Located on China’s southeast coast, Macau serves as a special administrative region of the country. Macau, Asia’s premier gambling hub, is a fascinating mix of Chinese and Portuguese architecture. Most tourists agree that it is a beautiful city with good roads, parks, and magnificent hilly scenery that is ideal for both tourism and residential use. It has a plethora of natural beauty, fresh air, and a wide variety of delectable cuisine to offer. A Chinese version of Las Vegas, it is a popular tourist destination in the country.

The history of the land is a source of pride for the people of the region. It is still the only site in China where gaming is legal and permitted. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country’s GDP is $53.9 billion in nominal terms because of its strong dependence on gambling, gaming, and tourism. Surprisingly, it earns more revenue than Las Vegas, with a yearly income of $37 billion in 2018, according to figures.

How It Became Asia’s Las Vegas

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the gambling industry in Macau contributes around 40% of the local GDP. Macau’s name comes from the residents’ reverence for the mythical sea goddess Mazu, who was worshipped at the nearby A-Ma Temple. According to folklore, one of the Portuguese captains enquired a fisherman about the island’s name when he first arrived on the island in the 16th century.

The man responded with the term “Magao,” which is the name of the A-Ma Temple in front of them, misreading the officer’s meaning. Macau did not become a significant settlement until the advent of the Portuguese in the 16th century. In 1513, explorer Jorge Lázaro became the first European to set foot on Chinese soil after sailing into the country. The first trading post in the Hong Kong seas was established in the 16th century at Tamao (present-day Tuen Mun), establishing frequent trade with nearby towns in southern China. Ming and Portuguese ships engaged in naval battles following the expulsion of Tamao traders from China in 1521. It wasn’t until the Pearl River Estuary was settled by Portuguese merchants that they were able to establish themselves in Macau.

The unique administrative status of Macau, which dates back to 1999, means that it is subject to different rules than the rest of China. Because it is the only part of Greater China where gambling is legal, this region (which includes the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau) is home to China’s sole gambling destination.

A tense environment prevailed in Macau in the years running up to the handover in 1999, as organized crime fought for control of the subcontracted VIP gambling areas. Macau’s GDP grew by double digits every year between 2002 and 2014, making it one of the world’s wealthiest economies per capita. Macau’s success can also be attributed to the presence of VIP rooms, where high-stakes games can be played in privacy. They set Macau apart from other casino resorts across the world with their unique take on gambling.

Fascinating Facts About Macau

1. Macau is a household name when it comes to gambling. It’s a haven for lovers of casinos and good means to have maximum fun. Its economy is mostly centered on wagering, which is an interesting reality. The 83rd largest economy in the world derives 60% of its revenue from gambling. China and other countries are the main sources of visitors to the city.
2. There are four major gambling towns in the world, and Macau is one of them because of its 400-year history as a Portuguese colony. It is a popular destination for tourists because of its Portuguese architecture, islands, museums, fortresses, and magnificent casinos on par with Las Vegas and wonderful food.
3. In spite of its tiny size, Macau is home to numerous sports and leisure facilities that have hosted numerous international athletic events. The Macau Grand Prix, one of the most important yearly motorsports championships that take place on city streets, is held on a regular basis throughout the region. For the first time, Formula Three, touring cars, and motorcycles all compete on the same street track. Despite having its own National Olympic Committee, the area does not participate in the Olympic Games. In addition to horse and greyhound racing, Macau also hosts a Grand Prix race in October every year.
4. In any casino, blackjack is the most popular game, but in the city, things are a little different. This is a baccarat-centric establishment. Gambling is viewed as a serious activity in China, and it is not done for fun. You wouldn’t be surprised if you come across someone who was so committed to it. Such gamblers have a plethora of choices in this city. On the open floors, there is a lot of action, but the VIP rooms are where most of it takes place.

Conclusion

The modernism of Macau is rooted in China’s growth and the wealth of its people. It is critical to the long-term prosperity of Macau that it be able to draw in a large number of tourists and gamblers. For years to come, China’s middle class is expected to provide a constant supply. If you’re a gambler, Macau is the place to be. There is a lot of gaming activity in the region. All of your gambling needs will be met here, from high-rise casinos to scorching slot machines. Macau attracts some of the world’s top gamblers.

Recently, the exchange of cryptocurrency in the Philippines has been legalised. This opens new opportunities for gamblers to manage their funds at their favourite online casino sites. If you remember, I’ve covered the subject of gambling in the Philippines before and mentioned that the country is quite open-minded when it comes to people placing bets and wagers. This paved the way for Bitcoin casino sites to become very popular and desirable.

The Top Bitcoin Casinos in the Philippines

If you are a player from the Philippines and you are interested, I would like to talk more about these types of Bitcoin casinos. I decided to dive deeper into the subject and see which site offers the best experience. One of the best Bitcoin casino sites according to H. Newton is 22bet at the time of writing this article. What is essential is that Bitcoin is not just another payment method for this operator. Using crypto as your way of funding your gambling needs does not limit you in any way. Quite the opposite, if you use Bitcoin as your deposit method, you will have access to unique goodies. This comes in the form of special promotions, such as bonuses, free spins on your favourite slot games and more.

Bitcoin-centric casinos are spreading fast in the Philippines. Due to its popularity, I expect this payment method to be right next to the big names that offer streamlined financial services soon, such as card and e-wallets. I would like to emphasise on the advantages that you get from using Bitcoin at an online casino in order to solidify my reasoning behind my previous statement. Playing at online casinos is not the same as playing in a land-based one. Your data such as personal and banking information are not completely secure and the internet is a haven for malicious users.

That’s why earlier I pointed out the top Bitcoin casino site that H. Newton has in his article. Playing at a gambling platform owned by a reputable operator that has high security, such as a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, along with the inherent safety of Bitcoin is a combination that everyone loves. You do what you love and don’t have to worry about your data being stolen, stored indefinitely somewhere or misused.

Using Bitcoin in Online Casinos

So why use cryptocurrencies you ask? Let me elaborate on how crypto works and what benefits you can have by using it. The technology that is at the base of almost any digital currency out there is called blockchain. In order to avoid unnecessary confusion, the design behind is that the network is comprised of millions of users and their computers. Once a transaction is sent to the network, it has to be confirmed by multiple machines and reach a consensus of its validity. After that, the transaction is confirmed and placed in a block of information. That block is “sealed” once full and added to the blockchain. This makes information immune to any malicious actions, such as double-spending, spending currency you don’t actually have and more.

In a world where cybersecurity is under high demand, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin provide it just by its design and technology alone. On top of that, transactions are private, because you don’t use any personal information to make the transaction, just a generated digital address or a “wallet”. Not only is Bitcoin a great investment, it is also one of the best and safest ways to manage your casino funds. There are no middlemen involved and transactions are very quick. This pretty much sums up the main advantages of using Bitcoin as a payment method at your online casino of choice.

Picking a Bitcoin Casino

In the article about the best Bitcoin casino site, there are many more entries from other operators that are just as reputable as the top one. There is more than one choice when it comes to picking a place to gamble with crypto. You can choose from a wide variety of Bitcoin casinos that are just as good as the leading one. After doing my research on the subject, I am more than happy to share some tips about your choices. First, make sure that the operator is a holder of a license from a government.

What to look out for are licenses from the UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority. Make sure that the website also features SSL encryption and has other certificates that further prove the site’s legality. The information I found at this Bitcoin Guide helped me a lot while writing this. Have fun playing at your favourite casinos while being completely safe and secure!

2017 is a huge year for the casino industry in Asia, since Japan – one of the most conservative countries in the East when it comes to betting money on games – has just passed a ground-breaking law which removed the ban on casinos on their soil. Now, if you’re not super-familiar with Japan and its casino environment, as well as that of its neighboring countries, you might be wondering why this is a big deal at all. “More and more casinos are legalizing gambling every day, what makes Japan so different”, you might be asking. Well, if that’s the case, allow me to explain.

The thing is, while the Japanese government despises gambling almost as much as it hates uncensored pornography, the Japanese absolutely adore it. In the West, the culture of spending money on games has shifted dramatically from what it once was, and now gamers can be neatly categorized in three different categories – people who pay for games outright (on platforms like PC and PS4) and then like to enjoy a finished product, people who pay little by little on mobile games and people who play casino games. And there’s very little overlap between these three groups, and basically no overlap between them and the people who don’t play games at all. In Japan, however, gamers are gamers. Sure, you’ve got people who love to hang out at the pachinko parlor all day, but generally speaking the mindset is that a game is a game regardless of the platform it’s on. Handheld and mobile games are really popular in Japan, and it’s basically the only place in the world where arcades are thriving. If you’ve got one million gamers in the West, you could probably count on a very small number of them to visit a casino, and only with the right incentive, like skill-based slots. If you’ve got one million gamers in Japan, though, you can, in theory, make every last one of them place a bet once you open a casino.

Don’t believe me? Well, the overlap between these cultures goes so deep that some types of games that have existed for years in Japan are basically gambling under a different name! One example of this is gacha games, which are mobile titles with a very high amount of random number generator. In a Western mobile game, you might be paying for extra lives or specific characters, but in a Japanese gacha game you often have no choice in the matter and need to spend money to buy packs of random characters – you might get a couple of really good ones, or they might all be useless. Even more blatant is the pachinko scheme that many places in Japan are running. I’ve covered pachinko in the past, but I never spoke about the fascinating way people use it to gamble by winning prizes from their machines and then exchanging them for cash. It’s a story in and of itself, which I may cover in more detail next time.

So, in conclusion, by opening just a couple of casinos and enticing gamers and Pachinko gamblers to try them out, Japan is looking at a GIGANTIC profit margin – some sources speculate a $10 billion annual profit from just three operating casinos. And while we’ll need to wait for another 5-6 years before we know whether or not reality will meet expectations, I’m personally very optimistic.

Gambling, as you may be well aware, is banned in most regions in Asia – or at the very least heavily restricted, with only a very limited selection of activities (ex. a few types of sports betting or government-sponsored lotto) being available to the public. The Philippines, on the other hand, despite being located near some very gambling-conservative countries such as Vietnam (which, despite high hopes, still treats gamblers like criminals), is one of the more liberal havens for gamblers on the continent. In one of my previous articles, I compared the Philippines to the UK when it came to market size, availability and methods of certification, and even today I still don’t think that description was that far from the truth. Honestly, I didn’t even suspect just how big gambling was in the Philippines until I sat down, turned my VPN on to a server in the country and began doing some serious research.

At first glance, things don’t appear to be too advanced. If you take a look at the Wikipedia page detailing all of the casinos in the Philippines, you’d only see a little more than a dozen within the entire country, which is rather pathetic – I mean, I’m fairly certain that a small Eastern European country would have more than that! But once you start digging deeper, you’d find out that the Wikipedia pages are horribly outdated. When I did my own research, I managed to discover over 40 gambling venues across the country. This includes numerous standalone casinos, as well as casinos that are attached to hotels and things like resorts and slot arcades. And sure, 40 may still not sound like too much to most people, especially when compared to the UK’s a lot more impressive 140, but that’s only because, unlike almost everywhere else, most people prefer to do their gambling online rather than live. And that’s where things get really interesting.

For the purposes of this article, I really wanted to register for a Philippines-exclusive online casino using some made-up information and then test out some of their games in demo mode to see just how different they are from the ones that European and American casinos have. However, I was quite surprised to find out that there really weren’t any Philippines-exclusive online casinos, at least none that I could actually discover and register for. Instead, all of the casinos I found were international, and most were UK-based. A good chunk of the online casinos on https://www.bestcasinosites.net/ are fully playable in the Philippines, legally. As I found out, the Philippines government actually requires foreign operators to register for a license and then taxes all winnings made by people within the country, and as a result it’s a lot cheaper for the government to just license foreign casinos rather than to assist in certifying local ones.

So, that’s about the extent of my experience with the casino market in the country! Sadly, I can’t really do much else without physically going to the Philippines, but I hope that this little recap of what I found was at least somewhat useful to you. With that said, as always, happy gambling!

Slots are amazingly popular worldwide. It doesn’t really take a genius to figure this much out – really, all you need to do is visit any online gambling site and see just how many online slots there are available, especially in comparison to all the other games. Hell, you don’t even need to actually sign up to any online casino – a look at this slots website is all you need to learn just how popular modern slots are in the West! There are no slots in the traditional sense in most Eastern territories, as casinos tend to be banned in many of them, but Pachinko machines are basically Asian slots and are a huge part of Japanese culture. Just like how there’s numerous online slots based on different Western franchises like Marvel or “Game of Thrones”, there’s plenty of Pachinko machines that are based on famous Japanese franchises. And while they generally enjoy tremendous success, the announcement of a single Pachinko machine caused a massive uproar among fans. But why? People love Pachinko machines, and they love licensed machines even more, so why did this one in particular outrage people so much? The story is actually quite fascinating.

In order to understand that, we need to learn a bit more about the history of Konami, who are one of the biggest Japanese video game publishers of all time. They’ve been publishing games since the very first cartridge-based home consoles like the NES, with massive smash hits such as “Castlevania”, “Contra” and “Metal Gear”. But it wasn’t until the PlayStation 1 when Konami began enjoying MASSIVE, worldwide success. “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” helped create an entirely new genre of games, dubbed Metroidvania by fans (a portmanteau of “Castlevania” and “Metroid” – the other game which helped make the genre); “Silent Hill” pretty much single-handedly established the rule that horror games are most effective when they delve into the world psychological horror, and “Metal Gear Solid”… Well, that’s the main star of our story. “Metal Gear Solid” is one of the most important videogames of all time. It wasn’t the first game to have Hollywood-style cinematic cutscenes, a cohesive plot with many twists and turns and extremely good voice acting, but it was definitely the one that perfected it. It’s the grandfather of modern games as we know them.

From then on, every single instalment of the “Metal Gear Solid” series has been making revolutions in gaming in one way or another. “Metal Gear Solid 2”, while disliked at release, was way ahead of its time and is currently regarded as the very first example of postmodernism in videogames. “Metal Gear Solid 3” went back to basics and further perfected the cinematic storytelling of the first game, telling a heartfelt story of a soldier forced to assassinate his mentor and mother figure because of petty politics in the midst of the Cold War. It was a heartfelt, emotional story that continues to resonate with gamers to this day, more than ten years after its release.

But something very weird happened during the development of “Metal Gear Solid V”. The details of the scandal are unknown, but sources claim there was a “power struggle” between Konami higher-ups and “Metal Gear Solid” creator Hideo Kojima. As a result, Kojima was forced to leave the company following the release of his latest game (which was released in an incomplete state, with more than a third of its planned content missing and many of the missions requiring multiple playthroughs). Konami promised that despite Kojima’s departure, this wouldn’t be the end of “Metal Gear Solid” and that, even though rumours claimed the opposite, they wouldn’t be pulling out of the videogame business. Kojima took his core team members with him and formed his own studio, leaving Konami desperate to hire a new team to develop “the next Metal Gear”, and that’s the last we heard of it.

So, why have I been telling you all of this? What does the history of “Metal Gear” have to do with Pachinko machines, anyway? Well… It’s because Konami did, in fact, recently announce the next “Metal Gear”… And it’s going to be a Pachinko machine. More accurately, it’s going to be a Pachinko remake of “Metal Gear Solid 3”. Let me put this another way – Konami’s response to fan demand for a new game in their favourite franchise is to release a slot machine. Think about it this way – imagine if suddenly HBO decided to fire David Benioff and DB Weiss (the creative directors of “Game of Thrones”), cancel the show and then release a Red Wedding slot machine. “Game of Thrones” fans everywhere would be rioting… And honestly, one look at YouTube is enough to let us know that “Metal Gear Solid” fans aren’t particularly happy about their current situation either.

At this rate, things aren’t looking particularly peachy for fans of the franchise, who have been having a very rough time after the release of the last game in September of 2015, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better anytime soon. A part of me hopes that Konami will make it up to us and will announce a brand new “Metal Gear” game soon enough… But I doubt it. In any case, this whole situation has provided us with a very good lesson on how NOT to make a licensed slot. Stay on your fans’ good side, developers. They pay your salary.

Gambling laws in Europe are pretty easy to understand – most stuff (casino, betting, online gambling, lotto, you name it) is legal everywhere in the EU. And why shouldn’t it – gambling gives the government some very easy money, it keeps the casinos’ pockets full and provides cheap entertainment and a chance to make it big to the masses. Asia, on the other hand… Well, it’s complicated. Some regions, like Macau, are casino havens for high rollers from around the world, while in others gambling in any form is severely punished. We’ve spoken before about how Japan’s tight anti-casino rules require gamblers to get creative when playing Pachinko machines, so we’re not going to be talking about that again. What I’d like to do is examine the gambling laws country by country and see where you can gamble and where you can’t.

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due – the folks at Every Matrix have an absolutely fantastic article on the subject, which is more than enough to answer any and all of your questions. I highly recommend that you give it a read, but the problem with it is that it’s also rather long, and maybe you need some quick answers, which is understandable. As mentioned, Macau is definitely THE place to go when gambling in Asia – as a matter of fact, even though gambling is legal in China, many Chinese people still go to Macau to gamble. It’s the Vegas of Asia! The Philippines is a similarly mature market, both online and offline. When it comes to online gambling in particular, the Philippines is kind of like the UK of Asia (to continue with the analogies), in that online casinos need to be certified by the government and/or independent companies to make sure that they’re safe.

One thing I’ve noticed is that you can play online blackjack for real money from everywhere, even from countries where gambling is otherwise banned. Of course, there’s always exceptions to the rule, such as Singapore, Vietnam and others, which block foreign gambling sites and have made it illegal to access them through other means (like VPNs and proxies), but for the most part, if you can successfully register in a foreign casino, then you can keep playing on it. Just be very wary of the Terms of Service, which may explicitly ban foreign players from registering. This is the worst possible scenario because then your winnings won’t be legal and you’ll be at a loss no matter how much you win, so watch out for that!

Overall, I recommend that you check out the Every Matrix article that I linked earlier because it does really give a whole lot more information on the subject than I ever could, including mentions of specific laws that are in play in each country, but overall, I believe that this is the gist of it. Gambling in Asia is complicated, with no two countries sharing the same laws, so if you’re planning on visiting an Asian country I’d recommend that you familiarize with it and its laws specifically beforehand.

When you’re wondering where to go on your honeymoon, there’s pretty much only one right answer – Asia! The largest continent in the world also naturally offers the most variety in terms of locales and experiences. There’s almost no two places in the entirety of Asia which are exactly the same, they all offer different experiences and different locales, so you’re going to have to make a choice before settling on one. Do you want some peace and quiet so you can spend some time with the man or woman of your life? Are you looking for a challenge to help you push yourself? Or immerse yourself in a foreign culture? Or perhaps you’re searching for a place with a very rich history? Fear not, for I am here to help you out with your choice! Here are some of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia!

Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi is truly one of the richest, most unique cities in all of Asia, and it absolutely deserves the first spot on our list… even if we’re not going in any particular order. Hanoi is home to so many amazing things that we’d have to spend the entire article going into them in detail! We can’t, of course, neglect to mention the famous Hanoi Opera house, or the Perfume Pagoda, which are two of the most famous buildings in all of Vietnam. And we can’t really mention Hanoi without bringing up the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, which is one of the most impressive castles that are still standing to this day. And if instead you’re looking to spend some time among nature, you’re going to be rather pleasantly surprised by the Ba Vi national park, which is downright STUNNING! I haven’t been there personally, but just looking at the photos makes me want to live there, and that’s saying something! Hanoi has a little bit of everything for everyone, which makes it a prime destination for tourism! Don’t miss it!

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo is, by far, one of my favorite cities not just in Asia, but in all of the world. If you can handle the business of its streets, you’re definitely going to find plenty to love here! Then again, the business are part of the charm. I can guarantee that without them, the world-famous Shibuya Crossing and the surrounding Shibuya district, which were the setting of the popular videogame “The World Ends With You”, wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable or interesting! Speaking of videogames, if you’re a fan of them and other geeky things, then Akihabara is pretty much your mecca. Also known as the nerd district, Akihabara hold hundreds of stores selling anything from old videogames to large pillowcases with anime girls on them that geeks affectionately refer to as “waifus”. But just because Tokyo is incredibly urban doesn’t mean that it’s devoid of nature! Yoyogi Park and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden are two of the most famous nature parks in Asia, with the latter being an absolute wonderland in spring (when the sakura trees blossom with their distinctive pink petals). As for history, you’ve always got the Meiji Shrine, where you can go and make a wish regardless of your religion, or lack thereof. So if you’re looking for an exciting city adventure for you and your waifu, there is literally no better place than Tokyo!

Beijing, China

No list of the top tourist destinations of Asia would possibly be complete without mentioning Beijing! While China has had its fair share of controversy over the last couple of years (understatement of the decade), that has done very little to detract from the natural beauty and appeal from the city. For those of you who are interested in history, Beijing has not one, but two castles – the Forbidden City, which is absolutely amazing on so many levels and, thanks to how well it has been preserved and the museum exhibit filling its hallways, gives a true sense of what was like for the various families occupying it for over five hundred years; and the Summer Palace, which… Just look it up and see for yourself, no words can describe that colorful beauty! Of course, we also have to mention the historic Tiananmen Square where in 1989 a single, unarmed man stood in front of the tanks coming to suppress a protest, as depicted in one of the most famous photographs in the world. Speaking of historic locations, another place you can visit is a little thing you may have heard of called the Great Wall of China? I dunno, doesn’t ring any bells, so let’s just move on. If it’s nature you want, then nature you shall receive, courtesy of the Beihai Park and the Beijing Zoo! Now, I have to be honest – Beijing is not a perfect city, not in the slightest. But according to many, myself included, the benefits of visiting it vastly outweigh the negatives, so if you’re looking for an adventure, you can’t go wrong here!