Inside Asian Gaming

IAG SEP 2020年9月 亞博匯 44 centuries and likely much further than that. As outlined by Hong Wai Ho in a detailed 2018 paper examining the evolution and regulation of junkets, the first seeds of what loosely resembled today’s VIP modus operandi sprouted in the 1930s when Macau authorities granted Tai Heng Company the monopoly license to operate the popular local game fantan. To attract players to their casinos, Tai Heng employed the services of gambling recruiters known as Jin-Ke (literally meaning “introducing customer”), who would organize visits to Macau for groups from surrounding regions. When, in 1962, Stanley Ho’s Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA (STDM) won the city’s exclusive casino concession, Jin-Ke shifted its focus to becoming a key source of business for the new Ho empire. It was 1970, following the opening of STDM’s iconic Casino Lisboa, when the junket business took a giant step towards becoming what it is today. Lisboa, at the time considered the height of luxury, proved to be a cash cow for STDM, attracting a growing number of visitors from Hong Kong who would traverse the 66km stretch of water between the two territories using IN FOCUS 經常被妖魔化和誤解的澳門博彩中介人行業，有著悠久而不 那麼光彩的歷史，這引發了美國內華達州、新加坡及近期澳洲監 管機構的警告。儘管某些司法管轄區迴避博彩中介人行業，但澳 門經歷了波折的開端後，已接受並擁抱博彩中介人——利用過去 的經驗加強監管，同時將自身打造成全球經濟重鎮。 數字是不會說謊。即使考慮到近年所面臨的挑戰，澳門的 貴賓博彩行業在2019年貢獻的博彩總收入為1352.3億澳門元 （169.3億美元），是拉斯維加斯或新加坡博彩收入的兩倍多，也 是菲律賓的四倍。 2004年澳門綜合度假村時代的誕生，不僅沒有令博彩中介人 減少，反而引發了這個行業持續的演變。 低調的開始 在2020年5月的《亞博匯》中，澳門前博彩監管機構成員及政 府顧問David Green針對批評澳門中介人牌照制度的人士稱，「他 們對於甚麼是合規經營手法監管的『三幅被』 基本上沒有考慮過 歷史、實際情況或相關的公眾利益。」 即是說，若想全面理解澳門現代博彩中介人系統的運作方式 和原因，首先需要對導致出現這一現象的歷史有所了解。 向香港或內地玩家推銷澳門博彩業的概念，至少可以追溯至 兩個世紀之前，甚至更早。正如學者何雄威在2018年的一篇詳細 研究博彩中介人的演變及監管的論文中所概述，這種與今天的博