The Colombian gambling regulator hopes regulated keno can be offered to players in the “next few months.”
Coljuegos revealed in June that it was aiming to regulate the game, which has been offered illegally by operators in recent years.
On Thursday, the regulator revealed that it is preparing pre-contractual documents ahead of opening a public tender for keno operators.
“To ensure transparency in the process and the plurality of providers, the board of directors of Coljuegos has left open the possibility of having one or more Keno operators in one or more regions of the national territory,” said Marco Emilio Hincapié, the president of the watchdog.
“We hope that, in the next few months, this game can be offered to players.”
Coljuegos has forecast regulated keno to reach sales of over COP2.8bn (£530,649) and transfers to Colombia’s health ministry of over COP485m (£91,919) over the next five years.
Operators will pay the regulator between 15 per cent and 17 per cent in tax to operate keno, plus a one per cent administration fee.
Players will be able to purchase tickets from retail outlets or online, with bets between COP1,000 (18p) and COP20,000 (£3.79) allowed – up to a maximum win of COP1.68bn (£318,000).
“This will be the first game in Latin America to feature blockchain technology in ticket issuance. With this, we will be able to guarantee that all transactions and bets are verifiable and traceable, thus eliminating concerns about manipulation of identification codes and transactions made during bet processing,” Hincapié said.
“We are changing the history of the entity. The issuance of regulations for new games such as keno, as well as the fight against illegality, has allowed us to increase the resources that are transferred to health.
“We hope that, by the end of the year, we will exceed COP1.2bn (£227,428) in transfers.”
