China Casino Island

In the 1800s, Portuguese colonists legalized gambling on a sleepy Chinese island called Macau. That once-lolling backwater has become a glittering center for tourism in Asia, with an estimated $40.

HAIKOU. China is drafting a proposal to allow gambling on Hainan Island, people familiar with the talks said, in what would be an unprecedented move that could reshape gaming in China's. In the early 2000s plans were made to move the university from its location on Taipa Island to a parcel of land on China’s Hengqin Island. An agreement for jurisdiction of the land to be transferred to Macau was reached in 2009 as part of a 40-year lease from China. The new campus was inaugurated in 2013, and relocation was completed in 2014. Lisboa Hotels Complex in the central Macau offers a mix of an old-time casino atmosphere with luxurious comfort. The original Hotel Lisboa and Casino was one of the oldest casinos in Macau with a history dating back to 1970. Owned by Stanley Ho, the Macau tycoon, the casino has gone though a few facelifts and expansions over time. Heart Island is an island in the Town of Alexandria within the Saint Lawrence River, along the northern border of the U.S. State of New York, in Jefferson County. Heart Island is situated 2700 feet north of Casino Island. Photo: Sesivany, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Advertising for China's state-run Welfare Lottery outside a convenience store in Shanghai.

Gambling in China is illegal under Chinese law[1] and has been officially outlawed since the Communist Party took power in 1949.[2] Any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online-gambling, gambling overseas, opening casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, is considered illegal.[3] In practice however, Chinese citizens participate in state-run lotteries, regularly travel to legal gambling centers overseas or in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and access gaming through offshore based proxy betting and online gambling companies.

Mainland China[edit]

The Chinese government operates two lotteries: the Welfare Lottery and the Sports Lottery set up in 1987 and 1994 respectively. The Chinese government does not legally consider the lotteries a form of gambling.[4] Illegal gambling in China remains common, including unofficial lotteries, clandestine casinos, and betting in games such as mahjong and various card games. In 2010, The Daily Telegraph (UK) reported that an estimated one trillion yuan are wagered in illegal gambling every year in China. Problem gambling exists in the country, and may be more prevalent than in countries with legalized gambling.[1]Online gambling is another outlet for illegal gambling in the country.[4]

Various attempts have been made to establish legal casinos in mainland China, although these have been unsuccessful.

In June 2018, the Chinese Government banned all online poker applications. App stores had to remove all poker related applications, and the promotion of poker in general via all social media channels in China (Wechat, Weibo) became forbidden.[5]

Hong Kong[edit]

While some aspects of mainland Chinese law apply in Hong Kong, certain forms of gambling are legal and regulated in Hong Kong. The Law of Hong Kong is based on English common law, having been a British territory until 1997. Gambling in Hong Kong has been regulated since 1977.[6] The Hong Kong Jockey Club organizes much of the legal betting in the region.

Macau[edit]

Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s, when it was a Portuguese colony. The region has a history of gambling on traditional Chinese games. Gambling in Macau now primarily takes place in Western-style casinos; in 2007, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gaming revenues. As of 2016,[7] 38 casinos operate in Macau, and the region's annual gambling revenues exceed US$27.9 billion.[8]

Offshore gambling[edit]

Legal restrictions on onshore gambling in Mainland China have contributed to the growth of overseas and online gambling sites that cater to Chinese nationals. Integrated gaming resorts in Singapore, Australia, Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines welcome growing numbers of Chinese tourists.

Proxy betting[edit]

As in person visits to offshore gambling venues can be both time consuming and attract the attention of law enforcement, proxy betting has grown in popularity, especially for VIP clients wishing to discretely place high stakes bets. In proxy betting, clients communicate with staffers wearing headsets at baccarat tables in offshore casinos. Proxy betting was outlawed in Macau in 2016 and has never been permitted in Australia or Singapore casinos, but now accounts for 40 percent of the $1 billion VIP gaming market in the Philippines, according to brokerage CICC.[9]

Online gambling[edit]

Online gambling in Mainland China remains illegal, however internet traffic routed via VPNs, underground banking networks and payment platforms enable Mainland Chinese customers to access and remit funds to online gaming sites. According to 2019 estimates published in Economic Information Daily, an affiliate of state-owned news agency Xinhua, the annual amount bet through online gambling in the Mainland is more than one trillion yuan (US$145 billion), equivalent to nearly twice the annual income of China’s officially sanctioned lotteries.[10]

In the Philippines alone, where Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) can register and legally operate, over a three year period from 2016 at least 100,000 Chinese nationals were estimated to have moved to Manila to work for online gambling operators as marketing agents, tech support specialists and IT engineers to serve Mandarin-speaking clientele.[11] To side step restrictions on direct marketing of online gambling in Mainland Chinese print or social media, many online gaming sites seeking to attract Chinese customers have become shirt sponsors for English Premier League football teams. Dafabet’s sponsorship of Fulham FC and W88’s sponsorship of Wolverhampton Wanderers are just two examples of this trend.

Large betting sites like Bet365, BetPat & WilliamHill create mirror sites to bypass local controls as seen a list of how it works here SportsTalk.org in the Guardian it was commented at length that Chinese users can face jail.

See also[edit]

China casino island

References[edit]

  1. ^ abEimer, David (9 January 2010). 'China's secret gambling problem'. Daily Telegraph. Shenyang. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ^'Rien ne va plus'. The Economist. 432 (9158): 25. 31 August 2019.
  3. ^'Remarks by Chinese Embassy Spokesperson on Issues of Chinese Citizens concerning Gambling in the Philippines'. Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of the Philippines. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  4. ^ abKalenyuk, Mary (7 November 2013). 'The bets are on for gambling in China'. The World of Chinese. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  5. ^'Crackdown on online poker applications in China - Somuchpoker'. somuchpoker.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  6. ^Deans, Rob (2001). 'Online Gambling: Changes to Hong Kong's Gambling Legislation'. Gaming Law Review. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.5 (6): 555–560. doi:10.1089/109218801753336166.
  7. ^2016 Wynn 10-K
  8. ^'Macau Gaming Summary'. University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  9. ^'China targets PH in offshore gambling crackdown'. Manila Bulletin. Bloomberg. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  10. ^Master, Farah (9 July 2019). 'Chinese state media target Macau's Suncity in online gambling report'. Reuters. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  11. ^Dancel, Raul (20 July 2019). 'Loan Sharks Feed Off Philippine Casino Boom'. The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 August 2019.

External links[edit]

  • China Sports Lottery official website(in Chinese)

China Casino Island

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