Online Gambling In Macau Now A Real Possibility

It appears Macau are now officially open to the idea of online gambling as a replacement or at least a supplement to the devastation of tax income from land based casino operators who have seen a drop of 74%.

Last week local legislator, Jose Pereira Coutinho sent a written question to Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Director, Adriano Ho on whether the regulator would consider allowing online gambling to aid land based operators struggles to generate income.

Considering that Macau/China have had a taboo subject towards online gambling the response was quite revealing, Adriano Ho said, Before introducing [online gambling] the government has to conduct careful studies, which are still on-going,” he went on to say, the regulator would seriously evaluate suggestions about any development of the gambling sector, including the possibility of gaming operators being allowed to explore online gambling.

In just indicating the possibility it marks a massive move towards an industry that was previously not even allowed to be considered as it still remains illegal in Macau and mainland China apart from two small allowances in lottery and horse racing.

The remarks from the head of the Macau regulator comes at a time authorities in China battles external online gambling operators who officials believe are taking some $37 billion a year from Chinese nationals and many of those operators work out of the Philippines.

However many analyst’s say that the online gambling market in China is as much as $60 billion a year, that is something Chinese authorities want to stop and what better than the offer that service themselves.

The problem is how do you regulate such an industry to stem the possibility of money laundering and criminal elements infiltrating the business.

It is a massive opportunity but also a major challenge to control, the iGaming Post has revealed that Chinese authorities had been discussing the possibility of online gambling for some time already as an aid to Macau operators, but will it be a temporary solution to slower than expected revenues recovery or will it be a marked change in direction for gambling in South East Asia?