Vietnamese casinos to open doors to locals

Starting on December, Vietnamese people will be able to gamble at casinos if they prove an income of at least US$436.

Vietnam.- The Ministry of Finance issued the Circular No 102/2017/TT-BTC, which guides a number of articles on casino business that take effect on December 1. Among the new regulations, Vietnamese people will be able to gamble in local facilities.

The biggest change for Vietnam is that nationals will be permitted to gamble at casinos if they prove that their income is higher than US$436, or if it’s taxable at level 3. Moreover, casinos will have to open books or issue electronic cards in order to control the people who are allowed to enter the facilities, local media reported.

That control has to regulate who enters and exits the facility, as well as save the archives for a minimum period of two years in order to aid the State management agencies that inspect and examine that process. The entities allowed to let Vietnamese players gamble have to declare the number of people who buy tickets and then pay the proceeds from the sale to the State budget.

Back in August, Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd said that the almost 30 gaming facilities in Vietnam make the market worth US$1.2 billion approximately. The Vietnamese government doesn’t reveal gross gaming revenue (GGR) figures from the existing facilities, but Union Gaming estimated that GGR on a national level stands between US$800 million and US$1.2 billion, based on information released by three publicly traded companies and conversations with operators.