Legal casino gambling age in MacauMacau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China and the only part of China in which casino gambling is lawful. It has its own legal system, and gambling there is governed by Macau law rather than by the law of mainland China. Casino gaming is run by a small number of private companies under government concessions, a model in which the state grants a limited number of exclusive operating rights by contract. Since 1 January 2023 six concessionaires have held ten-year concessions that run until 31 December 2032, under Law 16/2001 as amended by Law 7/2022. Online casino gaming is not licensed, and organising it is a serious crime under a 2024 law on illegal gambling. This guide explains the legal framework, the regulator, taxation, the rules on junkets, the position of players and the main developments up to October 2026.
Key points
- Casino gaming is governed by Law 16/2001, substantially amended by Law 7/2022, and is supervised by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ). Games of fortune may be operated only in authorised casinos.
- Six companies hold concessions for 2023 to 2032. The so-called satellite casinos, which operated in third-party premises, had to close or be taken over by the end of 2025.
- Concessionaires pay a 35% special gaming tax plus contributions of 2% and 3% of gross gaming revenue, about 40% in total.
- No online casino licence exists. Law 20/2024 punishes unauthorised online gambling operations with one to eight years’ imprisonment; playing in illegal games is a separate, lesser offence.
- Gross gaming revenue was MOP 247.4 billion in 2025, about 85% of the 2019 level, and MOP 187.1 billion in the first nine months of 2026.
- The minimum age for casino entry is 21. Self-exclusion and family-requested exclusion orders are administered by the DICJ; the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) runs a 24-hour gambling counselling hotline.
Last reviewed: 6 October 2026.
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Historical development
According to the DICJ’s history of gaming in Macao, the Portuguese administration first legalised gaming in 1847 as a source of public revenue. Casino rights were later granted to single operators: the Hou Heng Company in 1930 and the Tai Heng Company in 1937. In 1962 the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM) obtained the concession, and it held exclusive casino rights until its concession expired on 31 December 2001.
After Macau’s return to Chinese administration in December 1999, the government ended the monopoly. Law 16/2001 created a new framework, and an international tender led to three concessions being awarded on 8 February 2002, to SJM, Galaxy and Wynn. Between 2002 and 2006 each concessionaire was allowed to grant a sub-concession, which brought in Venetian, MGM and Melco PBL (DICJ).
For much of the following two decades a large share of revenue came from VIP gaming organised by junkets (gaming promoters), which brought high-stakes players, mostly from mainland China, and often extended credit to them. That model weakened sharply after November 2021, when Macau police arrested the head of Suncity, then the largest junket group, together with ten others on allegations of illegal cross-border gambling and money laundering; prosecutors in Wenzhou, in mainland China, had accused him of heading a gambling syndicate (South China Morning Post, November 2021). A Macau court sentenced him in January 2023 to 18 years’ imprisonment (summary of reports).
In 2022 the legislature rewrote the casino law. Law 7/2022 was published in June 2022, and a new tender followed. The six existing operators were awarded concessions in their own right, starting on 1 January 2023 (DICJ).
Legal framework
Macau’s gambling legislation is made by its own Legislative Assembly and published in the Official Gazette in Chinese and Portuguese. The main instruments are:
- Law 16/2001, the legal framework for the operation of games of fortune in casinos, as amended by Law 7/2022 (original 2001 text; Law 7/2022). Article 3(2) provides that games of fortune and electric or mechanical gaming machines may be operated only in casinos.
- Law 16/2022, the legal regime for the operation of games of fortune in casinos, which sets the rules for gaming promoters (junkets), their collaborators and casino managers. It replaced Administrative Regulation 6/2002.
- Law 10/2012 (text), which regulates entry to casinos and working and gaming in them, and provides the basis for exclusion orders.
- Law 7/2024 on gaming credit, which according to the Chambers Gaming Law 2025 guide for Macau took effect on 1 August 2024 and restricts the granting of gaming credit to the concessionaires themselves.
- Law 20/2024, the law on combating illegal gambling crimes, published in the Official Gazette No. 44 of 28 October 2024 and in force from the following day. It repealed the previous illegal gambling law, Law 8/96/M.
Main changes made by Law 7/2022
According to the DICJ’s text of Law 7/2022, the amended law:
- caps the number of casino concessions at six (Article 7(2)) and ends the use of sub-concessions;
- limits the concession term to ten years, with an exceptional extension of up to three years (Article 13);
- requires a concessionaire to have share capital of at least MOP 5 billion (Article 17(1)) and a managing director who is a Macau permanent resident holding at least 15% of the capital (Article 19(2));
- requires casinos to be located in property owned by the concessionaire (Article 5(2)), with a three-year transitional period for casinos operating under the earlier arrangements (the satellite casinos discussed below);
- requires gaming promoters to work with only one concessionaire and to be paid only by commission (Article 23(2)).
The Chambers guide adds that, under a 2022 dispatch, a concessionaire whose tables or machines fail to reach a minimum annual gross revenue must pay a special premium of MOP 7 million per table and MOP 300,000 per gaming machine. The law also provides for a review of each concessionaire’s performance every three years; Chambers expected the first review to begin in late 2025 or early 2026.
Regulator and licensing model
Macau uses a concession model rather than an open licensing model: the number of operators is fixed by law and each holds its rights by contract with the government after a public tender. The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (Direcção de Inspecção e Coordenação de Jogos, DICJ) supervises casino operations, licenses gaming promoters, publishes revenue statistics and administers exclusion orders. It reports to the Secretary for Economy and Finance. According to Chambers, the DICJ was reorganised in 2025, with a new director and an expanded inspectorate.
The six concessions, 2023 to 2032
The government signed the concession contracts on 16 December 2022. The term runs from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2032. The concessionaires are:
- SJM Resorts, S.A.
- Galaxy Casino, S.A.
- Venetian Macau, S.A.
- MGM Grand Paradise, S.A.
- Melco Resorts (Macau), S.A.
- Wynn Resorts (Macau), S.A.
According to the government’s announcement, the six committed to investments of MOP 118.8 billion in total, of which MOP 108.7 billion was for non-gaming projects and overseas customer markets, and MOP 10.1 billion for gaming. The government stated that non-gaming investment would be about ten times the amount invested in gaming.
Satellite casinos
Satellite casinos were casinos located in hotels owned by third parties and run under a concessionaire’s licence, often with a share of revenue going to the property owner. Law 7/2022 gave them three years to adapt. On 9 June 2025 the government announced that 11 satellite casinos, nine of them operated under SJM, one under Melco and one under Galaxy, would cease operation by 31 December 2025, and that SJM would consider buying the hotels housing two of them, Casino Ponte 16 and Casino Le Royal Arc, and apply to run them as directly managed casinos. According to trade press, the last remaining satellite venue, Casino Landmark, was scheduled to close on 30 December 2025, while SJM was completing its purchase of the L’Arc hotel (World Casino Directory, December 2025).
Gaming promoters (junkets)
Under Law 16/2022, gaming promoters must be companies licensed by the DICJ, with share capital of at least MOP 10 million, at least 50% of which must be held by Macau permanent residents. Licences last one year and are renewable (Article 8). A promoter may work with only one concessionaire and may be paid only by commission, within limits set by the government (Article 16). It may not share casino revenue in any form or hold other people’s chips or money (Article 17). Collaborators need their own DICJ permits, and unlicensed promotion is punishable by fines of MOP 600,000 to 1,500,000 for promoters (Article 45).
Lotteries and betting
Outside casinos, the DICJ also supervises an instant lottery, the Chinese lottery (pacapio) and sports betting. According to Chambers, Macau Slot Co. Ltd. holds an exclusive concession for football and basketball betting, which the government extended by one year to 5 June 2026. We could not verify the arrangement after that date.
Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced
No licence exists for online casino games in Macau. The DLA Piper Gambling Laws of the World chapter for Macau, written by MdME (January 2026), states that there are no licences currently available for operators to offer online gaming services. The casino concessions do not cover interactive gaming: Article 4 of Law 16/2001, in the DICJ’s text, provides that casino concessionaires may not operate any form of interactive gaming. The sports betting concessionaire is the only operator that, according to MdME, offers betting through online channels.
Law 20/2024 deals directly with online operations. Article 7, as published in the Official Gazette, punishes anyone who, without legal authorisation, operates, promotes or organises online games of fortune or online mutual betting in Macau, whether or not habitually, with one to eight years’ imprisonment. When the bill was approved by the Executive Council in December 2023, the government stated that this applied regardless of where the computer systems were located. Other provisions target practices linked to casinos:
- Article 2 punishes the unauthorised operation of games of fortune, expressly including taking bets on the results of games in an authorised casino (side betting, sometimes called the “multiplier” practice), with one to eight years’ imprisonment; anyone who otherwise takes part in such an operation faces up to three years.
- Article 11 punishes unauthorised currency exchange for gambling with up to five years’ imprisonment.
- Article 15(2) adds a ban on entering gaming premises for two to ten years for people convicted of certain offences.
The law also allows undercover agents, night-time searches in some cases and protection for informants (government statement, December 2023). The sources reviewed did not describe a general system of website or payment blocking. On advertising, the Advertising Law (Law 7/89/M) restricts the promotion of games of chance. In July 2025 the government opened a consultation on a revision that, according to Chambers (trends and developments, November 2025), would expressly prohibit gambling advertising in all media, including cross-border online platforms, and allow infringing online content to be removed or blocked. We found no evidence that the revised law had been enacted by the time of review.
Position of players
Adults aged 21 or over may play in the licensed casinos. Article 2 of Law 10/2012 bars anyone under 21 from entering casinos. Casino winnings are not taxed in the player’s hands (see Taxation).
Law 20/2024 contains three offences that apply to participants rather than operators:
- Article 3: playing in illegal games of fortune of the kind described in Article 2 is punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 180 days;
- Article 4: being found, for the purpose of illegal gambling, in an illegal gambling place outside the casinos is punishable by a fine of up to 90 days;
- Article 6: placing a bet in illegal mutual betting is punishable by a fine of up to 50 days.
Fines in Macau criminal law are set in day units, with the daily amount fixed by the court. Trade press summarised the law as exposing people who take part in illegal gambling to up to six months in prison (Yogonet, October 2024). On our reading of the published text, however, no article expressly punishes a person for playing on an online gambling site, as distinct from operating, promoting or organising one. Chambers states that it “remains unclear” whether Macau residents who bet on foreign offshore platforms on a passive basis act illegally. We found no record of a player in Macau being prosecuted for using an offshore online casino.
The mainland China context
Most visitors to Macau’s casinos come from mainland China, where gambling is prohibited and is not governed by Macau law. Article 303 of the PRC Criminal Law punishes organising gambling for profit and running casinos. Amendment XI to the Criminal Law, in force from 1 March 2021, added that organising citizens of the PRC to take part in gambling outside the border, where the amounts are huge or there are other serious circumstances, is punished in the same way as running a casino (China Law Translate). The amendment does not name Macau, and the sources reviewed did not explain how mainland authorities apply it to the promotion of Macau casinos. What the Suncity case shows is that cross-border promotion can attract action in both jurisdictions.
Taxation
Operators
Concessionaires are taxed on gross gaming revenue (GGR), the amount staked by players less the winnings paid out. Under Article 27(2) of Law 16/2001, the special gaming tax is 35%. Article 22, as amended by Law 7/2022, adds two contributions (the 2001 text set them as maximums of 2% and 3%): 2% of gross revenue to a public foundation supporting cultural, social, economic, educational, scientific and charitable activities, and 3% for urban development, tourism promotion and social security. Together these amount to about 40% of GGR. According to Chambers, the concessionaires’ gaming profits are exempt from complementary (corporate income) tax for 2023 to 2027. Concessionaires that miss the minimum revenue thresholds pay the special premium described above.
Players
The sources reviewed describe taxes levied on concessionaires’ revenue and do not identify any tax on players’ casino winnings. Players resident outside Macau may be subject to the rules of their own country.
Gross gaming revenue by year
The DICJ publishes monthly and annual gaming statistics. The table below gives casino GGR as reported from DICJ data.
| Year | Casino GGR | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | MOP 292.5 billion | Pre-pandemic level (Macao News) |
| 2023 | MOP 183.1 billion | Up 333.8% on 2022; 62.6% of the 2019 level (Macao News) |
| 2024 | MOP 226.8 billion | Up 23.9%; above the government estimate of MOP 216 billion (Macao News) |
| 2025 | MOP 247.4 billion | Up 9.1%; about 84.7% of the 2019 level (Yogonet) |
| 2026 (January to September) | MOP 187.1 billion | Up 3.2% year on year; September down 1.2%, the fourth monthly fall in a row (GGRAsia) |
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Responsible gambling is a statutory obligation for the concessionaires. In December 2025 the DICJ’s director said that operators must report regularly on their measures and that the bureau inspects casinos to check how they are applied (AGB, December 2025). Public programmes are run jointly by the DICJ, the Social Welfare Bureau (Instituto de Acção Social, IAS) and the University of Macau’s Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming.
Exclusion from casinos
Under Article 6 of Law 10/2012, a person may ask the DICJ to exclude them from casinos. A spouse, parent, child or sibling may also apply, but the person to be excluded must sign the application. An exclusion lasts up to two years and can be renewed with a new application. Applications are made in person at the DICJ, and a request to revoke an exclusion takes effect 30 days after it is submitted. Entering a casino in breach of an exclusion order is the crime of disobedience. According to DICJ figures reported by trade press, 952 exclusion applications were made in 2025, a rise of nearly 68%: 828 were self-exclusions and 124 were third-party requests (Yogonet, January 2026).
Help and support
The IAS keeps a Central Registry System of Individuals with Gambling Disorder and runs a 24-hour gambling counselling hotline, 2832 3998, together with online counselling (Macau Post Daily, June 2024). The registry recorded 208 people in 2024, the highest number since records began in 2011, up from 169 in 2023; 41% were not Macau residents (Yogonet, April 2025). Our responsible gambling guide sets out general steps for keeping gambling under control.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Law 20/2024 on illegal gambling (in force 29 October 2024). Replaced the 1996 law, created a specific offence of operating, promoting or organising online gambling, and covered side betting and illegal money exchange (see above).
- Law 7/2024 on gaming credit (in force 1 August 2024). Restricts credit for gaming to the concessionaires (Chambers).
- End of satellite casinos (31 December 2025). The three-year transition under Law 7/2022 expired; the 11 venues closed or, in two cases, were to be brought under SJM ownership.
- Advertising law revision (consultation from July 2025). Would ban gambling advertising in all media. Status as of October 2026 not confirmed.
- Sports betting concession. Extended to 5 June 2026 (Chambers); the later position could not be verified.
- Three-yearly concession review. Expected to begin in late 2025 or early 2026 (Chambers); we found no published outcome.
Casino listings for players in Macau
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in Macau: no online casino licence exists there, and only the six concessionaires may operate casino games, in their land-based casinos. Unauthorised online gambling operations are a crime under Law 20/2024, so the listings must not be read as an indication that online casino play is lawful in Macau. The DICJ’s website is the authoritative source on authorised gaming.
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Sources and further reading
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Law 16/2001: Legal framework for the operation of games of fortune in casinos (original text) (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Law 7/2022: Amendment to Law 16/2001 (2022).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Law 10/2012: Regulating entry to casinos and the conditions for working and gaming in them (2012).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Law 16/2022: Legal regime for the operation of games of fortune in casinos (2022).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Legislation: games of fortune (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), History of gaming in Macao (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Gaming statistics (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Self-exclusion and third-party exclusion (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Macao SAR, Official Gazette (via Legislative Assembly), Boletim Oficial No. 44, Series I, 28 October 2024, containing Lei n.º 20/2024 (2024).
- Macao SAR Government Portal, MSAR signs gaming concession contracts with six awardees (2022).
- Macao SAR Government Portal, Termination of operation of “satellite casinos” by the end of the year (2025).
- Government Information Bureau of the Macao SAR, Executive Council concludes discussion of the bill on combating illegal gambling crimes (Portuguese) (2023).
- P. Cortés (Lektou), Chambers and Partners, Gaming Law 2025: Macau SAR, China (2025).
- P. Cortés (Lektou), Chambers and Partners, Gaming Law 2025: Macau SAR, China, Trends and Developments (2025).
- MdME, DLA Piper, Macau: Gambling Laws of the World 2026 Guide (2026).
- China Law Translate, Criminal Law Amendment 11 (accessed 6 October 2026).
- Macao News, Macao’s 2023 gaming revenues reach 183.1 billion patacas (2024).
- Macao News, Macao registers annual gross gaming revenue of 226.8 billion patacas (2025).
- Yogonet, Macau casino revenue hits $30.9 billion in 2025, highest since pandemic (2026).
- GGRAsia, Macau’s Sept casino GGR follows downward trend, down 1.2pct y-o-y (2026).
- World Casino Directory News, Macau’s last satellite casino set to close on 30 December (2025).
- Yogonet, Macau implements new law to crack down on illegal gambling practices (2024).
- Yogonet, Macau casino self-exclusion requests hit record in 2025 (2026).
- Yogonet, Macau reports record high in problem gambling cases in 2024 (2025).
- Macau Post Daily, IAS receives 21 gambling disorder requests for help in Q1 (2024).
- AGB, Responsible gambling a legal duty for casino operators: Macau gaming regulator (2025).
- South China Morning Post, Macau police arrest casino junket boss Alvin Chau and 10 others (2021).
