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China's High Rollers Invade Las Vegas26 March 2002LAS VEGAS – As reported by the Washington Post: ‘…For the past several years, wealthy Chinese officials, businessmen, bookies and gangsters have been cutting a golden path to the casinos of Las Vegas, losing vast sums of money, much of it not theirs. Their exploits combine capitalist-style excesses of the rich and famous with post-communist sleaze, and Vegas's glitter with China's ancient fascination with gaming, while reflecting China's mind-boggling corruption and its record-breaking economic growth. ”Gambling executives say China's big-time gamblers could become the fastest-growing market among high-stakes Asian players, outstripping those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. While the number of Japanese tourists visiting Las Vegas is still 10 times that of Chinese, the increase in high rollers from China and the amount they are willing to gamble have captured the imaginations of Vegas's gambling industry. ”…`Asians are the only growing segment of the casino market,’ said Bill Chu, Asia regional marketing director for Harrah's Las Vegas. `And the Chinese are the only people in Asia with cash. Hong Kong is dried up. Taiwan is dried up. Forget Japan. Thailand is history.’ ”American companies also vied for a chance to open casinos in Macao this year. But many Chinese `whales,’ as they are called in the industry, do not like the sleazy former Portuguese territory that returned to Chinese control in 1999. One reason is that state security agents roam the gaming halls videotaping fat cats. One of them, Ma Xiangdong, executive deputy mayor of the northeastern city of Shenyang, was executed late last year after he appeared on a tape. Ma had lost $4 million in public funds on 17 trips to Macao. ”In Las Vegas, losses by Chinese have been extraordinary, rivaling losses by Hong Kong and Taiwanese players during the mid-1970s. Some Chinese gamblers have dropped $10 million and cannot go home for fear of having to explain where the money came from, industry sources said. ”…Chu said Harrah's has agents in five Chinese cities and will open an office in Beijing on April 1 to provide support for its guests' visa applications. MGM has two representative offices in China and part-time assistants digging up high rollers. ”…One problem holding up the boom is the tough visa policies of U.S. consulates in China. Chu said that only 20 percent of Harrah's prospective guests get U.S. visas. MGM does better, at around 50 percent, industry executives said. The consulates demand documentary proof of a guest's financial resources and want to know where the money comes from. ”`Our government is saying, unless they show the sources of their money, they're not going,’ Chu said. ”…` They're rich, that's all that matters!’ ”But U.S. officials say much of the money Chinese bet at tables in Las Vegas is hot -- embezzled from the Chinese government or state-owned businesses, or made illegally, mostly by smuggling. ”In their quest to get to Vegas, many Chinese have found ways around U.S. visa officers by establishing bogus companies and submitting fake documents to hide the source of their ill-gotten gains. Chu said American visa officers in one U.S. consulate routinely allow two of his clients, a bookie and his wife, to travel to the United States. ”…China also places strict controls on the export of hard currency. Chinese law says travelers can take only $2,000 abroad. So gamblers have turned to sneaking money out. Sometimes they launder funds abroad through an underground banking system based in Hong Kong. Sometimes they pay off Chinese customs officers and take money directly on the plane. ”…Gambling industry sources said Chinese players exhibit some unusual characteristics. One is the size of their bets. Another is the ability to play without sleep…” |