IAFAS de Entre Ríos to deploy VLTs and online gaming to fund social programmes

The Instituto de Ayuda Financiera a la Acción Social (IAFAS), the state lottery of Entre Ríos, announced a rollout of video lottery terminals (VLTs) and online gaming and defended using concessions to finance social programmes at SiGMA North America 2026 in Mexico City. Carlos Moyano, president of the regulator and of the provincial lottery, outlined the operating structure, revenue split and the need for a coordinating body to tackle illegal gaming.

Operating model and sales channels

Moyano said the lottery operates through three channels: approximately 900 points of sale offering lottery bets, preprinted tickets, jackpot games and house-floor games; eight casinos and 20 gaming halls across the province, managed by the institute itself or by concessionaires; and an online platform offering slots, casino games and sports betting. The institute is betting on video lottery terminals (VLTs) to reach a younger audience; Moyano said VLTs have worked better for that purpose than traditional raffles.

Concessions and IAFAS’s role

IAFAS uses a concession model for the online channel. The concessionaire handles advertising, revenue collection, customer acquisition and commercial operations; IAFAS supervises compliance with the tender terms, keeps public ownership of the operation and receives a concession fee. An IAFAS publication from 2022 notes that bplay, the Boldt brand, launched in the province through a site branded IAFAS; the article does not name the current concessionaire.

Legal origin and destination of funds

Moyano recalled that the lottery’s predecessor fund dates to 1933, and that the current institute was created in 1972 under Law 5.144. Concession fees feed the social action programme the law requires to be financed. Revenues support security, sport, independent theatre and audiovisual projects, as well as a programme for housewives that provides support and benefits to women performing unpaid domestic work.

IAFAS also funds prevention programmes: the "Ludopatía" programme for people who move from entertainment to problematic gambling and "Jugando divertidamente", in-person awareness sessions in schools and clubs.

“We have to offer responsible entertainment,” Moyano said.

National coordination against illegal gaming

Moyano noted that the 24 independent gaming jurisdictions in Argentina make a unified response to illegal operators difficult. He did not challenge provincial authority, but asked for a national coordinating body able to act “more quickly and immediately,” referring in his words to a "supranational state," to articulate common actions. His position echoes concerns already expressed by the president of the Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos, Gonzalo Atanasof, after the blocking of 537 sites, and calls for national blocks through ENACOM.

SiGMA North America 2026 provided the stage for IAFAS to explain its modernization, resource allocation and strategy to confront illegal gaming through provincial coordination.