Macao to win from gambling crackdown in Cambodia and Philippines

Chinese pressure on online casinos should help reverse outflow

20190927 Melco's Studio City

Macao, a semi-autonomous former Portuguese colony close to Hong Kong, is the only place in China where casino gaming is allowed. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

ZACH COLEMAN, Nikkei Asian Review deputy editor

HONG KONG -- China's ongoing crackdown on remote gambling has sent online operators in Cambodia and the Philippines scrambling for cover, but should provide relief for Macao casinos facing shrinking revenues.

Beijing's campaign started after a state-owned newspaper in early July called out Suncity Group, the biggest of the Macao junket companies which help to arrange high rollers' casino trips, for causing social harm and driving capital outflows by connecting Chinese VIPs with gambling services in Southeast Asia.

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