Gambling in Macau

Macau, a special administrative region of China, is the only place in China where casinos are legal. Gambling has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalised the activity in the autonomous colony. After the handover of Macau from Portugal to China, Macau and the business has grown at a high pace since 2001, when the government ended the four-decade gambling monopoly of the Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho.^{[citation needed]} With the entry of large foreign casinos from Las Vegas and Australia, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenues in 2007. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the "gambling capital of the world", grossing the highest amount of gambling/gaming revenue and greatly dwarfing all the other gambling centers/cities.

Gambling tourism is Macau's biggest source of revenue, making up about 50% of the economy, and gaming taxes making up 75% of Macau's government revenue. Visitors are largely from mainland China and Hong Kong.

In an attempt to generate revenues for the government, gambling in Macau was legalized by the Portuguese government in 1849. 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 second casino monopoly concession was granted to the Tai Heng 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 monopoly rights to all forms of gambling to Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), run by Stanley Ho. The STDM introduced Western-style games and modernised 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.

Over a three year period in the late 1990s, as wave of gang violence referred to as the casino wars occurred disrupted Macau's casino industry. The casino wars were largely attributable to rival Triad groups who sought to gain control of Macau's illicit industries before Portugal transferred the territory back to China. The Portuguese authorities of Macau mostly failed to address the violence, which resulted in 122 deaths, or to catch those responsible.

Macau was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1999 and became a special administrative region of China. During this transition, there were no changes to gambling policy in Macau.

In 2002, the Macau government ended the monopoly system and granted three (later six) casino operating concessions (and subconcessions) 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. On 18 May 2004, the Sands Macau casino opened near the Macau Ferry Terminal. Today, there are 16 casinos operated by the STDM, and they are still crucial in the casino industry in Macau.

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 Macau from Portugal to China, the SAR released gambling licenses to other companies 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.