Gambling Behaviors among VIP Hosts in Macao

Many studies have shown that casino employees are at-risk gamblers, but limited research on this topic has been conducted in Asia. Given the unique gambling setting of Macao, it would be meaningful to investigate the gambling behaviors among VIP Hosts, who play an important role in the gaming market. Specifically, the present study examined the relationship between problem gambling, cognitive distortions, and potential risk and protective factors. The author used a snowball technique to recruit participants and an online survey to collect data. A total of 41 responses were included in the data analysis. The results showed that VIP Hosts tended to have high problem gambling scores compared to the general population. Although a series of factors associated with problem gambling and cognitive distortions were introduced in the hypotheses, none of them were found statistically significant in affecting VIP Hosts’ gambling behaviors or cognitions. The findings of the current study did not support the view that cognitive distortions could predict problem gambling. Hence, both gaming operators and regulators should realize that the prevalence of problem gambling among VIP Hosts is relatively high. Also, the findings suggested that a nuanced approach to Responsible Gaming (RG) training might be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach. Nonetheless, future research is needed to validate these conclusions due to the limitations associated with the current study