Will China Buy Poker?

November 12, 2008

If you want to play poker in China, you have to go to Macau. You have to go to the small city to participate in any kind of gambling, as it is illegal on the mainland. People come in droves from the mainland to play poker and other various games, but some wonder if they can spread the wealth a little more.

There is a group that is looking to try and legalize poker within the mainland of China. They say that with so many looking to make China their home, those that follow poker and gambling say that it is only a matter of time before the mainland loosens their restrictions and lets them in.

There are many who think that they can push along the decision to bring in poker and gambling to the mainland. There are large gambling companies that are trying to get China to bend so that they can bring in the large influx of gambling, but so far they are relegated to China.

They say that if China were to legalize online gambling, it could be as much as ten times the US market, which runs around $50 billion. They say that roughly $1 billion of that would come from poker alone. The mainland now allows cashless poker games, and many think that this will eventually be their in to get in the country. They think that they can spread what has become a sport in Beijing to a national pastime.