Media reports suggest that at least five Chinese-owned resorts on the southern island of Hainan are making preparations for the introduction of “entertainment gaming”, essentially a cashless form of casino gambling where players buy in with real money and receive points to redeem non-money prizes.
“From our conversations with people on the ground, they are positively excited about the changes that appear to be coming through soon,” said Ben Lee, managing partner at gaming consultancy iGamiX.
Gambling is illegal in mainland China and Beijing has given no public indication that a policy change is on the horizon. However a court ruling back in December 2017, may have set the wheels in motion for the introduction of so-called “cashless casinos”.
In 2010, the State’s Council for Promoting the Construction and Development of Hainan, announced that “entertainment projects would be piloted to explore the development of sports betting lottery and tickets on large-scale international events.”
These reforms led to ten licences being issued for a category called “entertainment gaming”. But these licences were soon nullified, after one licensee, The Mangrove Tree Resort, was accused of gambling, and four of its staff were jailed.
In December last year, a Hainan court overturned that decision, ruling that the “entertainment bar” at The Mangrove Tree was a “different mode of operation from the casino’s mode of operation”, and therefore legal.
In clearing the Mangrove Tree, the court essentially revalidated the licence, paving the way for it, and potentially other licence-holders to look at reopening their entertainment gaming operations. Despite this, at present it remains unclear whether Beijing will ultimately sign off on entertainment gaming.
Source: GMB
