New companies look set to enter bidding for Chilean casino concessions
The news comes as a report shows a decline in land-based gaming revenue in Chile.
Chile.- With the bidding process open for new casino operating permits in the municipalities of Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, and Pucón, newly created companies look set to enter the competition in Coquimbo and Pucón.
Diario Financiero has reported that a private investment fund managed by Alza is expected to enter the tender for the concession to operate the Hotel & Casino in Coquimbo, relinquished by Enjoy in August of last year. Through two subsidiary companies, the fund Octium established the new entity Casino de Juegos de Coquimbo this month.
The Gaming Control Board opened the bidding process in February and is considering granting the permit to operate the facility for the next 15 years. The bid submission hearing is scheduled for August 11, 2026, at 10am.
As for Pucón, another location previously operated by Enjoy, Diario Financiero reported the incorporation of a privately held corporation called Casino Volcán Pucón SA. The signatories of the corporation are Andrés Raggio Guerrero, former Treasury Manager at Enjoy and current Finance Manager at Clínica Las Condes, and the company Inversiones Gran Pucón SpA (whose main representative is Raggio).
Land-based gaming in Chile
According to the recently released annual report from the Asociación Chilena de Casinos y Juegos (ACCJ), gross gaming revenue from land‑based gaming in Chile fell by 4.5 per cent year‑on‑year to CLP509.8bn (€514m) in 2025, while tax receipts dropped 4.7 per cent to CLP214m.
Chile counted 25 casinos in operation during 2025: 22 authorised under Law 19.995 plus three municipal venues in transition. Despite this steady footprint, casino visits declined by 7.2 per cent to 926,873. Meanwhile, the ACCJ’s report estimates that the unlicensed online gambling market took $3.1bn.
Online gambling lawsuit
The 16th Civil Court of Santiago has been hearing the lawsuit filed by Latamwin alleging unfair competition against La Polla Chilena de Beneficencia. The lawsuit was filed by the Curaçao-licensed operator in April 2024 against the legal and administrative measures promoted by Polla Chilena to block access to online betting platforms in Chile.
During his testimony, Carlos Baeza, spokesperson for the Chilean Association of Online Betting Platforms (aPAL), argued that actions taken by the state-owned company damaged the reputation of operators and were intended to exclude competition from the market.
“Polla Chilena is not against online betting; it is against competition in online betting,” Baeza stated before the court.
He argued that “there is no law in our legal system that prohibits all gambling,” and recalled that the Public Prosecutor’s Office decided not to pursue various lawsuits related to alleged illegal gambling.
On behalf of the defence, the former president of Polla Chilena de Beneficencia, Macarena Carvallo, asserted that she never made statements specifically directed against the operator and indicated that her public comments always referred to online platforms in general.
The former executive also defended La Polla Chilena’s warnings about gambling addiction and problem gambling, stating that they were based on studies funded by the Responsible Gambling Corporation. Furthermore, she acknowledged that during her tenure, a campaign was launched presenting Polla as “the only legal Chilean betting company,” although she attributed that decision to the sales and marketing department.
