Gambling market of Asia: brief overview, regulation, prospects

Being the most populated region of the planet (approximately 60% of the Earth population), as well as the largest developing region uniting several leading world economies (China, India, Japan), Asia is the most desirable market for casino operators worldwide.

At the same time, Asia can become a real “Pandora’s box” for businessmen, since this market is not only economically, but also culturally complex. Read about the prospects and features of it below.

Asian gambling market

1. Online gaming
Web gaming is mostly illegal in Asian countries: in UAE the intelligence services are working on identifying online gambling sites. Despite the threat of punishment, citizens of Indonesia use the services of foreign web casinos. The same applies to prohibitions in Bangladesh - people can play at foreign websites.
In Thailand, the state does not take any measures to block local or foreign online gаmbling resources: for example, if you wish to play at New Zealand casino sites you can do it without any restrictions. The same applies to Vietnam, Taiwan, and Macau.

2. Regulation
Most Asian countries have fully or partially adopted gambling regulations. At least, sports bets and national lottery are allowed in China, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong but casinos themselves are illegal. In several states, special areas are created for casinos: gaming is allowed in 3 Indian territories: Sikkim, Daman region and Goa. In Kazakhstan, there are also two gambling regions – Akmola and Almaty. Gambling areas are watched by state regulators: in the Philippines, the responsibility lies on PAGCOR, while Casino du Liban has a monopoly on the Lebanese market.

3. Gambling Market Value
The total value of the national gambling markets depends on the number of regulations. For example, in China casinos and web gambling are prohibited. So, these enterprises are mostly operating in shadow, making the process of market evaluation comprehensive. Legally it comes up to $50 billion annually. As for other countries, the total value is different:
· Hong Kong - 21.7 billion Hong Kong dollars;
· India – $9 billion;
· Japan - $9 billion;
· Kazakhstan - $50 million;
· Macau - $21 billion;
· Philippines - $3 billion;
· South Korea - $17,6 billion.

4. Local peculiarities
Hong Kong. In this area, there are “floating casinos” - liners or barges that sail to neutral waters, where laws restrictions do not apply. Lotteries, sports betting and mahjong are allowed on the continent and watched by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

India. Indian legislation is quite uncertain when it comes to gambling. It is hard to determine whether a certain game is legal. That is why most of the casinos work in the “shadow market”. Meanwhile, foreign online casinos may be blocked at the national level. The floating casinos are especially popular in Goa. Bettings on “skill games” are allowed.

Japan. The law on gambling was adopted at the end of 2016. The legislation is still being updated. The first casinos will open on the market by 2022. The world's leading operators are coming to the Japanese market. Las Vegas Sands Corporation seeks to build a casino resort with $10 billion budget. MGM Resorts and Hard Rock Entertainment are also making investments in the market.

Macau. 2/3 of the casino's revenue is accounted for operators engaged in gambling tourism and supplying local casinos with VIP customers from the land. At the same time, the ratio of high rollers and more cautious players is huge: there are 100 thousand high rollers for 30 million gamblers.

So, Asia becomes a prospective area to invest in the global gambling market. Interested?