GMB - For people who don't know it, what is GuazuBet?
Carlos Ferrari - It is a sports betting site. We intend to start placing sportbooks. It is a site that came up in Misiones, where we work through the IPLyC (Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos State Society). Currently, GuazuBet is to play only in the province of Misiones, but logically we intend to take the platform to other countries and see all the agreements we can achieve.
So far, how are you doing? How do you see the impact within the province?
It is just beginning. I cannot tell you that at this moment we have a great trajectory, but we are starting, with a very important expectation. I think we are going very well. We intend to make good investments, and technologically we are well equipped.
Are you interested in entering the Brazilian market?
The Brazilian market interests us completely. Who is not going to be interested in the Brazilian market? But, mainly, we would like to show a ticket-game, which is a VLT system, mainly for the lottery sector. Here in Argentina we have it in three provinces. We also have it in Peru, where we are placing this system in sportsbooks of other operators, such as DoradoBet, and in our own gaming venues. In Entre Ríos we have 300 terminals working in lottery agencies, working very well; we also have them in Misiones, and we hope to grow with this product. We have patented it many years ago. It is a different product. The reality is that it is a vending machine for immediate resolution games, with a draw prior to the player's view.
Could it be something interesting for Caixa and its network of lotteries?
Yes, of course. The difference with this vending machine of immediate resolution is that, normally, when one buys a scratch of any game, chance is directed purely and exclusively in that just the card they are selling is to a winning one. Because if it is a losing card, chance is given that you are lucky to be selling something winning. The difference with our product is that the tickets that leave our terminal are all possible winners, from the smallest prize to the highest one. 100% of the tickets are possible winners. Why? Because the draw is prior to the bet. First the draw is made and then bet. Therefore, you have all the chances that, by being lucky enough to choose the right place of what one is playing, you may win.
And wouldn’t this violate Brazilian laws regarding gambling?
No, we would adjust because all this is online. We can be suppliers of the technology, the product, and this can easily be handled from a Lottery. In Entre Ríos, for example, where there are 260 terminals, all draws come from a central server that has the Lottery, the IAFAS (Institute for Financial Assistance to Social Action). It means that the IAFAS issues the draws and sends them to all terminals. We are simply providers of the terminals, which the Lottery places in the agencies themselves. The draws are made by the Lottery, so, quietly, it can be an entrepreneurship of a Lottery from any country that wants to place this product, where we provide the technology and they make the draws becoming the operators and those that somehow manage the collection.
Then, these machines can also be placed outside lotteries, somewhere else.
We don't have a machine, we have a system. The system can be placed in a product, which can be a wall VLT, such as the ones you are seeing now (at firm’ stand in recent SAGSE show) and that we have working on. It can also be the system placed casinos that work with autonomous machines. What do I mean? The draw is autonomous from the place. It is not the case of our terminal. In our terminal, the draws are from the lottery, but this system can also work autonomously. He would not have any inconvenience and would remain 100% random, because the pre-bet draw.
How do you imagine 2020 for GuazuBet?
I imagine, at least, growing within the country, improving absolutely. We have had a very difficult situation; we are going through it and I think that this year there is an important expectation that things will improve. To the extent that it improves for everyone, it will improve for us.
Source: Exclusive Games Magazine Brasil
