That chill wind you feel blowing through Macao is the local government’s trepidation about the $1 billion-plus in cash withdrawals that are being made from Macanese ATMs. “The amounts are eye-watering – HK$10 billion-a-month is a conservative estimate. The 
banks have been told to make sure every ATM is monitored on a 24-7 basis so as soon as cash levels get low, a team is ready to fill the machine back up, on a 24-7 basis,” said a South China Morning Post source. Of course, whenever a policy change like this occurs, it stokes fears of currency flight or outright money laundering — the kind of thing that will bring a crackdown from Beijing faster than you can say “pataca.” As JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff wrote, “It is conceivable to believe the governments in both Macau and China may want to clamp down on this, given the broader efforts on curbing capital outflows.” Already there have been some gaudy prosecutions, including one involving a couple that had 402 cash cards to swindle to the system to the tune of $15 million.
Already the amount of cash that can be taken out of a UnionPay machine in a single transaction has been halved, but this clearly has not 
solved the problem. (The number of ATMs per capita is 254 in Macao compared to 49 in Hong Kong.) Grumbled an unnamed financial services consultant, “I wonder why the monetary authority thinks it is so important to keep the taps open so this flood can come out, rather than focusing on stemming it?” According to Greff, the new generation of machines will incorporate biometric recognition software “and will require mainland holders of UnionPay ATM cards to present their China ID card and face to verify a cardholder’s identity before dispensing cash.”
He continued, “The actual impact on demand doesn’t necessarily have to be very meaningful since there are many other ways–at least for
now–that can help players/junkets to get cash in Macau, like 
pawnshops for example. The bigger impact may be on player psychology, as some players/junkets may interpret the government as sending a message about capital outflows as well as players’ reluctance to use ATM cards given increased ID checks.”
Added Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, “While ATM’s are generally a source of cash for mass customers, we find it difficult to dispute that a portion of premium mass and VIP play is also sourced 
from ATM withdrawals, whether directly or indirectly. If one were to assume only HK$10 bn per month in withdrawals, it implies roughly $500 per monthly visitor. We believe this statistic indicates that the ATM usage extends beyond the ordinary mass customer.” While this kind of government monitoring might seem inconceivable to Americans, it is merely the latest instance of Macao turning the stove burners up and down as it attempts to control the casino-based economy.
* If we’re skeptics about the Las Vegas Raiders, the NHL‘s Golden Knights have made believers of us. As CMO Nehme E. Abouzeid says, “We feel that population-wise and income-wise, the city can support two teams. We’re going to be the homegrown team. A transplanted team is a different mentality.” Not only have the Knights sold 13,000 season tickets already, their approach has been to home-grow a fan base, not try to import one from outside. “Vegas is a very livable city, and that’s really not reported nationally,” Abouzeid says. “Yes, a lot of our jobs are tied to the hospitality industry, but there’s also a lot of entrepreneurship, a lot of doctors, a lot of dentists, a lot of financial advisers, a lot of insurance agents.” It sounds like the Knights, unlike the Raiders, have done their homework and aren’t relying on pie-in-the-sky numbers to sell their product.
After the Eeyore smackdown on the Las Vegas Strip, we’re a little more leery about one’s safety in Sin City. The latest exhibit for the prosecution is the death of a Victorville man who was literally sucker-punched to his death. Louie Campos‘ fatal mistake was trying to attend Downtown’s Vanguard night club. Someone took offense to him while be waited behind the velvet rope and violence ensued. “These guys knew what they were doing. They knew they were going to sucker punch him. They knew they weren’t going to sit here and give him a fair break. It was the act of a coward,” said brother Adam Garibay. If you feel like donating to Campos’ funeral expenses, you can.
