Macao recorded 3,992 gaming tables and 11,500 slot machines in
the third quarter, seeing year-on-year rise of 63.6 percent and
35.2 percent respectively, local media reported Friday.
Macao Daily News, the leading local Chinese-language
newspaper, reported that however, the payoff rate of the gaming
tables and slot machines are seeing slide-down due to the
increasing competition.
The city, with a population of merely 580,000, has currently 27
casinos under operation.
The number of casinos is expected to reach 29 by the end of 2007
in the city where some 15 percent of its total labor force are
working in the gaming sector.
Macao's casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct
gaming tax to the government.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2007)