[LINK] "Macau Already Dwarfs Vegas—and China's Gaming Hub Is Getting Even Bigger"

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg BusinessWeek's Bruce Einhorn reports that gambling in the formerly Portuguese enclave of Macau on the south Chinese coast, near Hong Kong, is taking off with vigour.

China’s economy is slowing, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the casinos in Macau. The former Portuguese colony is the only place with legalized casino gambling in China, and while this year the Chinese economy is likely to expand at its slowest pace since 1990, there’s no sign of a pause in Macaua’s casinos. Gross gaming revenue this month should jump between 10 percent and 12 percent over a year ago, according to a report published today by Barclays (BCS). For the whole year, the bank expects 16 percent growth.

Casino operators in the U.S. should be so lucky. Gaming revenue in Las Vegas is down 12 percent so far this year, and in the Midwest, casino revenue has dropped for six months in a row. While in the 1980s the only states with legal casino betting were Nevada and New Jersey, now almost every state in the country has casinos—and as Bloomberg Businessweek reported earlier this month, revenue is dwindling, with New Jersey down 44 percent since its peak in 2006.

Meanwhile, China’s gambling hub keeps on growing. Gaming revenue in Macau, the tiny peninsula and nearby islands an hour’s ferry ride from Hong Kong, last year hit $45 billion. Compare that with the $38 billion total not just for Vegas but for Atlantic City, all the Native American casinos, and everything else in the U.S.