From AP – A Chinese fighter’s victory at a Macau showdown brings the world’s top casino market a step closer to challenging Las Vegas for dominance of another Sin City staple: big-time boxing matches. Macau, which long ago eclipsed Vegas as the world’s top gambling city, is now looking to add to its allure by holding the kind of boxing bouts that Las Vegas is known for. The tiny Chinese enclave is hosting a series of high-profile bouts this year featuring a pair of Asian stars: Chinese two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming and Philippine fighter Manny Pacquiao. Zou made…

The New Macau Association wants the Public Prosecutions’ Office (MP) to investigate government officials in relation to the granting of casino sub-concessions. In a press conference held yesterday, the president of the association, Jason Chao, stated: “We have long heard that there are only three casino concessionaires in Macau and another three sub-concessions. But in reality these are not sub-concessions at all; we have six autonomous and independent concessionaires.” Chao mentioned a news article published last May in the newspaper Macau Business Daily. The article claimed that the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Francis Tam, had issued a letter addressed…

From Macau Daily Times – Despite the Macao Monetary Authority’s earlier revelation that the VIP segment is losing its share to the mass market, the Chief Executive Officer of SJM (Sociedade de Jogos de Macau) pointed out that the transition to the mass gaming market is a trend. Speaking on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony, veteran casino operator and SJM CEO Dr. Ambrose So said that local economic growth could not be judged based on the figures of the past few months alone. Instead, he is optimistic about development prospects in the long run. The Monetary Authority stated in…

From CNN Triad attacks. Prostitute calling cards. Illicit money flows. This is the dark underbelly of Macau — Asia’s gambling capital. The only Chinese territory where casinos are permitted, the city has transformed itself in little more than a decade from a sleepy backwater to a neon-lit monument to China’s passion for gambling. Gambling revenues in the city surpassed Las Vegas in 2006 and are now six times greater. But the former Portuguese colony’s dramatic rise has come at a cost, with many in Macau questioning whether growth has been too fast and furious. “You really don’t know whether society…

From Commercial Appeal In just a decade, the center of gambling has migrated from Las Vegas to a tiny Chinese territory an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong. The gambling mecca of Macau now handles more wagers than all U.S. commercial casinos put together. But as U.S. gambling companies have remade Macau, Macau has also remade them. Amid a soft regulatory climate in America, U.S. gaming companies have been hit with allegations of improper conduct, including allowing Chinese junkets linked to Asian gangs into Las Vegas. Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. Each month, 2.5…

From Huffington Post. – Most people still think of the U.S. gambling industry as anchored in Las Vegas. They might think of vestiges of the mob, or the town’s ill-advised flirtation with family-friendly branding in the 1990s. But they would be wrong. The center of the gambling world has shifted 16 time zones away to a tiny spit of land on the southern tip of East Asia. An hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong and an afternoon flight from half the world’s population, Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Each month, 2.5 million tourists…