Las Vegas is the gambling center of the world, right? Very wrong! Macau has surpassed Las Vegas and Atlantic City and as of early 2014 has 7 times the gambling revenues of Las Vegas. The Chinese territory reported gambling revenue of 360 billion patacas ($45 billion) for 2013, an increase of almost 20% over the previous year. The city of Macau, pronounced Ma COW is just 64 kilometers (about 40 miles) from Hong Kong. The former colony of Portugal was transferred over to Chinese control in 1999. Hong Kong was a former British colony and went to Chinese control two years earlier, in 1997. The cities are Special Administrative Regions of the People’s Republic of China,
Macau’s casino revenues overtook those of Las Vegas back in 2006.
Macau’s economy is growing at a rate of 19 percent per year—faster than mainland China.
In Macau, most of the revenue comes from gaming tables—not slot machines. The most popular game is baccarat.
The Sands’ owner, Sheldon Adelson, has vowed to build a replica of the Las Vegas strip on an artificial pier between two Macau islands. http://www.businessinsider.com/these-casinos-in-macau-make-las-vegas-look-like-a-dump-2012-7?op=1#ixzz392ETZGqT
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-casinos-in-macau-make-las-vegas-look-like-a-dump-2012-7?op=1#ixzz392ETZGqT
The dark side of Asia’s gambling Mecca: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/17/world/asia/macau-dark-side/
45 Interesting things about Macau: http://www.weekendnotes.com/interesting-facts-about-macau/
Shadybrook 