Catemaco has many billiard tables, but no poker tables. No horse, dog, auto or turtle races. The only unofffical races are the lancha operators racing to see who gets the tourists first to monkey island. There are no “numbers runners”, no slot machines in the grocery stores, no clandestine bookies taking football wagers, no native Indians buying fancy cars off their reservation casinos, and no little old ladies spending their grocery monies on bingo.
Gambling is outlawed in Mexico.
Except to the alleged journalist killer Jorge Hank Rhon, currently Tijuana mayor, and his chain of off track horse betting, sports wagering and now bingo parlors “Caliente”. Despite initiatives to legalize slots and casino-class gambling in Mexico, casinos are still forbidden by law, with the usual loopholes.
Caliente controls 80% of the gambling market in Mexico, but recently began being hounded by another small company and the almighty televison chain Televisa which miraculously obtained permits to open a competitive chain of betting parlors. Meanwhile, Caliente is well represented in Veracruz with casinos in most major cities, including Xalapa, Veracruz City and Coatzacoalcos.
Advocates of fulltime casinos contend the gaming palaces will aid tourism in US-Mexico border cities and Mexican coastal resorts. That’s probably why someone in the Veracruz government permitted a US promotor to pay out more than a million dollars to buy a dilapidated ferry from the Virgin Islands to convert into an off shore casino in Mexico.
Unfortunately the promotor hired a captain unfamiliar with Veracruz waters, and soon after the ship’s arrival, it managed to ground itself upon one of the many beautiful fragile reefs protecting the Veracruz shore.
As of today it stills sits there. Maybe Hank Rhon hired a dive team to cement the ship onto the reef.
Meanwhile the poor, who lack the fancy clothes of the gamblers at Caliente, are limited to buy national Mexican lottery tickets. Biggest jackpot is 30 million pesos.
Big deal!! - the government take is 150 million. And the ticket costs 30 pesos, about 2/3 of the minimum wage in Catemaco. Most of the usual Mexican lotteries pay out much less, and cost upwards of 400 pesos to get a chance at the top win.
