HONG KONG (AP) — The tiny Chinese city of Macau has again smashed its annual record for casino earnings as revenues last year hit a staggering $45 billion, further underlining its position as the world's biggest gambling market.
Macau's nearly three dozen casinos raked in 33.5 billion patacas ($4.2 billion) in December, according to data released Thursday by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the gambling regulator. That brought revenue for 2013 to 360.8 billion patacas ($45 billion), up 18.6 percent from 2012.
Analyst Grant Govertsen of Union Gaming Research estimated that Macau's take would be more than seven times the amount earned on the Las Vegas Strip.
The former Portuguese colony's once-lethargic casino market has thrived since the government ended a gambling monopoly a decade ago and let in foreign players such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.
The ensuing competition has transformed the tiny enclave into a gambling powerhouse, with glitzy new casino resorts centered on the Cotai Strip, marketed as Asia's version of the Las Vegas Strip.
