Gambling in Macau 澳门博彩业

No dice for vice

China wants the gambling enclave of Macau to draw a new hand

第一段：

Stakes in PUNTO BANCO, a popular version of the card game baccarat, have often risen to well over $100,000 in Macau’s VIP suites. The high-rollers have usually come from the Chinese mainland. Even before flying into the gambling haven they would commonly agree to bet upwards of $1m during their stays. Those who have arrived short of cash because of the mainland’s strict capital controls have easily found lenders of Macanese patacas. 

PUNTO BANCO是一种流行的百家乐纸牌游戏，在澳门的VIP套间里，其赌注经常升至远超10万美元。豪赌客通常来自中国大陆。甚至在飞往这个赌博天堂之前，他们通常都会同意在逗留期间下注100万美元以上。那些因内地严格的资本管制而囊中空空的人，很容易就找到了澳门澳门元的贷方。

第二段：

The flow of super-rich punters from the mainland has been enabled by “junket” agents and promoters. In 2019 SJM Holdings, which owns a huge French Renaissance-style casino in Macau, brought in almost all of its VIP customers through such middlemen. The share of non- VIP gambling in the city has been rising in recent years. But before the pandemic, VIPs still accounted for about a third of the territory’s gross revenues from gaming.

内地超级富豪赌客的大量涌入，是由“博彩中介”和推销商促成的。2019年，在澳门拥有一家大型法国文艺复兴风格赌场的澳博控股，几乎所有的VIP客户都是通过这类中间人吸引来的。近年来，香港非VIP赌博的份额一直在上升。但在大流行之前，vip仍占香港博彩总收入的约三分之一。

第三段：

Covid-19 has been a blow to the industry. So, too, have stepped-up efforts by China’s government to curb the junket business. betting is illegal on the mainland. In March China said assisting cross-border gambling was also against the law. On November 26th police in the coastal city of Wenzhou issued an arrest warrant for Alvin Chau, the head of SunCity, Macau’s biggest junket firm. He was later seized in Macau. Officials there claimed this was unrelated to the mainland’s warrant, but many in his business felt a deep chill.

Covid-19对该行业造成了打击。因此，中国政府也加大了遏制中介人业务的力度。赌博在大陆是非法的。今年3月，中国表示，协助跨境赌博也是违法的。11月26日，沿海城市温州警方对澳门最大的博彩公司SunCity的总裁周焯华发出了逮捕令。他后来在澳门被捕。当地官员声称，这与大陆的搜查令无关，但他的许多生意伙伴感到了深深的寒意。

第四段：

The charges against Mr Chau hint at the scope of the junket industry in Macau. Wenzhou’s police say he had 12,000 agents serving 80,000 customers on the mainland. SunCity allegedly arranged underground banking services to help them evade capital controls. Junkets are legal in Macau. But the mainland’s laws appear to have trumped local ones.

对周先生的指控暗示了澳门博彩中介行业的规模。温州警方表示，他在大陆有1.2万名代理人为8万名顾客服务。太阳城据称安排地下银行服务，帮助他们逃避资本管制。在澳门，公费旅游是合法的。但大陆的法律似乎胜过了当地的法律。

第五段：

How will Macau survive? China wants to see it transformed from a city of vice into a regional entertainment centre and tech hub. This has proved difficult because most of its available land has been used to build casinos. Macau’s government hopes a new development zone will help. It is on nearby Hengqin, an island three times Macau’s size. It belongs to the mainland and has been leased in part to Macau. Hengqin will have theme parks, family attractions and a high-speed rail link with China’s interior. The former Portuguese enclave will become even more like a mainland city.

澳门将如何生存?中国希望看到它从一个堕落的城市变成一个地区娱乐中心和科技中心。事实证明，这是困难的，因为它的大部分可用土地都被用于建造赌场。澳门政府希望一个新的开发区能有所帮助。它位于邻近的横琴岛上，横琴是澳门的三倍大。它属于中国大陆，部分租给了澳门。横琴将拥有主题公园、家庭旅游景点以及一条连接中国内地的高铁。这个前葡萄牙飞地将变得更像一个大陆城市。