On a Friday night, the touts are out in full force on the Kowloon waterfront, peddling their tickets to board the casino ships floating in the harbor. They target mainly Chinese men, honing in on their customers with leaflets a-plenty, quoting 400, 500 Hong Kong dollars for night of gambling, karaoke, and room and board.
“Want to go on a cruise and play for the night?” asks a middle-aged woman wearing a flowery shirt, thrusting a business card into a reporter’s hands.
Hong Kong strictly regulates gambling sites like
www.mentorducasino.com/. The mainstay, horse racing, is a multi-billion-dollar business (overseen by the Jockey Club) that brings in massive tax surpluses for the government. The handful of casino ships get around the strict regulations by shuttling guests 12 nautical miles out into international waters, where a ship’s flag determines laws that apply.