Inside Asian Gaming

and 166 electronic gamingmachines.The country also is home to the one of the largest Internet gambling industries in the world,licensing more than 200 operators. Types of Gaming • Lotteries • Online gaming • Casinos (40) • Slots (1,575) • Table games (257) Leading Operators • Thunderbird Resorts • Casinos Europa ECUADOR Ecuador’s 13 legal casinos are spreadacross five cities, with four located in the capital of Quito. Four more are located in Guayaquil, the largest city. Card room, lotteries and pari-mutuel betting on horse and greyhound racing and jai alai also are legal. Sports betting is legal and is extremely popular. Types of Gaming • Lotteries • Online gaming • Casinos: (13) • Slots (826) • Table games (78) Leading Operator • Baccarat Plus Enterprises PANAMA Eleven cities in Panama are home to 36 gambling facilities, including casinos, card rooms and pari- mutuel betting venues. The capital of Panama City hosts 23 casinos, among them the largest in the country, Casino Market Overview Metropolitan Region of Santiago, the capital city, where casinos are not allowed by law. A national regulatory body, Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego, oversees the licensing process and casino operations. In 2005 a new Casinos Law went into effect, which set a tax rate of 20 percent of gross win, the proceeds divided evenly between the host municipality and the regional government, and set a limit of 24 casinos nationwide, excepting a casino in Arica, which was created under a special law. In addition to the eight casinos already operating, 15 new licenses were approved in 2006, one of which was operational in the city of Pinto. The process of awarding the remaining 14 licenses began in January 2008with the expectation that each region should have at least one licensee. Chile also is home to six pari-mutuel facilities that offer horse and greyhound racing and machine gambling. Leading Operators • Casinos Austria International • Enjoy Group • Fischer • Latin Gaming • Sun International COLOMBIA Columbia is one of the most popular gambling destinations in Latin America. Its casinos, of which there are more than 20, are visited by both local residents and international tourists. Casinos offer baccarat, roulette, poker, betting and lottery games and slot machines. The capital of Bogota has the largest number of casinos with seven. The largest facility, Casino Caribe in Medellin, features 16 table games and 400 slot and video poker machines. There are also several bingo halls and more than 14,000 electronic gaming machines in operation nationwide. Pari- mutuel betting on horseracing also is legal. Types of Gaming • Locations (3,200) • Slots (casinos): 1,717 • Table games (103) • Poker tables (17) Leading Operators • Winner Group • Codere Group COSTA RICA Gambling flourishes in Costa Rica by virtue of the country’s popular tourist industry. Casinos are spread among 18 cities hosting a total of 40 legal venues. The capital of San Jose has the largest number with 18. The largest casino in the country is the Irazu Best Western & Casino Concorde in La Uruca, which has eight table games INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2008 36