Macau has surpassed Las Vegas as the epicenter of gambling activity all over the world. Generated a total revenue of $20 billion in 2007, it has become the world’s leading gambling destination.
Situated in a nation where gambling activity is illegal, the city of Macau has remained quasi-independent from China’s clutch but still enjoying a few autonomy such as enforcing their own law that can fit the semi-capitalistic economy of the city.
Surpassing Las Vegas
In 2010, Macau generated more revenue than Las Vegas and other gambling destinations such as Monte Carlo and Atlantic City, since then, it has become the new hub for casual gamblers from all over the world.
As of June 2019, the gambling scene in Macau has quadrupled the size of that in Las Vegas, leaving the latter to become a shell of its former self.
Also, the lack of many gambling establishments in Asia has caused many Asian high-rollers to travel to Macau for a gaming spree.
The Macanese Gaming Experience
We all know that Macau is the best in the East as Las Vegas is in the West. This dichotomy has clearly put a demarcation line within the gambling world.
The gambling culture is clearly more defined in the West as Western countries are enjoying the freedom on liberal societies that don’t restrict the gambling activities because of moral and religious beliefs like in most Asian countries.
Casino games also are leaning towards hedonistic pleasure and materialism rather than believing in the power of luck. However, Asian casinos like bk8 are far more different than their Western counterparts.
In Macau, most casino owners employ feng shui consultants before the establishment’s construction to avoid bad luck and casino staff allowing their players to do superstitious practice while playing the games such as tearing up a playing card.
However, the most popular casino game in Macau is baccarat which was originally discovered in the West. Many casino high rollers in Asia regularly play baccarat in the casinos of Macau.
Other unique games in Macau is sic bo, a bead-counting game that is not present in Western casinos.
The Casinos In Macau
Currently, there are 38 casinos operating in Macau, all of them are properly licensed.
Among these, 23 casinos are located in the Macau Peninsula, while the remaining 10 are located in Taipa Island.
Each respective casino offers a variety of betting games such as baccarat, poker, roulette, blackjack, slots and Asian casino games such as sic bo and fan tan.
Among these are the popular City of Dreams, Casino Lisboa, Sands Macao, MGM Macau, Wynn Macau and The Venetian Macau. Most of these casinos also have hotel accommodations, restaurants and shopping centers.
Macau’s Gambling Economy
Many international companies sought an opportunity to invest in the gambling market of Macau. New gambling establishments were built and the gambling revenue grew over the time until it has surpassed the total revenue of the state of Nevada itself.
A lot of this revenue came from the game of baccarat which is considered as the most popular gambling game in Asia.
Also, a lot of gamblers from other parts of the world wanted to experience the gambling culture in Macau. This is why many foreign visitors are now conveniently traveling from the global hub of Hong Kong directly to Macau.
It is projected that the economy of Macau casinos will boom in the future and the emergence of Macanese gaming is unstoppable.
Final Words
The success of Macau as the new most sought-after gambling destination of the world is a testimony that the Asian region is slowly progressing in all aspects of economy. However, the Asian region as a whole has a long way to go when it comes to the total acceptance of gambling culture.