Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming December 2014 32 Feature While some point to the six new megaresorts slated to open in Cotai between 2015 and 2017 as a potential trigger for a spike in gambling problems among residents, the spread of casinos across the city has actually been accompanied by a steady fall in locals’ play. casinos,” observes Davis Fong. “The rate was also higher [in 2010] when a bunch of new projects opened in Cotai from 2007 to 2009, but the residents have been getting used to them.” “It might seem surprising because gambling in Macau is growing,” says Bo Bernhard, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “The first time you are exposed to something you tend to see an increase in use, but human beings are very adaptable and flexible so problem gambling declines after it sees an increase.” In keeping with the allure of gambling among the inexperienced, many studies have shown that it is more prevalent among Macau’s youth relative to the overall population. Thus, the raising of the minimum age of entry to the city’s casinos from 18 to 21 after November 2012 was a major factor behind the drop in the participation rate in 2013. According to Macau’s gaming regulator, the DICJ, as of August, some 630,000 individuals under 21 have been refused entry to the city’s casinos since the implementation of the law, while 657 individuals were found inside in breach of the ban. “The gaming participation rate of residents between 15 and 24 was only 31.5% [in 2013], dropping by 12.4 percentage points from 2010, the age group undergoing the largest decline,” the report from the Institute states. The efforts of the government and gaming operators to educate locals about problem gaming are another “major reason” for the fall in gambling participation among residents, says Zeng Zhonglu, a professor at the institute’s Gaming Teaching and Research Center. Macau’s former chief executive, Edmund Ho, made problem gambling a priority in his 2007 policy address, and the issue has since been a recurring theme at successive policy addresses by Mr Ho and his successor, Fernando Chui Sai On. The government has collaborated with the University of Macau to set up kiosks at several casinos to promote responsible gaming and provide financial support for social welfare organizations to offer counseling services. Last year it ordered the closure of five slot parlous and two horse racing and sports betting centers located within residential areas. According to another regular University of Macau survey, some 60% of Macau residents polled last year were aware of the concept of responsible gaming, compared to only 16.2% before the government stepped up its campaign on the issue in 2009. Last but probably not least, soaring table minimums may also be deterring locals from playing. In 2003, tables featuring HK$100 (US$13) minimums were in relatively abundant supply, but now, you’d be hard-pressed to find a table with a HK$500 minimum,