...A Waiting Game


Lorien Pilling, Research Director, Global Betting and Gaming Consultants takes a closer look at the chequered history of bingo in Brazil - and what the future may hold.


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overnment policy and the attitude of politicians are very influential in determining the fate of gambling operators. It is for this reason than gambling businesses tend to favour political stability – at least they


know where they stand, even if the situation is not favourable. But in the countries of South America such stability is difficult to find in many cases. Witness Paraguay’s three attempts (so far) to run a successful casino tender in the last two years, or President Correa’s sudden decision in 2010 to make Ecuador “gambling free” despite plans from 2008 to use casinos to boost the country’s tourism industry. In Brazil, the long running saga of new regulation for the country’s Bingo sector has itself not been immune from changes in political will.


The story of the Bingo business in Brazil over the last two decades is one of mixed fortunes. In 1993 Law 8672 (“Zico Law”) made an amendment to the existing gaming law that allowed for the


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establishment of Bingo halls in order to raise money for sports. The law was further amended in 1998 to allow Bingo halls to house electronic Bingo terminals (EBTs).


When Luiz Lula da Silva came to power as president in 2002 he initially seemed in favour of promoting Bingo and games of chance in Brazil. But this stance changed dramatically in 2004 when an undercover video emerged. The film showed the then head of the State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro, Waldomiro Diniz, soliciting a payment from well- known gambling boss and numbers runner, Carlos Ramos. The video had been recorded two years earlier, in 2002, and Diniz had subsequently been employed on Lula’s presidential staff, which was embarrassing for a president who had campaigned on a reputation for honesty.


As a result of this scandal, a Presidential Decree ordered that every single bingo hall was closed under Presidential Decree pending a full scale


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