Best Online Casinos in Mexico & Gambling Regulations
Mexico has somewhat of a storied past with its relationship with gambling and while the country is called home by a massive population it is only just in recent years that the online scene has really managed to explode. Now that the Latin American market has garnered much more interest from the industry, more and more choices and benefits are becoming available to Mexican players. Despite this, the current legislation forbids local operations from allowing access to locals, while overseas establishments remain completely accessible. This means that people who are adamant about playing online will have to look at sites established in jurisdictions abroad.
Top Casinos Accepting Players In Mexico
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All of the online casinos accessible by locals will be operating from abroad. Accessing them will take you outside the option of being able to take legal recourse, should anything go wrong. Additionally, the current regulations mean that Mexico is essentially an unregulated market for overseas casinos. This has the adverse effect of attracting black market operations, due to the lack of oversight. As such players must remain extra vigilant when looking to sign up at a new site. Asking yourself a few questions to establish an impression of a site is a good start to keeping yourself from being scammed. There are of course plenty of legitimate sites that are accessible from Mexican players, yet it remains important to be able to distinguish what exactly makes the site legitimate and worth your while.
- Is the casino licensed?
- What are the key policies of the casino’s licensing authority?
- Are your preferred payment methods accepted?
- Does the site also offer sports betting options?
- Will you be able to participate in any promotions or loyalty programs?
The reviews and articles we provide here at GoodLuckMate are written by unbiased industry veterans. The aim is to provide you with a source of reliable and up-to-date information about various establishments and industry happenings. Keeping yourself tuned in with us will allow you to keep yourself informed, giving you the opportunity to get the best gaming experience possible.
Gambling Regulation - Secretaría de Gobernacion
Formally speaking, all forms of gambling had been illegal since 1947. This didn’t stop independent operations from setting up shop, many of which were tolerated to various extents. The government eventually admitted defeat and opened up the legislation in 2004, finally ending decades of prohibition. Authority was given to the Ministry of the Interior, known locally as the Secretaría de Gobernacion. The ministry was given the authority to distribute licenses to local organizations that could be used for both land-based and online activities. A thorny compromise was added though, as local online operations were only permitted to offer their services to players from abroad.
The ironic thing is that the government makes little to no effort to block owverseas operations from allowing Mexican residents to access their sites. As such, all of the potential tax revenue benefits instead head to the country that the organization is registered in. This also creates an unregulated layer that operates more effectively than the supposed regulated standard. This strange contradiction doesn’t work to the benefit of the country or the players, which makes us hope that the legislation will again be looked at in the near future so that the country can elevate itself to a truly regulated market.
Localized Online Casinos
The number of online casinos looking to break into the Latin American market has been on the rise over the past few years, meaning that more and more operations are starting to provide better localization options for the region. As Mexico is one of the largest and most populous of the Latin American countries, it is clear that there is a lot of incentive for casinos to specifically look at Mexican players. A country with a population of over 126 million is an attractive prospect for any establishment, which will then look towards how it can best cater to such an audience. This means implementing language settings, payment options, as well as a greater representation of localized cultural and sporting events.
Gambling with Mexican Pesos
Online casinos have effectively been able to operate in Mexico since the early 2000s. Adding that to the large population of the country means that there is a lot of incentive to provide currency and payment options for players wishing to use Mexico Pesos. This is becoming especially more prominent as more and more organizations look to make it big in the Latin American market. Currently, it is still possible to come across casino after casino that is unable to support the currency, but that possibility is only getting smaller as time goes on. The number of payment options also grows at a rapid rate. E-wallets have been particularly popular with players for a long time, however, recently cryptocurrencies have been hitting the scene in a big way. Regardless of your preferred payment options, you can afford to be a little picky when it comes to picking a casino with Mexican Pesos available.
Casinos in Mexico
Mexico is a vast country with a lot of beautiful nature and culturally significant sights. This has naturally been a big attraction to tourists from around the world, which also lead to a lot of land-based casinos opening their doors. Now lots of casinos can be found, especially close to the border with the US. Most of these establishments have their sights set on tourists rather than locals. There are however still plenty of venues set up for locals, including sports betting shops. This gives Mexico’s gambling scene a very ‘DIY’ vibe that the government does not have full control of. The combination of regulating the industry, while allowing unlicensed casinos to freely operate does not take advantage of either situation. Players are not able to enjoy the safety that comes from a regulated market while having several restrictions imposed on them on a local level.
Dispute resolution – can I get help from a third party?
A gambling license is intended to protect players, and one of its main functions is to provide a mechanism for resolving disputes when they come up. If you have a dispute with a casino, and the casino is being unreasonable, the gambling authority will help you. For many licenses, this means you can contact the gambling authority to get help processing your withdrawals, claiming money the casino has debited from your account, or resolving other disputes that might arise. The likelihood that the gambling authority will help you in ways that are effective, however, depends on the procedures they have in place for this. This is yet another reason why choosing to play at a casino that has a safe license is important.
Getting help directly from the gambling authority is not always necessary, or even an option. A lot of regulators have now enforced third-party dispute resolution. This means casinos must have an agreement with an arbitrator who will look into disputes on the behalf of players from a particular casino. This ensures your dispute will be reviewed by an objective third party. All trusted online casinos have information about arbitration on their websites if they use this option, or they’ll have the contact information for the gambling authority you should consult. However, you should always try to resolve your issues with the casino first, and a lot of casinos have separate email addresses specifically for handling complaints.
Secure payments – can I trust a casino with my money?
If you’re worried about the security of the transactions you’re making at a casino, you should look for a logo with the acronym PCI DSS. This stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and this is something the payment industry has created. If you see this logo, it means the casino can be trusted for safe money transactions since they follow all of the rules set by the payment industry. Information about this can also be found in an FAQ section on the casino’s website.
Another thing to look out for in terms of payments is where your money is kept while you play. Some gambling authorities, all of the best ones actually, regulate what the casino can do with your money while they are holding it. Your money shouldn’t go into a general bank account held by the casino; it should go into an account that is strictly for holding player funds. This means that as long as you have the money in your player account, it can’t be spent by the casino. Your deposit will be kept separate from the operating funds of the casino until your player account is empty, which will happen if you make a funds withdrawal or if you lose the money while playing.Fair gaming – do the games give me a fair chance to win?
The best known system tool for ensuring that a casino offers fair games is eCogra; however, there are other providers that also offer these kinds of systems. You want to make sure that the casino is using a certified third-party control system to ensure that the games of chance you’re playing are actually based on chance and not on other types of metrics. Rigged games are ones that have been set up to pay out less than they claim to or ones that give some players a greater chance of winning than others.
The eCogra logo can often be found in the footer of the casino’s website, but not all casinos choose to display it. If you can’t see this logo, go to the FAQs and see if you can find information about random number generators. If there are no FAQs on the site, check out their terms and conditions or contact the casino’s support and ask how they ensure their games are safe.
Encrypted website – how is my information kept safe?
An SSL-encrypted website should be mandatory for any casino, and very few casinos operate without this or similar safe encryption features. Always keep in mind that you are giving the casino quite a bit of sensitive information, including your payment details. When you’re uploading and sending documents to verify your identity, you want to make sure that no unauthorized third-party has access to them. Site security, therefore, doesn’t only include the website itself but also what the casino does on the backend. You should always look into a casino’s data security. You’ll normally find information about this in their terms and conditions and their privacy policy. If in doubt, contact their support and ask for more detailed information.
Most trustworthy casinos have information about site security in the website footer, so simply scroll down and look for the logo of a well-known security system.
Gambling license – can I play at a casino from my country?
The gambling license a casino operates under will have a big impact on your security. Not all licenses are equally safe for players for the simple reason that they are issued by different gambling authorities that work in different ways and have different rules. The rules and regulations may be quite similar, but the way they are enforced is a different story entirely. For example, if a casino doesn’t comply with the regulations, some gambling authorities may just issue a fine while others may revoke the casino’s license outright. How often gambling authorities show up for an unscheduled inspection or control will also vary.
The biggest differences between a safe, high quality gambling license and one that isn’t as good will usually show up in the areas of fair gaming, dispute resolution and the rules and systems for identifying and handling problem gamblers (responsible gambling). If your country of residence has its own gambling authority, playing at casinos that are licensed by them will be the safest option for you. Other international licenses that can be trusted are issued by the Malta Gambling Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority. Curacao eGaming is getting better at protecting players whereas licenses from Panama and Costa Rica, for instance, are considered less safe. The worst option is obviously a casino with no license whatsoever.
Our casino experts have tried and tested all aspects of each and every casino, so you can feel confident when signing up.
