ABSTRACT
In 1557, the isthmus of Macao (the English spelling, with Macau being the Portuguese version), named after the Chinese sea goddess A-Ma, saw the Portuguese being given permission to settle there by the Chinese, although the official documentation was later to be supposedly lost in a fire. It was only in 1887, three centuries later, that China signed an official treaty with Portugal confirming its governing status in Macao (Lamas, 1998). On one of the southernmost tips of China, Macao for the next 300 years became the main and most important trading post between the West and East, in particular China. It represented a strategic gateway, being on the mouth of the Pearl River, an important access point to the godowns and warehouses in the province of Canton. From its outset, it seems that gambling was a favorite pastime for many foreigners and Chinese alike. Although initially illegal, gambling was prevalent throughout Macao as well as Canton. The ancient game of fan-tan, requiring no more than a number of buttons, coins, or stones that are divided four times with a stick and then the number guessed, was one of the more preferred as it was easy to set up and understand (and is still played in some of Macao’s casinos to this day).
