no concessions.

The answer comes from what the province’s own text says about who runs the rooms. Where it gives the running to the state body, the answer is the state body; where it hands the rooms to companies, it is a company; where it allows both, or names rooms of both kinds, it is both.

Under the text of this province, who does this?

  • Whoever runs the room It is the regulator. The law gives the regulator the power to decide any dispute between licensees and players.
  • The regulator The law gives the regulator the power to decide any dispute between licensees and players.
  • The player None of these is the player’s job: the texts give it to the room or to the regulator.

The company or body that runs the room does the work of the floor and answers for it; the regulator authorises, approves, watches and decides disputes.

Every question in the practice run is worked out the same way: the text of the province, as it is quoted on this page, decides the answer.

How the practice run works

Where the questions come from. Level 1 is taken from the table of provinces above, with every one of its answers represented. Level 2 is the table of jobs on the floor. The wrong answers are named mistakes: taking a text that allows both for one that names only one, and giving a job of the room to the regulator, or the other way round.

One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one question of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself. Practising a question you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.

Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.

Check yourself

Maya with a finger raised and a knowing look.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.

A question marked “New situation” asks you to use the lesson on a case it did not show.

1Who makes the gambling rules for a casino in Argentina?

Show the answer

Answer: The province it stands in, or Buenos Aires City (CABA). Each jurisdiction regulates gambling within its own territory.

  • The casino, as long as it posts its rules A casino needs the authorisation of the province’s body before it may offer a game.
  • The province it stands in, or Buenos Aires City (CABA) Regulating gambling is a power each province kept for itself, and a game needs the authorisation of that province’s competent body.
  • One national law for the whole country The provincial lotteries themselves describe the rules as essentially local: each province regulates in its own territory.
2At a casino in Salta, a payout is not what the table of bets and payouts says. What does the province’s law say?

Show the answer

Answer: The licensee can be sanctioned, and the regulator decides disputes between licensees and players. The table has to match what is paid, and the regulator decides the dispute.

  • The licensee can be sanctioned, and the regulator decides disputes between licensees and players The law makes the posted table binding on the licensee and gives the regulator the power to decide the dispute.
  • Nothing: the casino decides The casino is one side of the dispute; the law gives the decision to the regulator.
  • The player has to accept the payout The law keeps the player’s own actions against the licensee open.
3In Buenos Aires Province, the provincial institute runs the casinos itself. Which body checks them? new situation

Show the answer

Answer: The same institute: its text gives it running and control together. One body runs the rooms and controls them.

  • The same institute: its text gives it running and control together The institute describes itself as responsible for the administration, running, control and authorisation of gambling in the province.
  • A separate national regulator Gambling is a provincial matter; there is no national regulator of casinos in the texts on this page.
  • Nobody: a casino the state runs is not checked Control is one of the institute’s own tasks, written next to running the games.

Back to the question we opened with. The province is in charge: its text says who runs the room, and its body checks it. Where a company runs the room, that body is the regulator; where the state runs it, it is the same body.

Where to go next, and further reading

18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page

Further reading

How it’s worked out

Rules, sources and hosts

Where the answers come from. Each line of the table rests on one text of that province: a provincial law, its summary in the legislative dossier of the national Congress library, the page of the provincial body, a provincial government announcement, or, for one province, the regulator’s mission as a casino operator quotes it on its own site. The publisher of each text is on its button. Where a law is quoted through the Congress library’s summary, the law itself was not read.

What the table does not say. It files a province by what its text says about running the rooms, not by who is behind a particular room. It does not say whether a given casino is open, who runs its machines, or how long a concession or licence still has to run: those are facts about rooms, and the texts here are about the rules. Who does what on the floor is given for the two provinces whose texts describe it; for the others, this page does not assume the same split.

Our readings. We read “explotación” as running the games, and “concesión”, “licencia” and “permiso” together as the ways a province hands a room to a company. The five answers and the short paraphrase of each text are ours; the sentence behind each is on its button, in Spanish.

What we are. This site is a reference book about casinos. It does not run one, is not a party to any of the arrangements described above, and is not registered, licensed or overseen by any of the bodies named on this page: every one of them is quoted here as a source, and none of them is quoted about us.

Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.

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