Whether you’re considering a move to Mexico, or just planning a short break, if you’re a fan of gaming then it’s good to be informed of some of the differences. Although Mexico and the US share a border, their gaming tendencies, regulations, and the games themselves vary quite substantially. This is all the information you could possibly need on how Mexico and the US vary in their gaming styles.
Online Casinos
Perhaps the biggest difference between gaming in the US versus gaming in Mexico is the possibility to play at online casinos. Whilst there are only certain states in the US that allow online casinos, Mexico has no such rules. For example, the DraftKings Sportsbook is legal in NJ, PA, WV, and M but not in other states. This means that if you’re in one of those states, you can play games such as poker, roulette, blackjack, and slots legally and make use of the bonuses that they are currently offering.
Within Mexico, this would be true too, as all areas of the country allow all registered online casino sites to operate. At the moment, this is possible in Mexico, not because there is explicit legislation allowing online casinos, but rather because there isn’t any legislation banning them. This tends to be the case in the majority of countries that have never outlawed online casinos, as there’s simply no need to create laws unless something is being outlawed. It would be like having a law to say that birthday cake, or doing the washing up were legal.
Land-Based Casinos
As well as having different laws when it comes to online casinos, Mexico also has differing laws when it comes to those that are land-based. In the US there are certain states that allow land-based casinos and certain others that don’t. In Mexico, all land-based casinos are allowed, as long as they are certified and registered. You would think that this would mean there were loads more casinos in Mexico than there are in the US, but actually, the opposite is true. In Mexico, there are around 200 casinos, whilst in the US there are more than 1000, they’re just all concentrated in a smaller space.
Size Matters
Of Mexico’s land-based casinos, it’s worth noting that many of them are far smaller than the ones you might be used to in the US. Particularly in Las Vegas, casinos tend to be enormous complexes, attached to hotels and even sprawling resorts. In Mexico, fewer than a dozen casinos are attached to hotels and the majority of stand-alone casinos are really pretty small. Mexico’s biggest casino is Caliente Casino Hipodromo de Tijuana. They’re home to more than 1000 slot machines, as well as their own greyhound racing track, plenty of table games, and a popular restaurant.
Game Variety
Another of the big differences in gaming in Mexico and the US is the games themselves. In the US, poker is a hugely popular game, with the majority of casinos having at least one and sometimes literally dozens of poker tables. In Mexico, poker is far less popular and it’s highly unusual to find a poker table at a casino, some reports say there are as few as 10 recognized poker tables in casinos in the country.
Table games are also a little unusual, but you’ll regularly find a roulette wheel and maybe a craps table in a Mexican casino. Instead, Mexicans prefer to play on slot machines at the casino and almost all of the casinos in Mexico will focus the majority of their attention on supplying players with a wide variety of slot machines to try out. Whilst most of the slot machines in the US are video slots, in Mexico, it was deemed that there had to be a skill element to slot machine gaming.
This means that the slot machines in Mexico will take a bingo-style approach to the game, ensuring that there is always an element of skill in the game, no matter how small.