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Gambling in Macau

Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalized the activity in the colony. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient", and gambling has become a significant part of the city's economy. Until Western-style casino games were introduced in the 20th century, only Chinese games were played, the most popular being Fan-Tan. Now, with all the casinos built in the territory including a few number of new ones (some of them are Las Vegas giant companies) opening up soon, Macau is also known as East Las Vegas.

Gambling in Macau plays an important role in the economy of the city. Many Hong Kong and mainland tourists like gambling there. Few local people in Macau visit casinos, though. Generally, gambling in Macau can be divided into three different categories: casino games, horse racing and greyhound racing. There is also sports betting and a number of lotteries. At the present time, Macau does not license online gaming operations.

History

In an attempt to generate revenues for the government, gambling in Macau was legalized in 1847. In the late 19th century, the government introduced a licensing system for the fantan houses (Chinese gambling houses). It is reported that over 200 gambling houses were required to pay gambling rent to the government. The first casino monopoly concession was granted to the Tai Xing Company in 1937. The company was, however, too conservative to fully exploit the economic potential of gambling. The industry saw a major breakthrough in 1962 when the government granted the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), a syndicate jointly formed by Hong Kong and Macau businessmen, the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling. The STDM introduced western-style games and modernized the marine transport between Macau and Hong Kong, bringing millions of gamblers from Hong Kong every year. The license was extended in 1986 for another 15 years but expired at the end of 2001.

In 2002, the Macau government ended the monopoly system and 3 (later 6) casino operating concessions (and subconcessions) are granted to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM, an 80% owned subsidiary of STDM), Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Galaxy Entertainment Group, the partnership of MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho Chiu-king, and the partnership of Melco and PBL. Today, there are 16 casinos operated by the STDM, and they are still crucial in the casino industry in Macau, but in 2004, the opening of the Sands Macau ushered in the new era.

Economic aspects

The so-called "Monte Carlo of the Orient," Macau's economy relies heavily on gambling. Nowadays, the gambling industry generates over 40% of the GDP of Macau. Since the early 1960s, around 50% of Macau's official revenue has been driven by gambling. The percentage remained steady until the late 1990s. In 1998, 44.5% of total government revenue was produced by the direct tax on gambling. Then there was a 9.1% decrease in 1999, probably due to internet gaming. After the handover of the Macau from Portugal to China, the SAR released gambling licenses to other companies in order to eliminate the monopoly played by the STDM. In 2002, the government signed concession contracts with two Macau gaming companies, Wynn Resort Ltd. and Galaxy Casino. This opened the gambling market for competition and increased government tax revenue significantly. It also attracted more tourists to Macau. At this moment, according to official statistics, gambling taxes form 70% of Macau's government income .

However, the gambling industry is also a source of instability in the Macau economy, as the nature of gambling business is not susceptible to technological advancement or productivity growth. The gambling business is still dependent on the prosperity of other Asian economies, especially that of Hong Kong.

Gambling forms

Gaming policy

Detailed law is enforced in Macau to ensure "qualified operation of gambling" in Macau. The details are listed in Law 16/2001 (regime jurídico da exploração de jogos de fortuna ou azar em casino), and other laws regulating the activity of gaming promoters and credit for gaming.

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (known as DICJ) is the main government unit that oversees the operation of different gaming activities.

Under Macau law, it stated that a permit issued by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau is required for the operation of lotteries sales, lucky draw or similar activities, and the initial procedure in the application on the operation of lotteries sales, lucky draw or similar activities is to submit a notification to the relevant government department 10 days prior to the application.

Casinos

Macau has twenty-eight casinos, of which the biggest is the The Venetian Macau. They all operate under a government franchise and under a common set of rules.

Many forms of gambling are legal there, such as blackjack, baccarat, roulette, boule, Sic bo, Fan-Tan, keno and slot machines. The most popular game by far is baccarat with VIP high-roller baccarat generating more than 70% of total gaming revenue in 2004.

Poker was introduced only in August 2007, in an electronic table format at Galaxy Starworld casino. The first live poker tournament was the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau event in November 2007. Shortly thereafter, in January 2008, the government of Macau published the official rules for Texas hold 'em poker games in Macau. In February 2008, Grand Lisboa Casino added the first live-dealer cash game tables in Macau. In May 2008, 'PokerStars Macau' opened at Grand Waldo Casino. Today, only Grand Lisboa and Grand Waldo Casinos offer live-dealer cash game poker tables, and only Grand Waldo Casino has live poker tournaments every weekend.

Gambling has been legal in Macau for a long time beginning in 1851 where there was a licensing system for gambling houses until 1863. Beginning in 1934, casinos' ownership and operation was centralized where through private negotiations, some franchises monopolized the operation right of all casinos. The casino industry has been controlled by the STDM monopoly for 39 years but, this changed in 2001 when casino licenses were offered to other casino operators, including American companies such as Las Vegas Sands (Sheldon Adelson) and Wynn Resorts (Steve Wynn) and then later on May 18, 2004, the Sands Macau casino opened near the Macau Ferry Terminal.

List of Casinos in Macau
Name	Opening Hours	Size	Special Features
Casino Lisboa	24 hours	107 slots and 146 table games (190,000 sq ft)	Hotel with 1,000 rooms and 6 restaurants
Casa Real Casino	24 hours	123 slots and 53 table games (36,000 sq ft)	Hotel with 381 rooms and 2 restaurants
Grandview Casino	24 hours	51 table games	Hotel with 407 rooms and 2 restaurants
Casino Macau Palace	24 hours	51 slots and 12 table games (11,120 sq ft)	None
Crown Macau	24 hours	550 slots and 220 table games	Hotel with 216 VIP rooms
Jai Alai Casino	24 hours	208 slots and 61+ table games, 4 VIP rooms (67,075 sq ft)	None
Kam Pek Casino	24 hours	71 slots and 24 table games; 4 VIP rooms (34,320 sq ft)	None
Kingsway Hotel & Casino	12:00pm - 4:00am	20 slots and 8 table games (11,755 sq ft)	Hotel with 410 rooms
Mandarin Oriental Casino	12:00pm - 4:00am	59 slots and 11 table games (12,140 sq ft)	Hotel with 437 rooms and 6 restaurants
Mocha Clubs	24 hours	1000 slots (number of tables unknown)	None
New Century Hotel & Casino	24 hours	19 table games	Hotel with 554 rooms
The Legend Club	24 hours	108 slots and 12 table games; 1 VIP room (15,000 sq ft)	None
Sands Macao	24 hours	405 slots and 270 gaming tables (165,000 sq ft)	51 suite VIP hotel
Golden Dragon Casino	24 hours	137 slots, 123 gaming machines and 85 gaming tables, 15 VIP rooms	483 deluxe guest rooms including 84 harbour view rooms and 45 signature suites
Greek Mythology Casino	24 hours	228 tables (to be upgraded to 500), 100 slot machines (160,000 sq ft)	554 rooms at the New Century Hotel
MGM Grand Macau	24 hours	345 gaming tables and 1035 slot machines	Opening 2007 with 600 room hotel
Wynn Macau	24 hours	375 slot machines and 212 gaming tables (246,000 sq ft)	Integrated resort with 600 rooms and restaurants
The Venetian Macao, Cotai strip	24 hours	3400 slot machines and 800 gaming tables (550,000 square feet of casino space)	Integrated resort with 3000 suites, convention and retail space
Babylon Casino - Fisherman's Wharf
Casino Crystal Palace at Hotel Lisboa		36 slots (14,100 sq ft)
Diamond Casino at Holiday Inn		6 + 1 VIP Room, 32 slot machines (6,900 sq ft)
Emperor Palace Casino		64 gaming table on 3 floors of casino concourse & 8 VIP Halls, 365 slot machines
Fortuna Casino		35 gaming tables
Galaxy Rio Casino		80 tables, 150 slots, 4 VIP rooms	450 rooms, 65 suites
Galaxy Starworld		300 tables, 371 slots	StarWorld Hotel
Galaxy Waldo Hotel and Casino		63 tables, 8 VIP rooms, 100 slots	161 rooms
Pharaoh's Palace Casino		109 tables 5 VIP rooms, 383 slots (9000 sq ft)	3 Presidential suites, 448 Rooms and Suites at the The Landmark
Ponte 16 - u/c, opening 1 February 2008		150 tables, 5 VIP halls and 20 rooms
Casino Marina at Tapia		20 tables, 4 VIP rooms, 37 slots 45,900	312 rooms and suites at Marina Hotel
Crown Casino , Taipa - u/c		220 (80 VIP), gaming space 500 slots
MJC Casino, Taipa		19 tables, 2 VIP rooms,	3 Deluxe Rooms and 22 Junior Suites and 1 Presidential Suite and 352 Standard Rooms and 26 Suites
City of Dreams, Cotai u/c open 2009		gming floor and of retail space; opening September 2009 Theatre of Dreams (1,700 seaters): Q1 of 2009	366 room Hard Rock Hotel and 295 suites Crown Towers Hotel, Cotai. Grand Hyatt Macau (1,005 rooms)
Galaxy Cotai Mega Resort, Cotai u/c open 2008		348 tables, 1000 slot	2000 hotel rooms
Galaxy Grand Waldo, Cotai		168 tables, 25 machines, 350 slots (120000 sq ft), dedicated Poker Room: 'PokerStars Macau'
Macau Studio City - planned, Cotai		of gaming facilities comprising more than 400 gaming tables

Horse racing

Other than casinos, there is betting at the Macau Jockey Club and the dog-racing Canidrome.

Horse-racing mainly takes place every Tuesday and Saturday or Sunday at the race-course on the Taipa Island of Macau. The race-course has an area of 450,000 square metres and 18,000 seats for gamblers, and is open only for people over 18 years of age.

The Macau Jockey Club was formerly the Macau Trotting Club. In 1991, it was acquired by a consortium led by Stanley Ho. The Macau Jockey Club is one of the largest private employers of Macau with around 1,400 employees and around 1,100 part-timers.

Some statistics for horse racing in Macau
Year	Number of Visitors	overall betting turnover
89/90	268,561	462,642,000
90/91	305,957	637,308,000
91/92	349,845	979,940,000
92/93	353,730	1,296,616,000
93/94	324,953	1,296,133,000
94/95	367,185	1,521,334,000
95/96	376,487	2,285,331,000
96/97	352,440	2,635,168,000
97/98	369,957	3,421,173,000
98/99	325,444	3,576,040,000
99/00	306,319	3,567,430,000
00/01	284,569	4,019,742,000
01/02	330,298	3,263,321,000
02/03	308,168	3,297,540,000

Location of the Race-course and the Canidrome

Ways of betting

On-course Betting

There are over 210 betting terminals "on-course". All terminals can perform sell and pay functions. Punters may bet in Hong Kong dollars or Macau patacas. Bets are accepted up to the start of each race. Punters may place a bet by oral instructions or by filling a ticket.

Off-course Betting

There are over 80 betting terminals in the Off-Course Betting Centres. 14 Off-course Betting Centres are located in popular districts of Macau and Taipa.

Internet betting

The Internet betting service commenced on 20 September 2003. Customers can review the Club's internet betting website at www.macauhorsebet.com.

Telephone Services

There are over 600 telephone service terminals and a total of over 38,000 telebet accounts. The winning dividend of account holders may at their instructions be automatically transferred to their bank accounts.

Fast Access Terminals (FAT)

Launched in June 1997, the personal betting terminal, FAT (Fast Access Terminal) offers betting, calculation of bet units, record tracking of bets, account enquiry, withdrawal instructions and other related information on races such as declaration and race-odds. Close to 1,000 customers are currently using FAT.

Hong Kong Service Centres

Three service centres are now set up in Hong Kong including Shaukeiwan Service Centre, Sheung Wan Service Centre and Mongkok Service Centre.

Greyhound Racing

Greyhound Racing takes place at the Canidrome on Avenida General Castelo Branco (see image above for the location of the canidrome). These races are held on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and weekends starting from 7:45 p.m. and there are 16 games on every racing evenings. Admission is MOP$10 (usable for betting) for the public stand. Boxes are MOP$80 (Monday to Thursday) and MOP$120 (Friday to Sunday and Public Holidays) with a minimum charge of MOP$30 per person. Bar, snack-bars and restaurant facilities are available.

Players can bet inside the greyhound racing centre, or in off-course betting centres located in the Hotel Lisboa, Jai-Alai Palace and Kam Pek Casino.

Gambling and society

The casino industry is viewed by some as harmful to society. A high crime rate was one of the biggest problems that Macau's colonial Portuguese government had to face. Since Macau's return to China's rule in 1999, the public security siuation has markedly improved. With the growth of the casino industry, a business called "bate-ficha" was developed and it is usually run by different triad societies. The bate-ficha business is an element of triad involvement in Macau's gambling industry. Bate-ficha involves selling customers "dead chips" that cannot be exchanged for cash in the casinos, but only by bate-ficha men or women, who are officially known as "gaming promoters" or "middlemen." for a commission. (See external link below for a more detailed explanation of bate-ficha).

Triad involvement in Macau casinos makes a serious social impact on the local area. It attracts the attention of Chinese gangsters, whose deadly battles over the fortunes to be made from racketeering and extortion in the territory are a continuing problem. As different triad societies compete for controlled territory in the casinos and on the streets, disputes between societies occur from time to time. These are often settled in violent ways. Even worse, triad societies have grown so powerful in Macau that there was a trend that people tried to seek help from these societies rather than from the police. Although the situation has improved since the 1999 handover to China, the problem is still entrenched in the local area.