Vegas Gives Macau a Lesson in Family Values

Macau gambling junket operator U Io Hung used to spend his days making travel arrangements for a handful of VIP customers. The gamblers, typically from Shanghai or Beijing, were flown to Macau International Airport on Gulfstream G200 jets costing $4,000 an hour. Rolls-Royce Phantom limousines then whisked them to their luxury suites. In private gaming rooms, the high rollers bet as much as $400,000 a hand on baccarat, with money loaned to them by U and his investors so they wouldn’t run afoul of China’s currency laws.

It’s a different market now in Macau, where China’s slowing economy and a government crackdown on corruption have caused high-stakes betting by top-tier customers to plunge 46 percent over the past two years. That’s prompted operators in the world’s biggest gambling market to focus on less wealthy tourists and families.