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March 8, 2014 |
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<div style="float:right;margin:0 0 1em 1em;">Image:Macau_030.jpg|Macau</div> Gambling in Macau was legalized in 1847 under the rule of Portuguese and since then Macau has become known worldwide as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient". The first casino monopoly franchise was granted to the Tai Xing Company in 1937. The company was, however, too conservative to fully exploit the potential of gambling for development. Only Chinese games were provided by the company at the time. In 1962, the government granted the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling. The licence was extended in 1986 for another 15 years but was expired afterwards. Today, there remains ten casinos operated by the STDM, and they are still crucial to the casino industry in Macau. Gambling in Macau plays an important role in the Economy of Macau|economy of the city. Many tourists like gambling there. Also many local people in Macau frequently visit casinos. Generally, gambling in Macau can be divided into three different categories, which are playing games in casino, horse racing and greyhound racing. So, one can see that Macau has a variety of gambling activities. Firstly, let us see how the economic situation is affected by gambling in Macau. ---- So called "The Monte Carlo of the Orient", Macau has a economic pattern relying very much on gambling. Nowadays, the gambling industry generates over 40% of the Gross domestic product|GDP of Macau. Since the early 1960s, around 50% of Macau's official revenue have been driven from gambling. The percentage maintains until in the late 1990s. In 1998, 44.5% of total government revenue was gained from the direct tax of gambling. Then there was a 9.1% decrease in 1999. It was probably due to internet gaming, with its worldwide access, it was started in Macau in summer 2000 and made a significant drop in the government income. However, 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 Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau. In 2002, the government facilitated the liberation of gambling industries by signing concession contracts with two Macau Gaming companies, Wynn Resort Ltd. and Galaxy Casino. This action opens the gambling market for competition and increased the government revenue(mainly from taxes) by a large fraction. It can also attrats more tourists to Macau. At this moment, from official statistics, gambling taxes form 64% of the government income, that is absolutely a dramatic number that could hardly be imagined. However the gambling business is also the source of instability in the Macau economy, as the nature of gambling industry is not susceptible to technological advancement or productivity growth. Yet for the best possible fortune, the gambling business is still dependent on the prosperity of the Asian economies, especially that of Hong Kong. As a result, the economy of Macau will always be dependent on that of Hong Kong. Macau has nine casinos, of which the biggest is the Casino Lisboa. They all operate under a government franchise and under a common set of rules. Though many forms of gambling are legal there, such as blackjack, baccarat, roulette, boule, "big and small", fantan, keno and "tiger machine". The most popular game would be the Tiger machines because of its easiness to play. Compared to western casinos, the atmosphere is unglamorous, with the emphasis on serious betting. There is a minimum bet, currently 50 patacas on all games. Gambling has been legal in Macau for a long time. From 1851 to 1863, there was a licensing system for gambling houses. Until 1934, casino's ownership and operation was centralized. Through private negotiations,some franchises monopolized the operation right of all casinos. The casino industry has been controlled by the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) monopoly for 39 years. This changed in 2001 when casino licenses were offered to other casino operators, including American casino tycoons Shelden Adelson and Steve Wynn (developer)|Steve Wynn. On May 18, 2004, the Sands Macau casino opened near the Macau Ferry Terminal. <table border="1" cellpadding="2"> <caption>List of Casinos in Macau</caption>
</table> ---- 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 Dr 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. <table border="1" cellpadding="2"> <caption>Some statistics for horse racing in Macau</caption>
</table> Statistics show that there's a dramatic decrease in overall betting turnover since 2001. It is mainly due to the influence of internet gaming, which is mentioned above. <div style="float:right;margin:0 0 1em 1em;"> <br>Image:Location of Racecourse Canidrome.jpg|Map <br><small>Location of the Race-course and the Canidrome</small></div> Bet Types There are actually a variety of types of bets which could be placed on each race or a combination of races, tabulated as follows:
The amounts of payouts of the bets depend on different rate of odds set by the Jockey Club beforehand. If any of Double Quinella, Double Trio, Six Up and Triple Trio pools has no bets placed on its winning combination there will neither be payout of dividend nor refunds. Its Net Pool will be carried forward to the "Jackpot" and aggregated into the coming event. Ways of 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.
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. If necessary, the MJC would set up more Off-Course Betting Centres for racegoers.
The internet betting service commenced on 20 September 2003. Customers are welcome to browse through the Club's internet betting website at www.macauhorsebet.com.
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. For enquiries and opening of telephone service accounts, patrons are welcome to call at 8631338 (Macau).
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.
Three service centres are now set up in Hong Kong including Shaukeiwan Service Centre, Sheung Wan Service Centre and Mongkok Service Centre. ---- 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. Generally, you can bet inside the greyhound racing centre. Also, you are allowed to bet in off-course betting centre which is located on the G/F of the Hotel Lisboa, Jai-Alai Palace and Kam Pek Casino. Thus, it is more convenient to you to enjoy gambling. From the name of Greyhound, some people think that the word greyhound is derived from the old English word "grei," meaning dog, and "hundr," meaning hunter. However, other people may believe that the ancestor of "greyhound" is "gazehound", which means dogs which likes to hunt by sight rather than smell. Though the truth is still undefined, greyhounds have long been held in high esteem and they are originally bred as hunting companions or as racers. But anyway, these greyhounds are extremely fast runners as they can finish a lap of the Canidrome in 30 seconds. ---- Casino industry could be harmful to the society. High crime rate is one of the biggest problems that the Macau government has to face. With the growth of casino industry, business so-called “bate-ficha” is developed and it is usually run by different triad societies. “Bate-ficha” business simply means the rolling or exchanging of gambling chips between the customers (gamblers) and the “bate-ficha” guys (dapma-chai) or chip rollers. Triad involvements in Macau casinos impose a quite serious social impact to the local area. It has also attracted the attentions of Chinese triad 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 always try to compete for 'controlled territory' in the casinos, disputes between societies occur from time to time. And this is usually settled in illegal or violent ways. Even worse, triad societies have grown so powerful in Macau that there was a trend that people tried to seek help or to settle disputes from these societies rather than from the Police forces. Although the situation has got better since the handover, the problem is still enrooted in the local area. Lowered productivity would be another problem that caused by gambling. Gambling would bring a misconception to citizens in society. It encourages people to pay the least effort in pursuing the greatest outcome. People try to rely on LUCK rather than paying effort on work. The addicted gamblers pay their full attention to gambling and some of them even give up their studies in school or works. As a result, less people in society will contribute to the production. Other problems caused by the casino industry included increased bankruptcies, welfare problems, family problems, increased theft cases and loan sharking problems. ---- Detailed law is enforced in Macau to ensure qualified operation of gambling in Macau. The details are listed in the Regime jur?dico da explora??o de jogos de fortuna ou azar em casino. Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau is set up in Macau to provide quality service and to promptly reply to the public and entity's application on the operation of lotteries sales, lucky draw or similar activities. It the one of the main government unit that overlooks the operation of different gaming activities. Under the law of Macau, 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. ----
Category:Macau Category:Gambling|Macau category:Tourism in Macao| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gambling in Macau".
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