China’s ongoing love affair with gambling
It was recently reported that Macau’s gambling industry is seven times bigger than Vegas.
That’s quite a large sum of money, especially when you consider that Vegas makes $6.5 billion a year – Macau, however, China’s gambling capital, has trumped all other hot casino destinations around the world by announcing revenues of 360 billion patacas, or $45 billion. That’s a 20% rise on last year.
The ‘taboo’ culture
So what is it that has made Macau such a gambling heavyweight amongst the former world leaders, Las Vegas and Atlantic City? In China, the Special Administrative Region of Macau is the only place in which gambling is legal, and hence millions of tourists flock there every year. In a country with a population of more than 1 billion, that’s quite a few pulls on the slots.
The rise to the top
Macau has not always been such a big player on the gambling destination list. In recent years, the addition of many American mega-casinos in Macau has increased its commercial appeal, from the prestigious Las Vegas Sands to Wynn Resorts.
Gambling is also a popular pastime amongst Hong Kong residents, and Macau’s prospects can only get better if the alleged bridge from Hong Kong to Macau is anything to go by.
A nationwide love of gambling
Gambling is hugely popular amongst the Chinese population, largely thanks to changes in political attitudes, legislation and globalization. The hysteria has had welcome effects in America, too – shares in Wynn Resorts have recently climbed by 2.26%, while MGM resort shares grew by 2.59%.
“Results were on the high-end of recent expectations and we believe, provide solace for those with macro-China concerns,” said Sterne Agee analyst David Bain.
Online gaming
The strict legislation on gambling in China also affects online gambling, and just as the Chinese government does not grant licenses for gambling sites outside of Macau, it also does not grant licenses to online casino websites in China.
However, keen online gamblers can quickly get around this by playing on foreign websites, despite the government’s attempts to filter them out of search engine results. Many international websites, like best Australian online casinos offer games specifically catered for Chinese players.
Playing by the rules
While the feeling of breaking the rules may give gamblers in China an added thrill, there are a few practices which are perfectly legal in China, namely the Welfare and Sports Lottery. Clearly, legal gambling has its appeal too – it was worth $40 billion in 2012.
Whether legal or not, there is a clear interest in gambling in China, and with Macau’s prospects growing every day, the Chinese will do whatever they can to get their thrills.
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Care to re-write this article on current figures?
http://wolfstreet.com/2015/01/03/what-macau-just-said-about-chinas-economy/
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So gambling is something that this country approves? I never doubt why there’s a lot of people who want to come here.
Very interesting! Thanks you
How come does gambling considered illegal here? Anyway, nice information here.
I’ve been here and I really love gambling here in Macau.
This is great! Thanks for posting
Thanks for posting this information. This is really rampant in China.
Wow! That’s a huge income from gambling.
Interesting information! Macau is the biggest gambling industry in the world. And that’s 7 times bigger than Vegas.
Looked a lot like Las Vegas.
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Thanks for providing us this great knowledge,Keep it up.
Interesting! Never thought that gambling is severe in China.
Gambling leads to a lot of other social problems.
This shouldn’t be tolerated by the government of China.| https://printingproslittlerock.com
Gambling should be regulated!
There are social, economic and environmental impacts of gambling. https://www.phillytowingservice.com/
Gambling boosted economy and tourism of China. That’s why the government loves what gambling brought to them.
The legalization of gambling in Macau attracted investors.
Macau is famous for gambling. The Las Vegas of Asia!
Gambling should be banned worldwide. It causes lots of trouble in every family.
China’s gambling goes worse every year. Hmm