According to recent news and reports, Mexican authorities are considering to implement a new law that will forbid local online grinders to play with peers from the rest of the world. This will be done by the introduction of a .mx country code top-level domain that will make poker platforms available only to Mexican players.
A few months ago, Fernando Zárate Salgado, President of the Mexican Gaming Commission, stated that the new Mexican Gambling and Gaming Bill was expected to be turned into law until September 20. Almost three months later, it has not been introduced to the House of Representatives yet. It seems that this is going to finally happen next week.
According to some reliable sources, the poker experience that Mexican-based grinders will be provided with will be limited to a .mx domain. In other words, they will not be allowed access to .com sites and, thus, they will not be able to interact with players from the rest of the world.
Back in April, 2011, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cereus were banned from providing their online services in the United States, an event that became known in history of poker as Black Friday. Due to this, U.S.-based players started traveling to their southern neighbor, so as to be able to play their favorite game and earn some cash. It seems that they may need to look for some other place to do this.
If the reports prove to be true, international poker sites will have to adjust their platforms, so as to be allowed to keep on offering their services on the Mexican market. That is, the sites will have to be run under a .com.mx domain. What is more, Mexican grinders, who are used to the liquidity and diversity .com sites provide them with, will certainly not be happy with these drastic changes in their routine.
Despite the new law, Mexican online poker market will still be larger than the Spanish one and almost as large as the French one. That is, it will offer significant liquidity to local grinders.
The Gambling and Gaming Bill does not include information about the taxes that will be imposed, provided that the law is implemented. Yet, experts suggest that they will most probably be similar to those in Spain or even higher.
Proponents of the proposed new law pointed to the fact that it will make it easier for live tournaments to be organized in Mexico. In other words, the country will have the opportunity to attract some major brands and popular poker pros.
It was also reported that Mexican legislators are considering to follow the UK’s example and introduce a point of consumption tax. In this case, Mexican grinders will be allowed access to .com poker sites.
