The undeniable success of gambling formats like the scratch card is spreading to all corners of the globe. Many scratchcard operators have identified the Asian Market has one of the fastest growing and most lucrative markets to be captured.
With the U.S. scratch card seemingly opening up, their Asian counterparts are looking to join the online scratchcard community.
Despite many fears Singapore is a proven example of how regulated and legalized gambling like online scratchies can do for their countries’ economies.
Many gambling opponents have been proven wrong in their assessment of negative impacts of online scratch cards and sports betting. A regulated and controlled scratch card industry is a winning proposition for both scratchies players and legal scratch operators.
One of the fastest emerging markets in the online gambling world is that of Asia. Inspired by the success of Singapore many Asian countries like Vietnam are looking into ways to join the winning success of Singapore.
The finance Ministry in Vietnam announced today that it plans to legalize sports betting.Vietnam is the latest Asian country after the likes of Japan who are looking into legalizing and regulating the ever popular gambling industry.
One of the main rationales of the Vietnamese government in legalizing sports betting is the aim to limit the damage incurred through illegal gambling syndicate’s .At present Vietnam has only a few legal casinos that by law only holders of foreign passports can play.
There is no point in denying the facts and it is better to enable scratch card players to gamble legally and to enjoy the benefits of online scratchcard taxation.
The Vietnamese authorities are also concerned that millions of Vietnamese are taking their money to neighboring Cambodia instead of spending the much need cash in Vietnam.
Vietnam has been hard pressed to ignore the success of gambling in Singapore which has become a world hub for top notch casinos. Major Casino operators like Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Genting Group Resorts World Sentosa opened up in 20120 after the Singaporean Government ended years of suspicion towards the legalization of gambling. The change of heart from Singapore has resulted in huge financial success as well as attracting thousands of more tourists who are drawn to the Asian gambling Mecca.
With the global economic crisis still upon us, scratchcards are in an ideal position to generate revenues for cash strapped Governments who would otherwise need to raise taxes to fund public projects.
In order to learn firsthand from Singapore’s success, Vietnamese Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has met with Singaporean government officials in order to replicate their success. Vietnam is looking to follow in Singapore’s footsteps with the creation of family-orientated resorts which have the ability to attract investors and governments alike.
There is global recognition of the scratchcard format being more of a social gambling pursuit and not aimed at heavy gamblers. The fact that even in emerging markets scratch card devotees are able to start winning from as little as 10p is a major draw card for the classic scratch card layout.
One of the key questions being asked if this is the first step in legalizing all forms of gambling or perhaps is just limited to sports betting. There is also uncertainty over the issue of foreigners owning and running gambling operations. As of now Vietnamese Government officials have not clarified their stance.
It is hard to believe that the opening up on the Vietnamese market will not include the ever popular scratchies which are a household format for millions.
The Asian Market is seen as a very lucrative market for U.S operators as in contrast to the U.S. gambling Market, the Asian gambling market is growing despite the world economic crisis. There are estimates from PricewaterhouseCoopers who have estimated a growth of 43% in Asian markets in the global casino market by 2015 which is a significant increase from 29% in 2010.
Vietnam has many factors that are in their favor that could make them a major force in the Asian gambling market. Top casino operators like Sheldon Adelson of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. have been trying to lobby the Vietnamese Government to open up the gambling market. With over 90 million people and a vibrant tourist attraction, Vietnam is in a prime position to progress.
As the online scratch card market in the U.S. seems to be opening up, it is no surprise that other countries acknowledge the huge potential of the simple but dependable “scratch card” as a guaranteed source of income.
Vietnam is joined by other Asian countries like Japan and The Philippines who are also considering their future gambling options. It is worth noting that Japan is the world’s third larger economy and could become a world leader in the gambling industry.
There are few formats available to the gambling community that offers the versatility and range of that of the scratch card industry. Major scratch site operators have developed scratchies that will entertain and inform all tastes.
In fact there are many scratch cards that have their themes based on the Asian World. These scratchgames include the like of Sudoku Panda and Tiger Mahjong just to mention a few.