COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Juan Camilo Carrasco, Asensi Abogados
• hotels included in the National Tourism Register; • various additional economic activities can be per- formed; • bars, restaurants and similar establishments; • postal services and money transfer services; and • online recharge and recharge card PINs for tel- ephones. An operator licensed with a concession contract is solely responsible in the eyes of the law and the regulator. A retailer that offers real sporting events bets/fixed-odds bets, and virtual events acts under an extension of the operator’s authorisation (eg, as a franchise). Instant Prize Games These correspond to a game against the house, when the player is given the possibility of predicting a num- ber, letter, image, symbol and/or combination, which must coincide with the one generated by a random number generator (RNG) as determined by the rules of the game. It is established that only certain brands of games may continue to operate under the immediate prize modality, such as: • Aviator; • Lucky Super 6; and • Cops and Robbers. (This regulation has been partially challenged before the Council of State.) It is also stated that Keno and lottery-type games may not be offered as immediate prize games. Nevertheless, the Colombian regulator is working on a new regulation regarding instant prize games that is expected to be published in 2026. Keno The recently issued Agreement 7 of 2024 regulates the operation of Keno, which falls into the category of nov- elty games. The regulations include specific guidelines for requesting authorisation to operate Keno through a new concession contract regime and the operating conditions. The interested party must comply with the
legal and technical requirements, and must request authorisation from Coljuegos through a concession contract, which differs from the current concession contract, which includes the other verticals. 2.2 Land-Based Gambling The regime for land-based gambling falls under national regulation. Coljuegos, as the regulator, grants authorisation through a concession contract to oper- ate any of the following games: • poker; • roulette; • METs; • spherometers; • bingo; • other casino and table games; and • racing and virtual sports betting (ACDV). Land-based gaming is commonly known as localised gaming, which must be operated by legal entities in commercial establishments, where the physical pres- ence of the player is a necessary condition for betting. For land-based casinos, the minimum number of gaming instances required for authorisation is 80 in total per concession contract, and the minimum per establishment depends on the number of inhabitants the municipality has, pursuant to Decree 1905 of 2008 and Decree 1144 of 2010. The quantity of games is regulated based on the size of the municipality/city or region, according to the National Department of Statistics. Poker Under the Gambling Act, poker is categorised as a land-based game and must be included as a type of game authorised to be offered on the premises of the operator. Bingo Bingo in Colombia is part of localised gaming and, for the purpose of its authorisation, a minimum number of seats is established depending on the number of inhabitants of the municipality in which the game is to be offered.
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