{"id":777016777,"date":"2024-06-27T09:27:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T12:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777016777"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:43:16","slug":"macau-lawmakers-seek-clarification-on-legality-of-mahjong-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-lawmakers-seek-clarification-on-legality-of-mahjong-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Macau lawmakers seek clarification on legality of mahjong gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legislators have raised questions about mahjong gambling in restaurants and clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- Chan Chak Mo<\/strong>, a lawmaker who leads the Second Standing Committee that is currently discussing the draft\u00a0Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes<\/a>, has said Macau lawmakers are requesting the government to provide more detailed guidance on the legality of mahjong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan Chak Mo told TDM that some legislators are unsure about the situation of mahjong gambling in restaurants and clubs that offer spaces for play. Legislation prohibits unapproved profit-generating gambling. That would appear to allow mahjong if businesses don’t charge, but the committee is seeking guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed legislation suggests that illegal gambling, both online and offline, as well as mutual betting, should be exceptions to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance’s time restrictions, permitting searches of residences from 9pm to 7am. It also proposes fines ranging from MOP1,500 (US$186) to MOP5,000 (US$620) for those involved in illegal gambling in public spaces such as parks and squares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to queries about why this exception applies solely to illegal gambling and not to other serious crimes like money laundering, terrorism, national security threats, and organised crime, a government representative said the administration is open to considering amendments to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance or similar provisions for these other offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill was presented by the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau, Leong Weng In<\/strong>, last December. It is intended to replace Macau\u2019s existing Illegal Gambling Law (Law 8\/96\/m). It passed its initial reading<\/a> at the Legislative Assembly in February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legislators have raised questions about mahjong gambling in restaurants and clubs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":12754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Macau legislators are seeking clearer government guidance on the legality of mahjong gambling in non-casino venues, particularly concerning profit generation, amidst discussions of a new draft Law on Combating Illegal Gambling Crimes. This proposed legislation aims to replace existing law, introduce stricter measures against illicit online and offline gambling, and potentially amend the Criminal Procedure Ordinance for enhanced investigative powers. The government is open to considering broader application of these procedural amendments to other serious crimes like money laundering.","focusai_entities":"Chan Chak Mo, TDM, Legal Affairs Bureau, Leong Weng In, Legislative Assembly","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.85), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Mahjong Legal Framework","query":"What specific criteria will the Macau government establish to differentiate legal social mahjong from unapproved profit-generating gambling in non-casino venues, and what are the implications for B2C licensing and operational compliance?"},{"label":"Enforcement Powers Expansion","query":"How might the proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, allowing extended search times for illegal gambling, impact the broader governance frameworks for AML, counter-terrorism, and organized crime investigations within Macau's financial and gaming sectors?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,154],"tags":[23911,23906],"class_list":["post-777016777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777016777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777016777"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777016777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777016799,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777016777\/revisions\/777016799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777016777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777016777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777016777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}