The number of people gambling in Macau dropped to a record low in 2019, according to a survey done by the Social Welfare Bureau, with the number of people identifying as problem gamblers also dropping.

Depend on the answers from 2,003 respondents, the report from the University of Macau estimates that 40.9% of people in the Chinese administrative region gambled in 2019, down from 51.5% in 2016. This was the lowest rate ever recorded in similar studies.

Roughly 36.2% of respondents had participated in commercial gambling during the past 12 months, compared to 44.6% in 2016, whereas the median spends among gamblers dropped 16.7% from MOP100 (£9.53/€11.11/$13.38) in 2016 to MOP83.3.

The Mark Six Lottery game was the most popular form of gambling in the past 12 months with 26.5% of respondents taking part, while social gambling ranked second on 12.6%. Casino gambling had a 9.4% share, ahead of football and basketball betting with 7.6% and slot machine parlours on 4.8%.

Macao, the world’s casino capital, had 41 casinos as of 2019. In 2019, the city generated gross revenue of 36.7 billion U.S. Dollars from gaming and gambling. Stanley Ho, a onetime kerosene trader who built a casino empire in Macau that propelled the Chinese island past Las Vegas as the world’s biggest gambling hub, has died at age 98, members of his family said. Known as the King of Gambling, Ho dominated gaming in the former Portuguese colony after winning a monopoly license in 1961.

Betting on football and basketball, and the number of people playing Chinese lottery, both increased. This was boosted by increased activity around the 2018 Fifa World Cup, but the University noted that this dipped significantly after the tournament ended but there were falls elsewhere. Involvement in lottery games, social gambling, slot machine parlour, casinos and horse racing betting all faced failures. Online gambling participation, meanwhile, remained unchanged, having been described as rising in the 2016 edition of the survey, yet no percentages was given in each year.

Macau Gambling Age 2019 Date

Arcade gaming, with tokens or points that can be converted into money, was included in the survey for the first time and saw a participation rate of 0.7%.

The university said:

“Even with such a low participation rate (0.7%), there recorded one probable disordered gambler engaging in this activity. This finding is worthy of attention; residents can participate in this kind of gambling activity in Arcade Game Centres, which can easily be in the community. As such, it is expected that its participation is not only convenient but is also hidden under arcade games. It is suggested that government and non-government gambling disorder prevention and treatment centres promote and educate the public on the characteristics and the differences between games and gambling to reduce the incidence of gambling disorder arising from arcade games.”

In terms of problem gambling, just 16 of the 2003 respondents or 0.8% of those who took part were classified as being “probable disordered gamblers,” down from a share of 2.5% of respondents in 2016. However, while 73.7% said that they had heard of the local gambling disorder prevention and treatment centres, this was down from 78.3% in 2016 and 83.0% in 2013.

The University also called for further efforts from both the government and non-government organisations to deal with problem gambling, citing one case when an individual highlighted arcade games as the major cause of his gambling disorder.

In the university also flagged that casino gambling was the most popular type of gambling associated with problem behaviour. Though, it has been observed that none of those who took part in the study were classed as having a severe problem, whereas only six people recognized as having a mild problem.

Source:https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2019/10/24/57188/number-of-gamblers-in-macau-tumbles-to-record-low-in-2019/
https://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/macau-gambling-participation-slips-record-low-2019

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (hereafter called as the DICJ), provides guidance and assistance to the Chief Executive of Macao SAR on the definition and execution of the economic policies for the operations of the casino games of fortune or other ways of gaming, Pari-Mutuels and gaming activities offered to the public.

Macau Gambling Age

Macau Gambling Age 2019 Chart

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