Masgol.co Receives Online Gambling License

Local casino operator Inverstark SAS has been granted an online gambling license by the Colombian government, making it the country’s 7th online gambling site.

 

Earlier this week, Coljuegos, Colombia’s Gaming Regulator, announced that Inverstark, which currently runs a range of gaming venues and also develops technology for land-based gaming, has started offering online gambling using the Masgol.co domain. As of now, the site only offers bingo products and sports betting (legally limited).

 

The license is valid for a period of 5 years and it cost the company about COP3.2 billion to acquire (around US$1.2 million) it.

 

Coljuegos had managed to generate around COP41.8 billion as revenue in the last month of 2017, out of which, COP1.6 billion was sourced exclusively from its licensees.

 

Juan B. Perez Hidalgo, the President of Coljuegos stated that the gaming regulator is currently looking at 2 more applicants that are looking to begin online gambling operations. However, he did not mention when these two applicants would be identified.

 

A move to end illegal gambling

 

Coljuegos is working towards ending illegal online gambling by granting licenses. Masgol is the seventh licensee since the first one was approved in June 2017. It is, however, the first one to acquire licensing in 2018. The previous applicant, Miljugada, acquired its license in December 2017.

 

Coljuegos is targeting around 20 licensees by the time the 2018 FIFA World Cup begins, which is supposed to be sometime this summer.

 

The gaming regulator had also blacklisted over 300 illegal domains in 2017 and is now going after illegal land-based casinos. A report from the regulator, published this month, indicated that around 3,933 illegal machines were destroyed in 2017. This is estimated to be 16% more than the number of machines destroyed in 2016 and also the highest so far.

 

Greater penalties

 

For 2018, Coljuegos is looking to increase its efforts towards curbing illegal gambling. It has announced more stringent penalties for offenders including 8-year prison sentences and fines as high as COP55 million.

 

Colombia approved regulated online gambling in 2016 and it was the first South American country to do so. Though Coljuegos hasn’t yet signed the first online poker operator yet, the likelihood hasn’t diminished. In fact, the possibility of an online poker operator became apparent as soon as the regulator announced that it would be permitting licensees to share online poker profits with licensed operators from markets outside Colombia.