Gambling in Macau 澳門博彩業(yè)

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是一種流行的百家樂紙牌游戲，在澳門的VIP套間里，其賭注經(jīng)常升至遠(yuǎn)超10萬美元。豪賭客通常來自中國大陸。甚至在飛往這個賭博天堂之前，他們通常都會同意在逗留期間下注100萬美元以上。那些因內(nèi)地嚴(yán)格的資本管制而囊中空空的人，很容易就找到了澳門澳門元的貸方。

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.

內(nèi)地超級富豪賭客的大量涌入，是由“博彩中介”和推銷商促成的。2019年，在澳門擁有一家大型法國文藝復(fù)興風(fēng)格賭場的澳博控股，幾乎所有的VIP客戶都是通過這類中間人吸引來的。近年來，香港非VIP賭博的份額一直在上升。但在大流行之前，vip仍占香港博彩總收入的約三分之一。

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對該行業(yè)造成了打擊。因此，中國政府也加大了遏制中介人業(yè)務(wù)的力度。賭博在大陸是非法的。今年3月，中國表示，協(xié)助跨境賭博也是違法的。11月26日，沿海城市溫州警方對澳門最大的博彩公司SunCity的總裁周焯華發(fā)出了逮捕令。他后來在澳門被捕。當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T聲稱，這與大陸的搜查令無關(guān)，但他的許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.

對周先生的指控暗示了澳門博彩中介行業(yè)的規(guī)模。溫州警方表示，他在大陸有1.2萬名代理人為8萬名顧客服務(wù)。太陽城據(jù)稱安排地下銀行服務(wù)，幫助他們逃避資本管制。在澳門，公費旅游是合法的。但大陸的法律似乎勝過了當(dāng)?shù)氐姆伞?/span>

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.

澳門將如何生存?中國希望看到它從一個墮落的城市變成一個地區(qū)娛樂中心和科技中心。事實證明，這是困難的，因為它的大部分可用土地都被用于建造賭場。澳門政府希望一個新的開發(fā)區(qū)能有所幫助。它位于鄰近的橫琴島上，橫琴是澳門的三倍大。它屬于中國大陸，部分租給了澳門。橫琴將擁有主題公園、家庭旅游景點以及一條連接中國內(nèi)地的高鐵。這個前葡萄牙飛地將變得更像一個大陸城市。