Online poker is illegal in the United States and only the states of Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalized online poker. Ever since Black Friday in 2011, U.S online poker players were banned from playing in the U.S and this resulted in a majority of professional online poker players signing up with Mexican and Canadian online poker websites which allowed U.S players access.
The Mexican government in August were examining Gambling Laws and considering the legalization of poker, they have recently announced that a new gambling bill will be proposed in December. The new bill will make a number of significant changes to the online gambling and live gambling industry. The bill is expected to be approved before the end of Dec 2014 and if approved will ensure that there is a clear demarcation between Mexico’s online poker market and the international online poker market.
Gambling operators who want to operate in Mexico will be required to setup their servers within Mexico and have all their online players verified through a “dot.com.mx website.
Gambling operators who are not registered in Mexico and do not have their servers in the country will automatically have their ISPs blocked. This means that U.S online poker players who used Mexican poker websites before will no longer be able to access their accounts, should the new bill be approved.
Mexico has a population in excess of 120 million people and a large number of Mexicans spend their time on mobile and social gaming applications. The Mexican government believes that the online gambling industry in Mexico will provide significant amounts of tax revenue for the development of the country. Marketer.com has a published a report which suggests that Mexico could have over 18 million online gamblers by the end of 2018.
The Mexican government will analyze the bill this week before making a final decision. One of the issues discussed will be the current economy and the amount of money Mexicans actually spend on online gaming. A Mexican user who goes by the username mos_shark on the popular TwoPlusTwo poker forum wrote
Simply judging by the amount of actual Mexican players I see in the tournament/sit and go lobbies, I don’t think we have a big enough player pool to sustain a healthy poker economy. 80% of the population is basically poor.. excess “gambling” money [isn’t there]. Mexican pros and U. S. players playing on Mexican soil should be monitoring this closely.
