The outstanding popularity of baccarat and VIP baccarat in the southern Chinese territory of Macau is fueling gambling revenues in the island. Based on official figures, the money collected for the concept of Baccarat represents 86% of the total gambling revenues generated in Macau.

These events have not passed unnoticed to the international gambling community, especially after the news that Macau's gambling profits overtook those of the 40 casinos in another important gaming city last year.

As announced by the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM), owned by tycoon Stanley Ho, the company will be in charge of remodeling the Hotel Casino Lisboa, the oldest casino in the Asian continent. The project will start in 2009 and continue until 2012.

“Since it opened in 1970, the Hotel Casino Lisboa has played an important role in the development of Macao’s economy, the reconstruction projects confirms our promise to promote Macao’s financial prosperity,” Stanley Ho, CEO and Chairman of the Sociedade, explained.

James Bond’s favorite game is also the most popular game among regular players in Macau Casinos, and this does not only include regional players, but also gamblers from all around the world who see in Macao the new Las Vegas.

At the moment, Macau has over 3,992 gaming tables and 11,510 slot machines distributed in 27 casinos, where players bet lots of dollars everyday and some have also recognized that they bet their annual savings.

An Austrian gambling and baccarat company that intended to operate Europe-wide got its banning reversed in the state of Hessen, Germany. The Court of Appeal argued that “it is impossible to enforce a ban on Internet gambling and so such a ban is ‘null and void’”.

In only a few weeks, German states are expected to ban Internet sports betting across the country. This is complicated since some European countries seek to control online gambling while the European Union institutions try to promote free trade across borders.

The Casino del Sol Santiago del Estero just inaugurated its new facilities in the Selva city, about 450 kilometers from the capital city. Communal authorities, local authorities and Vice Mayor Emilio Rached attended the event.

On this first stage, the project included opening a new gaming room, which has machines that allow cash payments, roulettes, blackjack, baccarat, poker tables and craps. There’s also a restaurant and café, artistic activities and shows every week.

The Bojo Group released The Bojo Game, a casino simulation game where “no money is involved and no real gambling takes place”. The game offers baccarat, and also roulette, poker and horse races.

The way it works, the game admits a single player at a time. That is why no money is involved. There is only one player on one computer. However, the game admits multi-player options.

Though it seemed like there had been a great increase in gambling, the recently released British Gambling Prevalence Survey showed that both the number of people gambling and the proportion of gambling addicts have not grown substantially in the last few years.

Gambling figures for 2007 are similar to those from 1999. This goes against predictions and media coverage, which portrayed the gambling industry as fast growing and potentially dangerous.

The European i-Gaming Congress and Expo focused on the success of online gaming in Europe and how to gain entry into the Asian markets. On those lines, EntertAsia’s CEO Jason Chao will share his experience in the premier developer of an Asian-centric suite of online gaming products.

During a previous public appearance, Chao listed the main obstacles that western-based companies had when they tried entering Asian markets. Now that the US market has been restricted, focalizing all efforts in the Far East seems like a wise choice for online gambling and gaming service providers.

The unstoppable growth of Macao in terms of gambling is not surprising news, what is new is the recent information revealed by casino authorities in the island who declared that this astonishing success is mainly built on the incredible popularity that the game of Baccarat has had in the last few years.

The growing interest for the game of Baccarat in the former Portuguese colony of Macau is reflected in the fact that up to 80% of all the tables in Macau’s casinos are dedicated to this game.

A recent agreement has been signed between the World Poker Tour and the People’s Republic of China despite the strong prohibition that exists in this Asian country in terms of gambling.

This agreement represents a big challenge because the communist government forbids all forms of gambling and categorizes them as criminal activities that promote anti social behavior, prostitution and drug abuse.