According to figures just released, the gross domestic product of Macau grew by 18% in real terms in 2021, having seen a major contraction the previous year.

One of the big drivers of that growth was the export of gaming services, which are included in the figures in order to reflect spending in the city’s casinos by tourists.

Despite a number of disruptions to tourism in the second half of last year, caused by local outbreaks of Covid-19, gross gaming revenue from Macau’s casinos grew nearly 44% year on year.

Gambling has been a part of life in Macau since the 1850s, when it was a Portuguese autonomous colony and the government of the day legalised the activity. It has since become known as the gambling capital of the world, and has also earned itself the nickname of “Monte Carlo” of the East.

In 1999, after 442 years of Portuguese rule, it was transferred to China, and is now a special administrative region, like its near neighbour Hong Kong.

In the wake of the transfer of power, the casino industry, which had previously operated under government licence, was liberalised and opened up to foreign investors.

It is the only place in China where casinos are legal.

About 50% of Macau’s revenue comes from gambling tourism, with visitors – especially in these post Covid times – principally coming from mainland Chin and also Hong Kong.

In 2007, Macau overtook the Las Vegas strip in terms of gambling revenues.

One peculiarity of Macau is that it does not currently licence online gambling operations.

This means that they were particularly vulnerable to the global health crisis which saw physical casinos across the world forced to shutter their doors, prompting millions to tur to online operators instead like vulkan vegas casino

Even now, as the pandemic is showing signs of receding, many, having discovered the convenience and accessibility of such casinos, prefer to play online rather than have to make the effort to visit their bricks and mortar equivalents.

Until western casino games were introduced in the 20^th century, only Chinese games were played in Macau, the most popular of which was Fan-Tan.

Best regarded as skin to roulette because it is also a game of pure chance, it is played on a board by placing two handfuls of a small objects on a playing surface, with the objective being to guess the remaining count.

It is still played in some Macau casinos, though its popularity has declined in recent years, with other traditional Chinese games like Mah Jong and Pai Gow having more appeal to modern gamblers.

Nowadays, gambling in Macau can be segregated into four categories – casino games, lotteries, greyhound racing and sports betting.

The former colony currently has 41 casinos, the largest of which is the Venetian Macau. Opened in 2007, this luxury hotel and casino resort is owned by the Las Vegas Sands company, and has 51,000 square metres of casino space, with 3,400 slot machines, 800 gambling tables and a 15,000 seat arene for live entertainment and sporting events.