Hotel bar bosses held over gambling claims
Print Edition
PEOPLE running a five-star hotel bar in south China’s Hainan Province have been held by police for questioning over claims that they were operating a casino, local authorities said yesterday.
The Yalong Bay Mangrove Tree Resort, located in Sanya City, boasted in an advertisement that it would be “China’s Las Vegas,” China Central Television reported over the weekend.
This is despite a ban on gambling on China’s mainland.
Sanya city government yesterday said the bar has been closed following a police inspection on January 16.
This is not the first time the Mangrove Tree Resort has faced gambling problems.
Last February, it was told to close the bar until it stopped offering gambling.
According to a CCTV investigation, this time around hotel guests paid 1,000 yuan (US$165) to get into the bar.
Tickets were exchanged for chips to play games such as baccarat, blackjack and Caribbean poker.
A bar employee said the highest value chip was equivalent to 50,000 yuan.
Although chips couldn’t be converted into cash, players could exchange them for points to use in the hotel.
A hotel employee told CCTV that the points could be used to pay for room fees, massage services and shopping.
A hotel sales manager told CCTV that takings at the bar accounted for nearly half of total income and that the hotel was building a second bar 10 times the size of the first.
Many players told CCTV that the bar was simply a casino.
One player said it was convenient to play in the hotel in Hainan as he didn’t need to get a pass to travel to gambling hotspot Macau.
Sanya’s Mayor Wang Yong said the city government would severely punish such illegal behavior.
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