As we explored Macau, the gambling Mecca of the Orient, I was surprised by the length of the long winding lines of gamblers outside the casinos and the crowds inside.
The Chinese are serious about their gambling. Dead serious. They don’t gamble for entertainment, they gamble to win. Laser focused and intense. This is no game.
They pray and seek divine intervention, are superstitious about everything and fengshui drives their decisions at the tables — where they sit, what they eat, no sudden gestures to change the dynamics of the evil spirits.
The casinos are raking in the money; the Chinese are raking up the debt. That’s the funny thing about growing up poor — when one risks and loses what they have, the just get to where they started.
About Hemant Rustogi