SB Regulations

[giggy]

Fabio,
Can you provide any information on the laws pertaining to land-based sports books (banca de deportes) in the DR? Specifically I’m interested in the license/fees and following the proper regulations. Any details or direction would be appreciated.

[Hillbilly]

There are tons of betting parlors all over the island. One of the owners is a Senator (Juancito Sports?)

Now if you want to go underground, that is another matter, not to be discussed here...

HB

[MrMike]

I investigated the idea once, a friend of mine wanted to invest in that kind of business so I looked into it for him, it turns out the biggest problem is that no new banca can open within 500 meters of an existing one, and almost every single spot in the country where it is legal to have one has one already.

So if youwant one, you will probably have to buy an existing one. You can bet that there are at least 100 people out there full time just checking to make sure there isn't some spot somewhere where you can put a banca that doesn't already have one.

P.S. This information is based on sports betting only and does not apply to numbers-only type bancas.

[giggy]

Thanks for the info, MrMike. I was not aware of the proximity restriction you mentioned, which is obviously very helpful.

HB, as for your question: Why? I've been to most of the parlors around SD. Very simply, I see a lot of room for improvement. I'm not looking to go underground... I'm looking for information which regulates this industry (license/fees, known obstacles, etc).

[Fabio J. Guzman]

The "Bancas de Apuestas" (Betting Parlors) are highly regulated and subject to increased taxes and fees whenever the government feels short of money. The relevant legal texts are:

Decree #423-91 and Regulations #54-92, 13-97 and 31-98.