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Tag: Responsible gaming

  • Macau Problem Gambling Surges After Casinos Pivot to Public

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    Posted on: January 22, 2026, 12:44h. 

    Last updated on: January 21, 2026, 03:11h.

    • Macau is seeing more people than ever seeking help for their gambling disorders
    • A record number of people self-excluded from casinos in 2025

    Macau is experiencing a rise in problem gambling. The increase in the number of people seeking help for their gambling comes after the enclave’s casinos pivoted from the VIP and high roller to the premium mass and general public player.

    Macau casinos problem gambling China
    People wait on a bus that’s enroute to Wynn Macau. Macau’s focus on the mass and general public is leading to higher rates of problem gambling in the Chinese region. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

    Macau is the world’s richest casino market, with the six gaming operators combining to win $30.9 billion from their table games and slot machines in 2025. The $30.9 billion was the highest annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) mark since 2019.

    How Macau’s casinos generate GGR, however, has changed drastically since the COVID-19 pandemic. Once a gambling hub largely reserved for Mainland China’s wealthiest elite, Beijing used the global health crisis to alter how Macau ticks.

    The People’s Republic and President Xi Jinping shuttered the VIP junket model. The businesses were accused of facilitating the transfer of money from the communist regime to Macau, a Special Administration Region under Chinese control that’s considered a tax haven.

    Junkets and Macau’s casinos colluded to bring mainland high rollers to the city. Customers were typically afforded a line of casino credit close to the amount of money they paid the junket for their lavish trip and accommodations. Such high rollers gambled in private rooms on high-stakes games of baccarat, with per-bet hands often upwards of $10,000.

    Macau Problem Gambling 

    In exchange for 10-year casino license extensions, Beijing and Macau forced Sands, Wynn, MGM, Galaxy, Melco, and SJM to invest $16 billion in non-gaming projects. The agreement was designed to alter Macau from a high-stakes gambling paradise to a destination for leisure travel, family-friendly vacations, and business.

    The VIP gambling rooms are largely no more. Macau casinos have instead widened their marketing focus, and, so far, their multibillion-dollar bets on non-gaming are helping drive gaming, too. But Macau government officials say it’s also driving gambling problems.

    Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reports that 828 people removed their access to casinos in 2025. In 2024, only 475 individuals requested self-exclusion.

    During the seven years from 2013 through 2019, Macau’s self-exclusion program averaged 341 new enrollees each year. There were 254 self-exclusions in 2020, 359 in 2021, 292 in 2022, and 418 in 2023.

    There were another 124 people who were excluded last year through third-party-initiated requests, typically a family member or close friend. The individual must agree to be excluded before a third-party application is executed.

    The total number of exclusions includes exclusions requested by casinos. Excluded people are banned from entering casinos in Macau for a term of two years. 

    Macau Market Maturation

    Following the overhaul of the Macau gaming industry, analysts at S&P are predicting a stabilization of gaming revenues after three years of growth.

    Macau’s gaming boom is fading. The sector will be moving from a post-pandemic rebound to a more maturity-driven phase, as capacity limits and potentially softer mass demand temper growth,” the S&P note read.

    “We think 2026 revenue growth will slow, but steady operations, selective share gains, and deleveraging still support modest upside,” the brokerage predicted.

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    Devin O’Connor

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  • Dave Ramsey Says Spouses of Gambling Addicts Need Ultimatum

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    Posted on: October 13, 2025, 01:35h. 

    Last updated on: October 13, 2025, 01:46h.

    • Dave Ramsey says gambling addicts need ultimatums from their loved ones
    • Sports betting is a major concern in the money world, Ramsey says

    Dave Ramsey, the star of his namesake nationally syndicated finance radio show, recently heard from a 69-year-old caller who says her husband gambled nearly all of their retirement away on sports.

    Dave Ramsey gambling addiction sports betting
    Dave Ramsey has some tough love for spouses of gambling addicts. He says they must give the addict an ultimatum about their betting problem. (Image: Ramsey Solutions)

    Telling her story under obvious emotional distress, the woman detailed that her 79-year-old husband has lost almost all of their $1 million retirement portfolio betting on sports.

    Saying she only recently became aware that their savings were down to $15K, the woman told Ramsey she began looking into their finances after she found a late notice on their taxes in the mail.

    Ramsey has been hosting “The Ramsey Show” for more than three decades. Among the most listened to radio shows in the US, the daily program airs from 2 pm to 5 pm EST on terrestrial radio and podcast outlets, as well as on iHeartRadio and SiriusXM.

    Addicts Need Ultimatums

    The woman’s husband, who told her he can stop betting at any time and pledged to “get it under control,” needs clear parameters, Ramsey said.

    Call a marriage counselor and someone who does addiction counseling,” Ramsey advised. “Both can give you a framework by which you lead them into an ultimatum, and the ultimatum is: you stop cold turkey, you are going to Gamblers’ Anonymous, and you are going to a therapist.”

    Ramsey said that she needs to tell her husband that if he gambles another dime, “You will not see me anymore.”

    Ramsey has long warned listeners about sports betting.

    Sports betting is probably the fastest growing addictive problem that we’re running into in the money world,” Ramsey said during a February show. “It’s out of control, sports betting. You can bet on anything, and they [addicts] are betting on everything. Some of you are losing your entire futures betting on someone else earning a living.”

    An April report on Ramsey’s website — Ramsey Solutions — said one’s “odds of getting rich off sports betting apps are low.”

    “It takes a huge bankroll to actually make money long term. You’d have to bet hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to see any kind of real money from it,” wrote Ramsey Solutions finance expert George Kamel.                     

    “Don’t use betting on the big game as an investment plan — no matter how much Big Rick with the cheese on his head at the Packers game says you should. Smart investors who want to build wealth the right way don’t gamble on sports betting. They keep their investments diverse in the market and have a long-term mindset,” Kamel continued. 

    Problem Gambling Rate Softens

    In July, the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) released a national survey suggesting that the spike in risky gambling behavior observed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has somewhat subsided.

    The National Survey on Gambling Attitudes and Gambling Experiences found that nearly 20 million American adults reported at least one problematic gambling behavior “many times” in the past year. That’s down from 27.5 million in 2021, though that level remains elevated compared with 2018.

    “This new research shows that the nationwide efforts in responsible gambling and public awareness are making a positive impact, but the work is far from over,” said Derek Longmeier, NCPG president. “We must build on this momentum by embedding problem gambling into the broader public health infrastructure and investing in what we know works: collaboration across prevention, education, treatment, and research with the support of the government and communities.”

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    Devin O’Connor

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