In 2022, the leaders of the People’s Republic of China decided to change everything they did not like about Macau’s casinos.

The PRC is a Marxist government, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.  So, as a matter of personal belief, they hate the Upper Class – here, read high-rollers.

They barely tolerate legal gambling.  They understand that it brings in a lot of revenue, but they hate that very large parts of the profits go to Western companies.  Worse, those profits come from billions of Yuan being smuggled out of the Mainland.

The PRC is authoritarian, its leaders believe in social engineering.

Put it all together and you have a shift from casinos being seen as centers for entertainment to mere financial institutions.  It is now public policy to reduce the importance of gambling and to use gaming to promote economic diversification.  Casino companies must contribute billions of dollars to Chinese projects that have nothing to do with gambling.  And the operators are under pressure to get that money from tourists from outside China.

Every change in Macanese casino laws and announcements from government officials is designed to downplay gambling and force casino companies to change their business models, all while the government extracts as much money as it can.

To ensure casinos fulfill their roles as merely supplying the money for other projects, and to not cater to high-rollers, the government is taking active roles in not only deciding how many slot machines and baccarat tables a casino may have and how much they will win, but also in running the day-to-day operations.

What could possibly go wrong?