Off-Duty Junket Staff to be Banned from Casino Floors in Macau

Junket operators in Macau’s casinos will be prohibited from stepping onto local gaming floors during their off-hours, according to new regulations proposed by legislators in Macau. The Legislative Assembly in Macau presented new rules this summer that would ban casino staff from entering the gaming floor during their non-working hours, effectively prohibiting their participation in gambling activities as a whole.

When the laws were initially proposed, they did not specifically apply to junket operators. However, earlier this week, Ho Ion Sang, the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly’s first standing committee, told the media that junket operators would also be included as part of the proposed law (Law No. 10/2012). They would be joining the entire list of casino staff, which typically includes gaming machine operators, cashiers, croupiers, and even those employed in non-gaming areas, such as food & beverage, cleaning, and security.

Set for Discussion

The bill will be discussed in the Legislative Assembly at the end of October. The discussions will also cover the possibility of applying the prohibition to junket subagents as well. Junket subagents are tasked with identifying VIP patrons or high net-worth patrons and directing them towards the junket operators.

Following his original statement, Ho Ion Sang also mentioned that the representatives from the junket industry were generally supportive of the new rule to ban junket staff from gaming floors. According to the Legislative Assembly official, junket operators were quite pleased that measures were being taken to prevent their staff from being exposed to the gambling environment, which would, otherwise, tempt them to engage.

An Old Problem

According to several surveys, from the past and the present, Macau’s casino croupiers have been overrepresented in terms of gambling addiction or problem gambling. Many of the croupiers are currently undergoing treatment for their addiction, with a significant number of them even having to deal with gambling debt. The rise in gambling addiction among casino staff has also spread fear that these vulnerable individuals could easily be persuaded to aid scammers in carrying out their notorious scams.

Several reports have also emerged suggesting that many croupiers were even indulging in workplace theft in order to pay back their debts. Needless to say, this is a major area of concern for junket staff, especially when significant sums of money have already gone missing from junket accounts in the past.