The terms of the initiative from Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau – also known by its Portuguese acronym DICJ – were announced during press conference. Staff not directly involved with gaming operations, including administrative staff, food and beverage outlet workers and those connected to surveillance operations or entertainment, would be exempted from the ban.
The proposal states that any designated casino worker detected in a local casino outside working hours would be liable to a fine of between US$125 and US$1,250. The ban also covers slot parlours.
Local players’ contribution to Macau casino gross gaming revenue is estimated by investment analysts as being small when judged in percentage terms.
The gaming regulator conducts a one-month public consultation on the ban proposal starting yesterday (September 27). The liaison effort will also cover the issue of any underage people that might be detected on casino floors in the city’s casinos: patrons must be 21 or over to enter the gaming zones. Also up for discussion is how to handle any situation where a person already barred from entering Macau gaming facilities actually succeeds in winning money at tables or slots, but is subsequently identified as a banned individual.
The city’s civil servants are already banned by dint of their professional role, from entering casino floors. The exception is a brief period during the Chinese New Year holiday season. Macau gaming operators already have contractual bans on their own staff gambling on company premises.
DICJ’s new proposal envisages Macau-based casino workers being allowed to gamble in casinos the first three days of the Chinese New Year holiday period.
Source: GMB / GGR Asia
