The largest increase in bets – US$1.48 billion – was recorded in type A slot parlours which house type A slot machines. These slot machines do not have a payout ceiling and may be present in type A slot parlours as well as casinos.
Type A slot parlours are in the main controlled by company Gaming & Services of Panama, which manages 27 slot parlours rooms and come under the “Fantastic” brand name.
Meanwhile gambling via table games, which by law can also only be located in fully fledged casinos, stood at US$145.9 million. Other games such as bingo, sports betting, as well as gaming at the Presidente Remón Racetrack and racino stood at US$58.9 million.
According to Antonio Alfaro, President of the Association of Managers of Gaming, the reason for the increase had no logical explanation but is something that “happens every year in the third quarter.”
However, Yelitza Amador, Executive Secretary of the Panamanian Games of Chance Association, told local daily La Prensa that it was a seasonality issue. “The first quarter is lower due to carnivals and in the second there is Holy Week, and in the third quarter there are more calendar days.”
Source: GMB / G3 Newswire
