Online gambling in Argentina: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Argentina?

Gambling competence sits with the 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), each with its own regulator, tender, fees and technical rules; the national level adds a criminal offence for unlicensed operation (Criminal Code section 301 bis) and an indirect tax of 2.5% to 15% on player deposits. CABA (LOTBA) and the Province of Buenos Aires (IPLyC) hold most of the market and both licence lists are closed, Córdoba and Mendoza are largely allocated, and Santa Fe awarded four sports-betting licences in June 2026. A national advertising-ban bill passed the Chamber of Deputies in November 2024 and was still stalled in the Senate in September 2026.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Argentina?

• Lotería de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires S.E. (LOTBA) — Regulates and licenses online gaming agencies in the City of Buenos Aires (live since December 2021)
• Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (IPLyC) — Licenses the Province of Buenos Aires's seven online operators under Law 15,079 and Decree 181/19
• Instituto Provincial de Juegos y Casinos de Mendoza (IPJyC) — Licenses up to seven online operators in Mendoza under Law 9,267 and publishes market statistics

Argentina gambling licence: how it works

Each jurisdiction licenses separately and a licence covers only players located in that territory, so national reach means a sequence of provincial licences, each with geolocation, a .bet.ar domain and a link to the regulator's control system. CABA issues five-year permits (extendable once) but closed its register in June 2024, so entry is by acquiring a licensed entity. The Province of Buenos Aires awarded seven 15-year, non-renewable licences by tender in 2020, all live. Córdoba granted eight of up to twenty licences under Law 10,793 (four live), Mendoza's seven are active, and Santa Fe authorized four sports-betting platforms in mid-2026 after tender 104/25. Tenders typically require a local company, often partnered with a land-based licensee, guarantees and laboratory certification.

What an applicant needs

• Local company; several tenders require partnership with a provincial land-based or lottery licensee
• Financial solvency, audited statements, performance guarantee and disclosure of controlling persons
• Platform and game certification by a laboratory registered with the regulator, plus connection to its monitoring system
• Geolocation limiting play to the licensing jurisdiction and a .bet.ar domain with the regulator's seal
• Responsible-gaming program, self-exclusion integration and age verification (biometric in Córdoba; at first deposit or withdrawal in CABA)
• Registration with ARCA for the indirect tax and with the UIF as an AML reporting entity

Gambling taxes in Argentina

• Operators: Federal indirect tax of 2.5% to 15% of net player deposits (Law 27,346 as amended by Law 27,591; Decree 293/2022), plus provincial canon and turnover tax on GGR, corporate income tax at the 41.5% rate for gambling operators, VAT on rake-type fees and the 0.6% bank credits and debits tax.
• Players: No national tax on winnings is collected in practice; the Province of Buenos Aires began a 2% retention on prizes from online slots in September 2026 (Resolution 1149/26) for the FOPIS social fund.
• Also: The deposit tax is 2.5% for Argentine-resident operators registered with ARCA that meet investment (ARS 200 million) and payroll conditions, 5% for other registered residents, 7.5% for unregistered residents, 10% where a registered foreign party is involved and 15% for unregistered foreign parties or low-tax jurisdictions; it is collected every 15 days. ARCA General Resolution 5791/2025 updated the registry procedure in November 2025.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Rules are provincial: responsible-gaming messaging, no targeting of minors and advertising only by licence holders; regulators pursued influencers promoting unlicensed sites in 2025 under section 301 bis. The national bill approved by Deputies in November 2024 would ban almost all gambling advertising and sponsorship; it had no Senate committee report as of September 2026, and in May 2026 the executive filed a competing bill that keeps advertising for licensed platforms and focuses on blocking illegal ones.

Responsible gaming

Each jurisdiction runs a self-exclusion registry (CABA under Resolution 80-LOTBA/19, the Province of Buenos Aires under its compulsive-gambling program) and requires deposit and time limits, age 18+, prevention messaging and a ban on credit to players. Biometric identity checks are spreading: Córdoba at registration, CABA at first deposit or withdrawal.

Identity and age verification

Identity and age verification at registration, personal non-transferable accounts, exclusion of social-welfare beneficiaries and checks against provincial self-exclusion lists; AML duties under UIF Resolution 194/2023 apply independently of the licence.

Payments

Bank transfers (CBU/CVU), virtual wallets and debit or credit cards accepted by the regulator; payments from accounts that receive social-assistance benefits, transfers between player accounts and operator loans are prohibited. Foreign-exchange controls affect repatriation and payments to foreign suppliers.

Notable restrictions

• A licence covers only players located in the licensing province or city; play from elsewhere must be blocked
• Unlicensed operation is a crime punishable by three to six years' imprisonment (section 301 bis)
• No credit to players and no deposits from social-benefit accounts
• Mandatory .bet.ar domain and regulator seal
• CABA and Province of Buenos Aires licence lists are closed; entry is by acquisition or future tenders

Argentina iGaming market: size, players and payments

Statista's Digital Market Outlook, cited by El Economista, projected online gambling revenue of about USD 1.57 billion in 2025 with 4.6 million online players; only some provinces publish regulator data, so national totals are estimates.

ALEA's national survey (October 2025, 3,858 adults) found 71% of people who bet do so through digital platforms, paying mainly with virtual wallets and transfers.

Play is predominantly mobile; Argentina had about 64.7 million active mobile lines and 90% internet use in 2025 (El Economista).

Eleven agencies are live in CABA and seven in the Province of Buenos Aires (including Betano, Betsson, BetWarrior, bplay and Stake), with seven in Mendoza and four in Córdoba; ENACOM and ALEA had blocked more than 300 unlicensed sites by 2025.

Timeline: how Argentina got here

1. 2016-12Law 27,346 creates the indirect tax on online betting and section 301 bis of the Criminal Code
2. 2018-12Province of Buenos Aires Law 15,079 authorizes seven online licences; CABA creates online gaming (Resolution 321-LOTBA/18)
3. 2020-11IPLyC awards the seven Province of Buenos Aires licences; Mendoza passes Law 9,267
4. 2021-12First licensed agencies go live in CABA; Córdoba passes Law 10,793
5. 2022-06Decree 293/2022 brings the federal deposit tax into force at 2.5% to 15%
6. 2024-06CABA closes its online licence register; Mendoza tenders its last two licences
7. 2024-11Chamber of Deputies approves a national advertising-ban bill, which stalls in the Senate
8. 2026-06Santa Fe awards four sports-betting licences under tender 104/25 (Decree 1004/2026)
9. 2026-09Province of Buenos Aires applies a 2% retention on online slot prizes for the FOPIS fund

Outlook

Two competing national bills sit in the Senate: the 2024 Deputies text with a near-total advertising ban and biometric age checks, and the executive's May 2026 bill centered on blocking unlicensed platforms and payments; neither had passed as of September 2026. Provinces are tightening rather than opening: expect more biometric verification, prize retentions like the Province of Buenos Aires's 2% FOPIS levy and re-tenders of revoked Córdoba licences rather than new CABA permits. Foreign-exchange rules remain a practical constraint for foreign investors.

Launching in Argentina with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). Argentine licences are granted to local companies, usually alongside a land-based partner, so the operator holds each provincial licence and runs its .bet.ar brands on GameBridge; GameBridge holds no Argentine licence and there is no international-licence route to Argentine residents.

An Argentine brand on GameBridge runs in Spanish (Latin America) with an ARS wallet and one geo-fenced site configuration per licensed jurisdiction, so a CABA licence and a Province of Buenos Aires licence operate as separately reported properties under one back office. Geolocation admits only players inside each territory, biometric identity steps are switched on where the province requires them, and provincial self-exclusion registries are checked at login. Local wallets, transfers and cards are connected on request through the operator's providers, social-benefit account blocks are enforced, and certification packages are prepared for the laboratories registered with each regulator.

• Spanish (Latin America) site language and ARS wallet
• Per-jurisdiction site instances with geolocation fencing and separate reporting
• Biometric identity and age verification configurable per province
• Provincial self-exclusion checks and deposit, loss and time limits
• Wallets, transfers and cards on request through the operator's local providers
• Certification packages for GameBridge Studios and Originals releases

Football betting, slots and live casino carry the market, with crash games and poker growing; the aggregated catalog brings the studios already approved in CABA and the Province of Buenos Aires, and GameBridge Studios builds football-themed exclusives to a licensee's brief with certification-ready documentation.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Gambling Laws and Regulations 2026: Argentina — ICLG / MF Estudio, accessed 2026-09-11
• Decreto 293/2022 — Impuesto indirecto sobre apuestas online — Presidencia de la Nación, accessed 2026-09-11
• Juego online en la Provincia de Buenos Aires — Lotería de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, accessed 2026-09-11
• Juego en Línea — Institucional — Instituto Provincial de Juegos y Casinos de Mendoza, accessed 2026-09-11
• Santa Fe autoriza cuatro operadores de apuestas online — Focus Gaming News, accessed 2026-09-11
• Congreso: dos proyectos enfrentados por la regulación de las apuestas online — Infobae, accessed 2026-09-11
• Provincia de Buenos Aires aplicará una retención del 2% a los premios de apuestas online — La Nación, accessed 2026-09-11
• Argentina alcanzará 4,6 millones de jugadores online en 2025 — El Economista, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.