Chile's casino industry has grown dramatically in the last five years. By November 2009, Chile's new casinos had generated gross revenues of US$195m.

The Chilean Casino Control Board will accept applications for the remaining three licences to be granted under a 2005 law that allowed for up to 17 new casinos to be introduced in the country. The original process was suspended in late 2005 following allegations of corruption from outraged applicants.

Chile is on the verge of awarding its three remaining casino licences in a public tender process that should be concluding in August 2008. GamblingCompliance interviewed Francisco Leiva, head of the Chilean Casino Gaming Superintendence, about the prospect of the highly anticipated bid process and the potential of the booming market.

Chilean senators have passed legislation that would grant the country’s casino operators a two-month window to secure approval for their formal responsible gambling programmes from gaming regulators.

The Chilean Supreme Court is set to rule on Thunderbird’s challenge to its exclusion from the licensing process for 17 new casinos in Chile. A ruling in Thunderbird’s favour would undermine the entire process, says one observer.

The Chilean Casino Board recently opened a public consultation on proposed technical standards to be applied to gaming machines in the country’s existing seven casinos, as well as in the fifteen new establishments expected to open in the near future.

Chile’s recently expanded casino sector saw total gross revenues of US$26m last year, regulators said, with the Novomatic/Sun International ‘Monticello Grand’ resort quickly dominating the market following its opening last October.

Chile’s Casino Control Board has opened the way for international machine testing houses to become accredited in the South American country. According to new regulations that will soon take effect, all slot machines destined for use in Chilean casinos must first be certified by an approved testing house and registered with the Control Board.

Germany's Atronic Group has leapfrogged US rivals in gaining a secure foothold in Chile's nascent casino sector according to newly-released official records, as Novomatic's Monticello Grand resort near Santiago continues to drive the Andean gaming market to new heights.

Chilean moratorium set to end in September but uncertainty remains over new casino laws as tribunal reviews 2005 act.