Inside Asian Gaming

July 2014 inside asian gaming 29 Some people say that it is in our genes, in our blood, which is an easy way to explain it. If you look at our history, which I try to investigate in depth in “Chopsticks and Gambling,” we have a very rich history of gambling, not just in our pursuit of the activity, but also on the development of games like lottery and card games, which could date back to the Tang dynasty. You can look at it from a cultural perspective, but people will challenge that. We have three big religions—Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism—and none of them will tell you they advocate gambling. But they have certain aspects that relate to risk-seeking. The most viable explanation of why we want to gamble is our environment—the progress of our society in a short time from poor to rich, from nobodies to somebodies, as well as the fact that achievement is based on how much wealth we have gained. In fact, some of the research that’s been done shows that [Chinese] gamblers almost treat the activity as an investment, and everybody wants to earn wealth quickly, most likely as a result of income disparity, which widens every year. How is that different from non-Chinese gamblers? Chinese gamblers are more serious than the Western gamblers in Las Vegas, for example, who are there for leisure and recreation. Whether it is at a gambling table or on the lottery there are various motivations. If you go to a casino, you want entertainment, you want satisfaction, and you want to win money. That’s not to say Chinese gamblers don’t seek entertainment value. However, it seems that they are particularly focused on the winning aspect, while in Western countries the leisure aspect plays a more important part. The Chinese have been able to access casino gaming primarily via Macau, which also has been offering more non-gaming, family-oriented elements in its resorts. Have you noticed any subsequent changes in the habits of Chinese gamblers? You won’t see much change in that between my first book and the latest one. There is more research on how they gamble and more in-depth research on the games, but you won’t see much difference in their values and their motivations. Right now, they obviously want more, they’re seeking more variety as Macau is diversifying. From the perspective of Macau, it used to only attract hard-core Chinese gamblers, and they really didn’t care about the service quality. But now they want more experiences, it’s slowly changing to more of a Las Vegas-type demographic, meaning they want to have a bit more fun when coming here. Do you mean they are more demanding in terms of the complementary services and amenities the casinos provide? What about the variety of games? They are starting to be more demanding. They want better quality. You can’t say what they want in terms of a variety of games as it’s a matter of supply and demand. If they want something it doesn’t necessarily mean we will give it to them. Because we are constantly supplying baccarat, they come and only play baccarat. That’s one side of it. And they also want to earn more money. So that’s why baccarat is still a good choice. At the same time we are also starting to see big gamblers who stay away from the VIP tables and opt for the mass- market ones because they prefer to be more anonymous. They want to stay below the radar. Talking about the varieties of games, Chinese gamblers have been known for their preference of table games over slots. But more of the latter can now be found in markets like Macau. Do you expect or have your observed any difference in their preferences? Fifty years ago, Las Vegas was predominantly table-game focused, but 50 years later, predominantly slots. The market will change, and the preferences of the people will change. But slots are a different demographic—the older people, younger people, people who are low risk-taking. I wouldn’t say we will always remain a table- oriented market. Right now, I don’t see any changes, but you never know the future. How about electronic table games, which are growing? They are the good in-between, which will be good for Macau due to the labor regulations as [the machines] require Insights Desmond Lam “You can’t say what they want in terms of a variety of games as it’s a matter of supply and demand. If they want something it doesn’t mean we will give them something. Because we are constantly supplying baccarat they come and only play baccarat.”