Macao surpasses Las Vegas as gambling centre

[Sam Odom]

Macao surpasses Las Vegas as gambling centre
By the New York Times

SHANGHAI, — Macao surpassed the Las Vegas Strip to become the world’s biggest gambling center in 2006, measured by total gambling revenue, according to industry analysts and government figures released today.

In the eight years since Macao, a former Portuguese colony on the coast near Hong Kong, was returned to Chinese control in 1999, it has experienced a huge boom in casino investment, and millions of mainland Chinese have been flooding into the tiny island territory to gamble.

[707782]

I was there last year, it's only getting started, many many more new huge projects are in the process right now, and 10 years from now, the revenue will be 10x more as more Chinese both from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Asian from other country will be more exposed to it, and at the current pace the Chinese economy is growing, it's also a huge plus.

From my experience, LV is more for entertainment, Macau is a truly gambling mania city where Chinese are betting 5 times more than LV on average.

It's a awesome and amazing place with many cool Chinese city near by, I would say this is a must visit area if you're going to Asia in the near future.

[Sam Odom]

any sports wagering? if so, which ones

Thx

[707782]

Well, I went there five times back in 2005 when I was visiting China and Asia. (It's tempting, you just want to go back there right after you left)

Most the people there only bets on baccarat, the min bet is almost 40 USD, and the max is about 65000 USD on a regular public floor. I was there in a special VIP room, and people bet 50K a hand on average, no kidding.

I would say over 80% of the people there only bets on baccarat, and I don't see any people play poker or bet on sports. Over 95% are Chinese.

[Sam Odom]

interesting... I would think tile pai gow would be big there

[Korchnoi]

I wonder what they'd do over there to advantage players like BJ card counters. I really don't like the idea of messing with them. I hear they whip you and stuff.