Asia’s gambling capital, Macau, might raise casino entry age to 21
Hong Kong - Macau’s booming gambling industry on Thursday was considering how to respond to a proposal by the territory’s leader to increase the legal age for entering casinos from 18 to 21. Millions of young gamblers would be excluded by the new age limit suggested by Chief Executive Edmund Ho while school leavers would be unable to go straight from sixth form to casino jobs. Ho disclosed the plan at a question and answer session with legislators Wednesday, saying the gambling boom in Macau could not continue indefinitely without addressing the “social costs.”
The chief executive indicated that he was considering a three-year grace period for casino employers so that school leavers already hired would not lose their jobs.
The proposal surprised some legislators, including casino tycoon Stanley Ho’s wife, Leong On-kei, who said: “I knew the minimum age for dealers in casinos might be raised, but I didn’t know the minimum age for gamblers would be raised, too.”
Gambling concern groups in Macau and Hong Kong gave a cautious welcome to the proposal but said they were concerned that youngsters denied casino entry would switch to horse racing or soccer betting.
The idea of raising the casino age limit comes as Macau, a former Portuguese colony, enjoys an unprecedented boom with Las Vegas-based casino chains opening huge new casinos every few months.
In August, the world’s biggest casino - the 2.4-billion-dollar Venetian Macao Resort with 850 gaming tables and 4,100 slot machines - opened, providing jobs for 15,000 people.
With punters from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan flooding in, gambling revenue has been growing at a rate of more than 20 per cent a year since Macau’s casino industry was overhauled in 2003 to end a 40-year casino monopoly held by Stanley Ho.
Last year, Macau officially became the most profitable gambling centre in the world, generating 7 billion dollars in gambling revenue, around 1 billion dollars more than the famous Las Vegas Strip.
However, the boom has had its social costs as Macau’s infrastructure struggles to cope with the 200,000 people a day crossing the land border with China and school leavers shunning college to snap up easy jobs in casinos.
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