Macau: Mecca for gamblers and investors alike

Cultural changes – tea instead of booze
The new arrivals like Sands made a few changes to make their enterprise more profitable. Stanley Ho's casinos were dimly lit, so Sands built theirs with lofty soaring ceilings and added more tables to vast gaming rooms. They also increased the number of slot machines, moving them into the open instead of the corridors leading to washrooms. And they changed the payout numbers from sevens (considered lucky in the U.S.) to eights.

What is one noticeable difference between American and Chinese gamblers? Alcohol. In Las Vegas and Atlantic City, gamblers like to sip drinks served by scantily-clad waitresses, but in Macau the Chinese prefer to sip tea poured by deferential young men. 

Chinese gamblers also concentrate more, and apparently spend more in the private rooms where roulette rules. McFadden declined to comment on how much a big gambler will win or lose in the private rooms on the first floor of the Sands casino, but said the amounts are bigger than hard-core gamblers bet in the U.S.

Gambling in Macau is a success story for American investors in China. A partnership where the odds are good both sides will make a lot of money, from people who believe in luck.

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