Macau, a special administrative region like Hong Kong, is the only place in China where casinos are legal, and the business has grown at an astounding pace since 2001, when the government ended the four-decade gambling monopoly of the Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho. At the present time, Macau does not license online gambling operations. Generally, gambling in Macau can be divided into one of four categories: casino games, greyhound racing, sports betting, and lotteries. Until Western-style casino games were introduced in the 20th century, only Chinese games were played, the most popular being Fan-Tan. With the entry of large foreign casinos from Las Vegas and Australia, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenues in 2007. Visitors are largely from mainland China and Hong Kong. Gambling tourism is Macau's biggest source of revenue, making up about 50% of the economy. It is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the 'Gambling capital of the world'. Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalised the activity in the autonomous colony.
