Millions of online gamblers in Buenos Aires province could find themselves on unlicensed, unregulated platforms if local lawmakers push through a proposed outright ban on internet betting.
That is the core concern raised by Gabriel Buenos, regulatory affairs senior manager at Kaizen Gaming, whose Betano brand currently holds an active licence in the province.
Speaking to industry outlet NEXT.io, Buenos argued that restricting the regulated market does not eliminate demand, but instead redirects it toward operators with no accountability to local authorities.
“Many players don’t know if a site is licensed or not. But when a player chooses an offshore site, they lose all these protections.”
The warning comes as Buenos Aires province legislators weigh two separate and competing proposals designed to tighten restrictions around online gambling activity.
The more aggressive of the two would impose a complete prohibition on online gambling, a measure that Kaizen Gaming views as particularly damaging to consumer safety outcomes.
Buenos confirmed that Betano is actively monitoring both proposals alongside the broader legislative debate unfolding in the provincial parliament.
Kaizen Gaming has been careful to frame its position not as opposition to regulation, but as advocacy for rules that preserve the viability of licensed operators in the marketplace.
“Our concern is with any measure that makes the regulated offering unviable, because that would push players towards illegal sites,” Buenos said.
Central to the operator’s argument is the scale of the existing illegal gambling market, which Buenos believes lawmakers must factor into any serious policy discussion.
Kaizen Gaming contends that heavy-handed restrictions, rather than shrinking gambling activity, historically concentrate it among offshore providers that offer gamblers no recourse when disputes arise.
The province of Buenos Aires represents one of Argentina’s most significant regulated iGaming jurisdictions, making the outcome of this legislative process consequential for the wider regional market.
Betano’s licensed presence there gives Kaizen Gaming a direct commercial stake in how the debate resolves, adding urgency to the company’s public intervention.
