Legal Gambling Age Macau

The legal age for gambling in Macau is 21. Does Macau Tax Gambling Winnings? Macau tax laws allow for gambling winnings to go untaxed. It’s a different story for operators who pay about 40% of gross gaming revenues to the taxman. Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalised the activity in the autonomous colony. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the 'Gambling capital of the world' or 'Monte Carlo of the East'. Gambling tourism is Macau's biggest source of revenue, making up about 50% of the economy. That was one thing we were wondering if they could walk through the casinos and look at the grandeur of them or not allowed at all. We definately would look at the history of Macau, but for young people the entertainment the bars etc were more the interest then the gambling part of it. I assume the drinking age is 21 now as well over there. The gambling age is set at 21 for a reason that most likely has to do with how the law interprets an individual’s legal status in society. Until a person is an adult, which is usually 21, they are the responsibility of their parents.

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For many gamblers, the idea of traveling to Las Vegas, Macau or Monte Carlo to try their luck is something of a dream. Being able to travel the world and play at different casinos sounds incredible but there could be one stumbling block – the legal gambling age.

Legal Gambling Age In Macau

The legal gambling age refers to the age from which members of the public are legally allowed to bet in a specific location. Most legal ages apply to countries but in some countries, it may be different in individual cities or regions.

Gambling Laws by Country

Gambling laws and the legal age for betting will vary from country to country. Let’s take a look at some of the differences between different countries.
New Zealand – New Zealand has a long and well-documented history with betting and casinos. Currently, as a result of the gaming act in 2003, people are allowed to play at a casino from the 20, though, they are allowed to partake in sports betting from 18.
Australia – Australia has had an interesting relationship with betting and casinos over the years. The legal age to bet or enter a casino there is now 18. This includes all forms of betting including online casinos.
Ireland – The law in Ireland was changed in the gaming act of 1956, making all forms of betting and playing real money casinos legal in the country from 18 years old.
The United Kingdom – Betting is incredibly popular in the UK, and you can play gambling games from 18 years old. The national lottery can be played from 16.
The United States of America – The USA is slowly becoming more liberal with real casinos. In most states, most notably Nevada, the age of gambling is 21, though, in some, it is 18. Casinos and any form of betting are still illegal in Hawaii and Utah.
Argentina – Argentina is one of the most popular countries for place bets in South America, and the legal age to do there is 18.
Egypt – Africa is not a particular popular continent for gambling, but Egypt has managed to make itself a popular destination in recent years with a good range of casinos. The legal age there is 21.
Macau – Macau is one of the most popular destinations in the world for bettors. The country has a legal age of 21. Though, tourists are allowed to play in several of the casinos there from 18.

Legal Age to Gamble by continent

Gambling has slowly become more and more acceptable around the globe, but some countries still have much stricter laws than others. Betting culture varies from continent to continent and here is a rough outline of the way each continent legislates the industry.

Legal Gambling Age Australia

Europe
Europe is perhaps the most liberal continent when it comes to gambling. Thanks to the European Union, most states are places where you can gamble at 18. This may vary in some countries, such as Greece or Portugal. These laws tend to allow the public to gamble both online and in land-based casinos from that age.

Asia
Asia has a range of different restrictions on gambling, with the legal gambling age by country changing a lot. In some countries, it is banned totally still.

In popular locations like Singapore and Macau, the age is 21. Though, in Macau, tourists may be able to gamble from the age of 18, depending on the casino. Thailand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria are some of the countries where gambling is totally illegal.

Africa
In most African countries, 18 tends to be the legal age that people can begin to gamble. One of the exceptions to this rule is Egypt, which is a popular destination for gambling. Their legal age is 21.

Interestingly, Malwai has the lowest legal age in the world, which is 5. This is because it is believed they understand the concept of money by this age.

North America
The most popular destination for gambling in North America, and perhaps the entire world, is Las Vegas in the USA. The legal age in most US states is 21, though there are a few exceptions where the age is 18. Interestingly, a lot of other countries on the continent, including the likes of Jamaica and Mexico, have legal ages of 18.

South America
If you are planning a trip to South America, then you should be at least 18 years to enter a casino. This is the legal age in all 15 countries since 2006.

Oceania
The two biggest countries in Oceania are New Zealand and Australia and they both have different gambling ages. In Australia, the legal age for betting is 18 years old.

In New Zealand, the age limit to play real money online casino games is 20, but residents can place a bet on horse racing at 18 years old thanks to the gaming act of 2003. They can play Instant kiwi when they are 16.

Why is the gambling age 21 in some countries?
One of the most frustrating things can be traveling from a country where you can bet at the age of 18 to a country where you can only bet from the age of 21 if you fall between those age brackets.

The most notable destination for this is Las Vegas, where young tourists who can gamble in their own country have to wait until they are 21 to do it in America. In some countries, the age for how old do you have to be to go to a casino is also different from when you can go to sports betting shops, such as in New Zealand.

The reason for this is different countries consider different ages to be the threshold of becoming an adult. It can be addictive and dangerous and governments decide when they believe their population is at an appropriate age to understand the risks that come with betting.

Some countries make different types of betting legal at different ages. Many countries that have a national lottery, like the UK, allow their people to play this before they are allowed to gamble in casinos or online, for example.

In some countries, mainly in parts of the Middle-East, gambling is totally illegal. One of the most notable countries where it is illegal is China.

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Last Updated: November 6, 2014 – Macau is now the richest casino destination in the world. In 2013, their 35 casinos (with 8 more casinos on its way) generated USD $45 billion (HKD $348.9 billion) in gross gambling wins. This is more than every casino in the entire United States combined. It is because they are the only jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty with legal casino gambling that we achieved such success. In 2012, they had 25,055,704 visitors from Chinese jurisdictions (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) which accounted for 89.22% of our overall visits.

While this article is placed in our section: Gambling Laws by Country it would be difficult to understand Macau without also understanding our unique history and culture. For that reason, this article covers our laws in brief, a detailed historical account of Macau gambling during our 442 years as a Portuguese administration and concludes by touching on the conversion to Macau SAR of China which began 20 December 1999.

Macau Gambling Laws

The gambling laws of Macau are rather complex but only for those in the gambling business. In short, as a player – all you really need to know is locals must be age 21 to gamble in casinos, age 18 for other forms of gambling, and cheating is a serious crime. Other than that, not much is illegal here as a player.

We have casino, horse race betting, greyhounds, sports betting, lottery and poker rooms and even prostitution is allowed. Another interesting fact is in 2011 the government acknowledged Macau has no online gambling laws. It is in no way illegal to use websites such as www.bet365.com from your Macau residence or hotel room to play online poker, casino games, bet sports or races.

As China Gambling Law, Hong Kong Gambling Law, and Taiwan Gambling Law prohibit most forms of online gambling this is good information to know. If you live in one of these places, you can open a Bet365 account at home and during your trips to Macau you can do online gambling 100% legally.

Getting back on the topic, Wikipedia Entry: Macau Gambling Law explains that our gaming law is not a branch of law but rather a large collection of legal topics related to gambling that include constitutional law, administrative law, tax law, company law, contract law and criminal law. Most of what we have is gaming regulations such as: what games casinos can offer, their guidelines, tax rates, licensing, and complaint resolution. Our criminal law covers cheating, money laundering, and running non-licensed gambling houses. Our civil laws deals with contracts and it does state gambling debt is enforceable.

This is a huge topic that Macau University offers a Bachelor’s degree course on. If you have a sincere interest their course overview contains a list of laws you can research. Many laws are also referenced in this 13 Page Macau Casino Law Report. The actual laws themselves can be found by market segment on this page of DIJC’s website. DICJ is Direcção de Inspecção e Coordenação de Jogos which is Portuguese for Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. They are our industry’s regulator and the laws are only available in Chinese and Portuguese. After reading the rest of this article you might better understand why.

Macau Culture and History

An important thing to understand is nowhere else did two vastly different cultures co-mingle longer than in Macau.

In the photos shown, the one on the bottom right is Sanedo Square. This is a 2km walk from major casinos Grand Lisboa (shown in the background of the photo top left) and Wynn Macau. Along the way you’ll find both low-end and high-end shopping and food ranging from noodle vendors to Asian street food and western fast food to both Portuguese and Chinese fine dining.

Legal Gambling Age Massachusetts

Sanedo Square is one of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Macau. If you didn’t know otherwise (and other than the fact most everyone is Chinese) standing here – you could easily convince yourself that you were in Europe. If you walk upwards you will find the amazing ruins of St. Paul also shown in the photos and a historic museum. Between all this are Asian shops selling beef jerky, street food vendors and all sorts of things that are clearly Chinese.

Macau Legal Gambling Age

This all explained by the fact Macau was the oldest and last European colony in Asia. Settlers came here as early as 1513, and beginning in 1557 this was a trade-port city leased by the Chinese empire to Portugal. In 1887 we became a Portuguese colony. During this era we operated similar to being our own country and in 1906 began printing the Macanese Pataca (MOP) which is still the currency used today.

On 20 December 1999 Macau sovereignty was transferred to China. Today we are a special administrative region (SAR) of China with our own passports, currency, government, laws and courts. While considered “technically” the same country, residents of Mainland China need a visa to visit Macau – something not required for visitors from Hong Kong or Taiwan.

The facts we border Mainland China’s most populated province Guangdong (广东省), are accessible by the South China Sea, and are a short boat ferry ride from Hong Kong, and have legal gambling, prostitution, and many attractions – then and still today – has Macau as the hottest spot to visit in the region.

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