China and Online Gambling

March 9, 2008

At last week’s Asian Interactive Gaming conference in Macau, the talk inevitably turned to regulating online gambling on the Chinese Mainland. According to the Macau Daily Times, Francis Lui, Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group, said that he was “excited by this business opportunity” and was positioning himself in a way to take advantage of it should it happen.

Online gambling has long been illegal in Mainland China, but those that wish to can travel to Macau to gamble instead. However, many wonder what that would mean for Macau if online gambling is in fact legalized and regulated on the mainland.

With Galaxy positioning themselves to be a part of the online gambling industry in China, one has to think that there must be some truth to the rumor or they would not be interested in it. They say that they have already established foundations on the Mainland and they have an agreement with an “internet café operator in China.”

They say that with the Chinese, they prefer to pay in person, so they could purchase online gambling credits from this café and then play online from the comfort of their own homes. They say that with the Chinese so seemingly interested in online gambling that this could mean a huge jump in income for the country.

However, those in Macau are not as excited by the prospect. They know that if online gambling is legalized and regulated on the Mainland, fewer customers will be coming to their casinos. They say that the whole thrust behind Macau was to give those on the mainland a place to gamble since online gambling was illegal. Needless to say, if online gambling is made legal, it will not bode well for Macau’s casinos’ bottom lines.



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