For as long as I remember Las Vegas has been the casino capital of the world. If you like to play the odd casino game here and there, then it is the place for you. The bright lights of the Vegas Strip and extravagant resorts attract around 36.7million tourists from around the globe each year. They then splurge in any of the 74 casinos in Vegas, 29 of which are on the world famous Las Vegas Strip. No place to gamble like Vegas right? Wrong!!!

In the past few years Macau became a major player in the gambling world and in 2006, the previously little-known place, has powered past Vegas as the world’s biggest casino games capital and is showing no signs of letting Vegas take back the crown that it held for so long.
The small region which is located in the south-east of China, has long had gambling at the heart of its economy and, like Vegas, benefits from the fact that gambling remains either illegal or severely restricted in many surrounding countries.

As a result, over 15 million visitors from China alone and many more from across Asia flock to Macau, pumping a staggering $6.8bn (£3.6bn) into the local economy every year. – That’s $200 million more than the total casino turnover in Las Vegas. This stat is even more impressive after acknowledging that Macau has no casino games online and 46 fewer casinos.
The casino boom for Macau started in 2001 when the territory left Portuguese rule and was handed back to China.

MGM Grand and Wynn, both companies who are power players on the Vegas Strip, were amongst the first to build flashy palaces there and Macau even has its very own Venetian, currently the largest of the 28 casinos operating in the country and holds the record as the largest casino on the planet. Construction is already underway for the $1 billion “City of Dreams” complex which will be the first ever underwater casino. And a few other resorts are in the process of being built as well.

With such extravagant places being built and immense amounts of high stakes action, Macau has officially established itself as the number one gambling place on earth and it doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon. Las Vegas currently invests around $20m and working to attract major events such as big-time boxing to the Strip in an attempt to retain its long time grip on the casino world. How this method will impact the industry we can only guess but for now Macau is the number one spot for high rollers around the world.