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 ab25 Gross gaming revenue (GGR) from Texas Hold’em poker in Macau during the first quarter this year reached MOP242 million (US$30.3 million), a quarterly best for the segment since the city’s casino regulator started publishing data on it in 2008. Such GGR was up 3.0 percent year-on-year on the MOP235 million recorded for the first three months of 2024, show data from the regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Macau’s full-year 2024 Texas Hold’em poker GGR of MOP883 million had been a high since the city’s government started issuing figures for the category. Texas Hold’em poker has had mixed fortunes in Macau over the years. Its previous modern-era annual GGR record was MOP446 million in 2019. It fell back to MOP35 million in 2020, coinciding with travel restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. The game had seen a revenue comeback in Macau  in stages since 2023 . Industry commentators had remarked to GGRAsia at the time that while this segment w...

jul25 MGTO intensifies crackdown on illegal tour guides  -  Monday, July 14, 2025 - 2 days ago  No Comments  2,565 Views The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has conducted 795 inspections since January targeting illegal tour guide activities at entry ports and tourist sites, director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said. 15 suspected cases have been identified, with procedures underway and reports submitted to mainland authorities. Meanwhile, mainland variety show Keep Running filmed in Macau last month, attracting fans and boosting the local economy. MGTO is in talks with another production team to showcase the city’s hidden streets and diverse image through future episodes. https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/mgto-intensifies-crackdown-on-illegal-tour-guides.html  jul25 Shenzhen operator fined for selling Macau-linked budget tours By   Newsdesk Low-budget tours of Hong Kong and Macau are once again under heightened scrutiny, with a high-profile case spot...

set25 Money Laundering Casinos have once again been thrust into the spotlight of global financial crime, with US authorities warning that Chinese  money laundering networks  are exploiting gaming floors and related industries to wash billions of illicit dollars. According to a new analysis by the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN ), casinos – alongside banks and money service businesses – were among the sectors that filed thousands of  suspicious activity reports  linked to Chinese money laundering networks (CMLNs) between 2020 and 2024. Although banks accounted for the vast majority of the 137,000 suspicious activity reports reviewed, casinos and related financial operators flagged more than $24 billion in suspect funds over the five-year period. These included irregular chip purchases, ‘chip walking’ – when gamblers leave tables without redeeming their chips – and large cash deposits unaligned with customers’ reported income. Analysts say ...

 ab25 O presidente da Associação da Indústria Turística, Andy Wu, estima que o consumo dos turistas que visitam Macau pode sofrer uma redução devido à desvalorização do renminbi. A posição do representante e empresário do sector surge na sequência da recente quebra da taxa de câmbio de renminbi, que atingiu o ponto mais baixo desde 2010, levando a que as moedas indexadas ao dólar norte-americano, como a pataca e o dólar de Hong Kong, se tornem mais caras no câmbio. No fundo, a frente cambial na guerra comercial entre Washington e Pequim tornou Macau ainda mais dispendiosa para os turistas chineses. Segundo a taxa de câmbio de ontem um renminbi valia 1,09 patacas. No entanto, Andy Wu encara o volume de turistas verificado durante o fim-de-semana prolongado do feriado do Cheng Ming como um bom indicador que o número de visitantes, que ficou acima dos 130 mil por dia, não está a ser afectado pela guerra comercial. Em declarações ao jornal Ou Mun, o dirigente associativo acrescentou qu...

 ab25 A recent  police action against an illegal money exchange operation  linked to eight Macau jewelry stories does not appear to have affected the ability of players to access cash, according to latest observations by Citigroup analysts. Citi released the results of its monthly premium mass table survey on Monday, with the HK$11.1 million (US$1.43 million) total wager observed remaining flat year-on-year despite recent headwinds such as the US-Sino trade war. Average wager per player was 7% lower than during the same month in 2024, analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau added in a note, although whales – those betting at least HK$100,000 (US$12,900) per hand – were betting 2% more on average. “The fact that these wagers happened in front of our eyes suggests that concerns about the Macau police’s recent intensified crackdown on pawn shops that conduct illegal cash exchanges may be overdone as players are still able to get cash to the gaming tables,” they wrote. “Another...

 ab25 The new regulatory framework overhaul that was implemented through reforms in 2022 and 2024 led to “major corrections” in the  Macau  casino industry rather than routine updates, aimed at fixing what had become a dangerously unbalanced system after two decades of breakneck expansion, gaming law expert Jorge Godinho argues in a recent study. “There were too many gaming promoters and VIP rooms, too much credit for gaming, and too much money moving out of China,” Godinho writes in his  study ,  The Macau SAR Regulation of Casino Gaming: Structural Features After the Reforms of 2022–2024 . Jorge Godinho, Gaming Law Expert “Numerous casinos were built, but not that many non-gaming services were developed.” The reforms come after years of unsustainable growth, followed by sharp decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The gaming industry peaked in 2013/14 but entered what Godinho describes as “a bumpy ride that became a freefall.” Macau’s reliance on high-rolling V...

may25 Macao will not retaliate against US casino operators: Sam Hou Fai The SAR’s top official says companies acting ‘in an orderly and lawful manner’ will be ‘protected and supported’ by the local government The chief executive also doubled down on the need to diversify Macao’s economy, even though ‘it will be very difficult to reverse the dependency on gaming revenues’ https://macaonews.org/news/business/macau-us-casinos-trade-war-china-macao/ may25 The tension on  US-China relations  has lessened slightly, as both nations announced a suspension on part of their tariffs on exports for 90 days, potentially offering a reprieve from speculation over the impact on Macau’s US-backed gaming operators. https://agbrief.com/news/macau/12/05/2025/us-backed-macau-operators-can-breathe-easier-after-temporary-tariff-reductions-between-us-and-china-but-questions-remain/?utm_source=Asia+Gaming+Brief&utm_campaign=03fd454002-AGB%3A+%2302138+Tuesday%2C+13th+May%2C+2025&utm_medium=emai...