Macau casinos losing billions to illegal side betting

Hong Kong - Casinos in the world’s gambling capital Macau may have lost more than 2.5 billion US dollars a year to illegal side bets in their VIP rooms, a news report said Monday.
The under-the-table wagers could be wiping out 50 per cent of the southern Chinese resort’s casino revenue with around 13 billion US dollars lost in the last five years, the South China Morning Post reported.
Side betting involves secret, parallel tax-free wagers between high-rolling gamblers and agents or VIP room operators, which are settled outside the casino after a gambling session.
The illegal practice is so widespread that licensed casino operators in Macau believe it accounts for up to 200 per cent of the official VIP gaming market, the newspaper said.
An official from the Macau Gaming Inspection and Co-Ordination Bureau told the newspaper: “The government is aware of this problem and has been taking measures to prevent it.”
Side betting, which avoids the 40-per-cent tax on gambling in Macau, has been outlawed in the former Portuguese colony since 1996 and is punishable by up to three years in prison.
A series of new, Las Vegas-style casinos have opened since 2003 in Macau, sparking a boom in visitor numbers as gamblers pour in from mainland China, Taiwan and neighboring Hong Kong.
In 2006, Macau became the world’s most profitable casino resort, making 7 billion US dollars in gambling revenue, around 1 billion US dollars more than the famous Las Vegas strip

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