California Provides Glimpse Into Asian Gambling Culture

You have heard the saying time and time again: "Asians love to gamble".  Even the non-Asian gamblers would tend to agree with the statement in general.  Nowhere perhaps is this better illustrated than in the state of California.

Indeed, the state of California routinely provides sites like Gambling911.com with more traffic than any other of the 49 U.S. states each day, much of that is fueled by the heavy congregation of Asian American gamblers living there.

Though few statistics on their contribution to the state's gambling pot exist, some casinos and card rooms near Los Angeles and San Francisco estimate that Asians often account for 80% of their customers.

"Asians are a huge market," Wendy Waldorf, a spokeswoman for the Cache Creek Casino north of San Francisco, told John M. Glionna of the Los Angeles Times. "We cater to them."

Glionna also reported that:

Each day in San Gabriel, Monterey Park and San Francisco's Chinatown, scores of buses collect Asian customers for free junkets to Indian casinos and to Reno and Las Vegas. Many Nevada casinos also maintain business offices in Monterey Park, where hosts keep in regular touch with Asian high rollers. To reach more run-of-the-mill gamblers, casinos run ads in Asian-language print and broadcast media and conduct direct-mailing campaigns to ZIP Codes with high numbers of Asian residents.

Many Asians -- especially Chinese -- consider gambling an accepted practice at home and at social events, even among the young. Chinese youths often gamble for money with aunts, uncles and grandparents. While growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown, Lee took betting to absurd levels -- wagering on whether the teacher would assign homework. On rainy days, he bet on which drop would first reach the bottom of the classroom window.

Many Chinese are fascinated by the mystical qualities of luck, fate and chance.

California also enjoys a sizeable Vietnamese population.  And while gambling may be illegal in Vietnam, everybody does it.

"Everyone gambles here," Vu Ngoc Bonglai, a student in Hanoi, told the BBC. "Sometimes it's just because we've got nothing else to do. But we only bet with small amounts."

That may be true of some Vietnamese gamblers but a number of online gambling websites, particularly on the sports betting side of the equation, have found out differently. 

World Wide Tele Sports was crushed a few years back prior to being purchased by Bodog.  That company blamed its then CEO Simon Noble for exposing the company to large Vietnamese betting syndicates.  He was later fired.

Other sportsbooks have shut out groups of Vietnamese Americans residing in California, accusing them of being part of a syndicate.

"I'm only part of a syndicate when I win," said Minh, a Vietnamese online gambler.  "I lose for the last 6 months I'm not a syndicate player then."

Minh and his friends are not afraid to lay down $5000 on a single game. 

Gambling is not without its problems.

A 1999 poll in San Francisco's Chinatown, commissioned by a social services agency, found that 70% of 1,808 respondents ranked gambling as their community's No. 1 problem.

Understanding the significance of the Asian-American gambling market in states like California, online gambling firms like Bodog and 888.com have begun focusing more heavily outside of U.S. borders.

Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre is rumored to have purchased a home in some undisclosed location of the Asian continent.  Ayre is so adamant about breaking into that market, he doesn't want any of his competitors to know the tricks up his sleeve.  Revelations have surfaced in recent weeks that Ayre is now paying top bucks for Asian online gambling gurus. 

The one thing we do know is that the Asian gambling market is not shrinking.  This year, the Chinese city of Macau overtook Las Vegas as the leading gambling destination in the world.  It is the only place in China where gambling is legal. 

That may soon change.

The high growth market of China may soon begin to license regulated online gambling, according to a report in the Macau Daily Times newspaper.

Galaxy Entertainment Group is understood to be making moves to capitalise on an eventual legalising of internet gaming in mainland China.

The Macau Daily cited Galaxy's deputy director Francis Lui as stating: "Galaxy is very excited by this business opportunity...and we have established a foundation through an agreement with an internet cafe operator in China."

----

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published March 11, 2008 6:26 pm EST