Casinos Winning Big by Betting on Asians

Dealer Cai Qilin, center, works on Mini Baccarat at an Asian gambling section in Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., Thursday, June 29, 2006. Foxwoods, the biggest casino in the world based on gambling floor space, estimates that at least one-third of its 40,000 customers per day are Asian. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki) (Chitose Suzuki - AP)

Some say the casinos are filling a void in entertainment options for low-income Asian immigrants.

Gambling doesn't require language skills or a high upfront cost, and casinos including Foxwoods have set up dozens of tables featuring favorite Asian games such as Pai Gow poker, Pai Gow dominoes, Sic Bo and Baccarat.

Next to the popular noodle bar, the entrance to the massive "Asian Pit" at Foxwoods is one of the liveliest sections of the massive casino. And when customers aren't gambling, there are Asian concerts and shows to keep them occupied. Mohegan Sun has brought superstar singers A-Mei from Taiwan and Sandy Lam from Hong Kong to perform at its 10,000-seat arena.

"This is a way of demonstrating the casino's sensitivity and understanding of the market," said Joe Lam, president of L3, an advertising agency that works with Mohegan Sun.

Zheng Yuhua emigrated from southern China to New York City eight years ago. She works six days a week, 11 hours a day, preparing takeout orders at a restaurant in Chinatown. On her day off, she takes one of the Foxwoods buses.

"All of our friends come once or twice a week," Zheng said, speaking Mandarin as she rested near the noodle bar with her brother-in-law. "Life in America is hard. Our English isn't good. Even if we have time off, there's nowhere else to go. We don't have cars."

Asians make up roughly a fifth of the 13,000-person staff at Foxwoods. Wu says dealers know not to touch Asian customers on the shoulder, a sign of bad luck. They don't say the number four, which in Chinese, sounds similar to the word for death. The casino also has omitted the No. 4 seat at Pai Gow and Baccarat tables, which have numbered seats.

The model of attracting and retaining Asian customers is being watched carefully as casinos reach out to other untapped markets.

Mohegan Sun's senior marketing vice president, Anthony Patrone, said the casino is interested in expanding its Latino marketing. On July 21, Mohegan Sun hosted a boxing match that was broadcast on the Spanish-language channel Telefutura.

Some say the casinos are going too far to market to people who are vulnerable to excessive gambling.

"If casinos didn't market to Asians, they'd market to someone else. It's just that right now, the market is Asians," said Dr. Tim Fong, co-director of UCLA's Gambling Studies Program.

But those marketing strategies to attract customers aren't without concerns. Fong, who began studying gambling addiction among Asian-Americans in 2005, called it a "subtle epidemic. It's out there, it's insidious, slowly damaging families."