1920年代，赌博业在新的强有力的垄断掌控下有了快速发展。在60年代，又有了新一轮的增长。当时，政府承认Stanley Ho控制的辛迪加组织垄断权。到了3月，89岁的赌王在这个工业中占有三分之一。他威胁说要起诉他的两个孩子，他娶子四个妻子，生了17个孩子。现在，在那场公开的争斗之后，他宣布把他的注码转交给他的家族。他的帝国包括了或许是澳门最好的葡京赌场，现今却是破烂不堪的黑潭夜总会。它的霓虹灯老态尽显，萨克斯爵士乐从扬声器里舒缓地传出。入中处写着提示牌：“没有衬衫，没有拖鞋，没有短裤。”里面的天花板低小，灯光昏暗，空气中弥漫着陈腐的烟雾。

　　辉煌一时的葡京赌场，到了它的后代手里，日薄西山，又站到了十字路口。耸立在几英里之外的地平线上，这座大厦是澳门粗俗和繁荣的界碑。虽然传闻说它是受到了当地莲花标志的启示，倒不如说，它更像一个巨大的镀金的洋葱，1.2m的日光灯不断闪烁，长长的玻璃管直冲云霄。大厅里，观光游客对艺术作品惊奇不已：山顶和庙宇的幻想曲；黄金孔雀彩饰尾。赌场地板上，排列着一排排Bank Buster 和Black Gold Wild的自动售货机。甚至台面都显得辉煌。女洗手间里的灯光闪着水晶的光芒。

　　澳门的转变应该归功于中国共产党。90年代后期是这个地区的最低潮，强有力的势力插入，赌博业几乎关闭，葡萄牙政府准备将殖民地移交给大陆。地盘争夺战失去了控制。在这片仅仅50万的领土里，1999年就发生了42起谋杀案。“炸弹爆炸、暗杀以及彻头彻尾的大屠杀，”国际风险组织的Stephen Vickers说，“Broken Tooth[三合会的老大]瞅准这次机会移入，为所欲为。十分残忍。”Stephen Vickers是原来的香港警局的高级长官，他花了许多年对付三合会。

　　北京掌管之后，把军队开进澳门中心，警告黑帮说，暴力必须结束。Broken Tooth和他的手下因为组织犯罪团伙、放高利贷，非法赌博而入狱。更重要的是，接交释放了大陆上的人们长久压抑的赌博需求。澳门赌博业的繁荣尽管不是因为共产党长期在大陆禁止赌博--但多少受到了这一点的影响。

　　“中国人喜欢赌博，因此他们喜欢到澳门。”一个福建的企业家，非常腼腆，不愿意说出他的名字。当他在永利的赌场Performance Lake抽烟休息的时候，说，“大陆有许多黑[非法的]赌场。但在这儿玩安全得多，人们玩得开心。在家里面，你享受不到这种服务。”

　　译文：

　　Gaming tourism got a kickstart in the 1920s from an energetic new monopoly; and another boost in the 60s when the government granted the rights to a syndicate dominated by Stanley Ho. Until March the 89-year-old "casino king" held around a third of the industry. Now after a very public feud that saw him threatening to sue two of his 17 children （by four wives） he has announced he is handing over most of his stake to his family. His empire includes perhaps Macau's best-known casino the Lisboa which these days has the seedy air of a down-at-heel Blackpool nightclub. Its neon displays have a retro feel and saxophone jazz eases from the speakers. "No singlets no slippers no shorts" reads a sign at the entrance. Inside the ceilings are low the lighting dingy and the air thick with stale smoke.

　　It is dwarfed by its offspring the Grand Lisboa just across the road. Dominating the skyline for miles the edifice is a monument to vulgarity and Macau's new prosperity. Though reportedly inspired by the region's lotus symbol it resembles nothing so much as an enormous gilded onion with a flashing globe studded with 1.2m LEDs and long glass shoots ascending into the sky. In the lobby tourists marvel at the artwork: giant fantasias of peaks and temples; gold peacocks with spreading enamel tails. On the gambling floors rows of Bank Buster and Black Gold Wild slot machines flash wildly and even the baize looks brighter. The lights in the ladies' toilets are crystal extravaganzas.

　　Macau has the Chinese Communist party to thank for this transformation. The late 90s were a nadir for the region with powerful interests jockeying for position as the gambling concession drew to a close and Portugal prepared to hand the colony to the mainland. Turf wars spiralled out of control; 1999 saw 42 murders in a territory with just half a million inhabitants. "There were bombs going off assassinations and out-and-out carnage " says Stephen Vickers of International Risk formerly a senior Hong Kong police officer who spent years taking on triads. "Broken Tooth [a triad leader] saw an opportunity to move in and force his way through. He was ruthless."Then Beijing took charge marching the military into the centre of Macau and warning the gangs that the violence had to end. Broken Tooth and his lieutenants were jailed for criminal association loan-sharking and illegal gambling. More importantly the handover unleashed the mainland's pent-up demand for gambling. Its casinos have flourished not in spite of the communists' longstanding ban on mainland gaming – but because of it.

　　"Chinese people love gambling so they love to come to Macau " said a Fujian entrepreneur too coy to give his name as he took a cigarette break by the Wynn casino's PerformanceLake. "There's a lot of 'black' [illegal] gambling on the mainland. But it's safer to play here and people come to have fun. You don't get things like this at home."