Aiming to curb problem gambling among casino employees, Macau’s gaming regulator has proposed barring them from visiting other casinos outside work hours.
In announcing the plan, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau qualified it by saying that workers not directly involved with operations on the casino floors, such as administrative staff, restaurant and entertainment workers and surveillance staff, would be exempt. Also, the ban would not apply for the first three days of the Chinese New Year holiday.
Violators would be liable for fines of up to 10,000 Macau patacas (US$1,250).
Currently, casinos workers are only prohibited from gambling in their own properties.
A one-month public consultation is being conducted on the expanded proposal.
Citizens of the Chinese territory also are being asked for their input on a plan for streamlining the process of penalizing underage gamblers. Currently, anyone under 21 caught gambling in a casino, usually tourists from China, are able to leave the territory before proceedings are instituted against them. Under the new proposal, gaming inspectors could fine a violator on the spot by issuing a citation payable within 15 days.
