As the third most traded currencies in the Americas (North, Central and South), there is a great deal of interest in the Mexican peso. Not just from investors, who have made it the fifteenth most traded currency in the world, but also from online gambling operators, who see it as an important option for players across Latin America to bet with.
Revalued in 1993, the old MXP became the MXN. Despite its similarities to the US dollar (including its symbol, “$”), the peso’s exchange rate is quite high. You are typically looking at just shy of $20 (MXN) per $1 (USD). As the Mexican peso is used outside of its homeland, it has become an intricate part of the Latin American online betting scene.
The Mexican peso may be supplanted by the US dollar by some in Latin America, but it still has plenty of value for those in Guatemala, Belize, and other Central American states. Of course, Mexico is the only country to have officially made MXN their official currency.
The currency works in much the same way as the US dollar, in that there are 100 centavos to every Mexican peso, and the highest peso banknote is $100. Because of its simplicity, many major payment providers are prepared to deal in Mexican pesos, making it suitable for internet betting.
Officially, casino gambling in Mexico (which was brought by French colonists) ended in 1911, when the Catholic Church pushed for the closure of those gambling establishments. This was extended in 1947 to cover all forms of gambling. However, the law was not followed up on. Mexican authorities failed to crack down on illegal gambling, which was rife, and in 2004, the Mexican government formally conceded that the legislation banning gambling was effectively dead.
Today, gambling is regulated by the Secretaría de Gobernacion. Officially, Mexico has a licensing body, and a small number of licenses have been issued to Mexican betting sites. However, as Mexico has not followed through and banned access to offshore casinos and betting sites, there is no law prohibiting Mexicans from playing at these sites, either.
Of course, the most obvious advantage of depositing, wagering, and withdrawing using MXN at Mexican peso casinos is that players are not subject to any additional tariffs and charges, such as currency conversion fees. They might be liable for these if they opted to use US dollars, for instance.
The second advantage is straightforward to understand, too. Most Spanish language casinos (many Mexicans also play at English language sites) are happy to accept the MXN currency, so there is an abundance of sites to choose from. Between these two perks, there are few disadvantages to using Mexican pesos to bet online.
Finding a top Mexican peso casino should not be a carefree exercise. Instead, you should use caution and intelligence to choose a top site. If you do not want to play with one of our recommended MXN casinos (all of which are licensed, regulated and secure), we would encourage you to consider the following things when finding somewhere to play…
Most offshore Mexican peso casinos support over a dozen payment options. Unlike its neighbour to the north, there are precious few restrictions on the types of transactions Mexican banks can make. Even so, some payment options are more ideally suited for Mexican peso casino gambling than others, and we have detailed the best of the bunch below for you. They include:
Our advice would be for Mexican players to deposit in pesos using Oxxo, then withdraw via bank transfers to their bank accounts, although withdrawals may be subject to fees, depending on where you play.