Gambling to win

We all gamble to win.  That’s the whole idea right?

But do you expect to win every time you play?

I certainly don’t.  My approach to gambling is a pragmatic one.  I know each time I play there’s a good possibility I’ll win…I’ve played enough to know this possibility is a pretty reasonable one.  But this is different to a good probability that I’ll win. Very different.

A healthy respect for the finality of mathematics and the knowledge that every casino game has a house edge tells me that this is a pastime to be enjoyed, not one to stake one’s financial future on.

A pretty common viewpoint I would have thought.

Not so for many mainland Chinese apparently.  And many Chinese is, well…lots and lots of people in anyone’s language.

A large part of the reason that Macau is enjoying record breaking revenue figures month after month is China’s economic and per-capita wealth expansion combined with a widely held belief that gambling is a means to make money.  Mainland Chinese gamble to win – that’s their unwavering expectation. It’s not a amusing past time, but rather an investment.  So says Professor Desmond Lam from the University of Macau.

“…mainland Chinese tend to come to Macau to gamble to win—winning money is very important for them—and are serious about it. This is unlike many players from Hong Kong or Macau, who claimed to gamble more for leisure or entertainment.”

So as China gets richer and richer, so will Macau’s casinos.  The only fly in the ointment is the Chinese government who pretty much have their hands on the tap of money flowing into Macau by way of visa restrictions.  Macau’s only firing because visa restrictions for mainland Chinese visitors are currently relaxed – they could easily be tightened again if there’s official unease with just how much money is flowing out of China and into the pockets of Stanley Ho, Sheldon Adelson, James Packer et al.

Of course the risk then is that gamblers stuck at home go online as has happened in so many other parts of the world. Oh wait, Beijing also controls the Internet.