The camera rule in Macau casinos is not a house rule that a friendly manager can waive. Since 28 December 2018 the law itself has banned "recording images or sound anywhere inside casinos", and only the director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) can authorise an exception — a change from the 2012 text, which let each casino decide.
Most of what visitors believe about casino entry is either stricter or looser than the law. The age limit is fixed by statute and carries fines on both you and the casino. The dress code often assumed does not exist in any law. This guide goes through the statutes and the bureau's own guidance, rule by rule, and says where the official record stops. The broader border and entry rules for Macau are in the Macau entry rules guide.
Age limit and who is barred
Law 10/2012, which governs entry to, work in and gaming in casinos, bars "persons under 21 years of age" from entering, in Article 2(1)(1). It was published in the Official Gazette on 27 August 2012 and came into force on 1 November 2012. The ban is broad: it means you may not gamble directly or through others, and it covers "all places accessible only through the casino entrance".
The same article bars several other groups. Persons under a court order of interdiction or incapacity, persons "clearly mentally disturbed", persons clearly drunk or under the influence of drugs, persons carrying weapons, explosive devices or explosives, and persons barred by a court or administrative decision may not enter. Public administration workers, including security forces, are barred unless the Chief Executive authorises them.
Casino workers have their own ban. Since 27 December 2019, employees of the six concessionaires in listed areas — gaming tables, machines, cashier counters, public relations, food and beverage, cleaning, security and surveillance — and employees of junket promoters working in casinos may not enter casinos off duty. The exceptions are the first three days of Chinese New Year and justified cases such as training, and even at Chinese New Year they may not gamble in their own employer's casinos. The bureau publishes the banned job positions for each concessionaire.
A few people may enter without gambling. The Chief Executive, principal officials and Executive Council members may enter freely but may not gamble; so may board members of a concessionaire in its own casinos. Officials on duty — magistrates, anti-corruption and audit staff, gaming inspectors, security forces, customs, monetary authority staff, health and food-safety inspectors and labour inspectors — may enter without regard to age but may not gamble, and the entry bans do not apply to firefighters and medical staff in emergencies.
Under-21s may not work in casinos either, whether employed or self-employed, although the bureau's director may authorise individual technical specialists. Bringing a minor in yourself is an offence only in one case: accompanying a minor, or an interdicted or incapacitated person, into a casino as their legal representative carries a fine of MOP 1,000 to 10,000.
What staff can ask for, and fines
Door staff have an explicit power to check age. Article 10(3) provides that concessionaire staff responsible for monitoring entry may "request proof of age from persons who intend to enter the casinos and bar entry to those who refuse". The law says "proof of age" and nothing more; it does not list which documents count, and no bureau page read lists acceptable identification.
Other officials can demand identification inside. Gaming inspectors and their supervisors, casino management staff, the Public Security Police and the Judiciary Police may all ask you to identify yourself. Refusing is a ground for expulsion and, where the demand comes from an inspector or the police, a fine of MOP 1,000 to 10,000.
The law lists a long menu of individual offences at the same level. Entering while drunk, drugged or armed, entering as a banned employee, gambling where the law forbids it, recording or using a phone after a warning, breaking game rules, causing a disturbance, selling without authorisation, disruptive behaviour and re-entering before an expulsion period ends all carry MOP 1,000 to 10,000, unless a heavier penalty applies elsewhere. On top of the fine, an offender may be banned from one or more casinos for six months to two years, and a repeat offence within a year raises the minimum fine by a quarter. Fines are payable within 15 days of notification, and the bureau director's decisions can be appealed directly to the Administrative Court.
The casino pays more. Letting an under-21, an interdicted person or a notified barred person enter, stay or gamble costs the concessionaire MOP 10,000 to 500,000, "even by mere negligence". Winnings of anyone barred from gambling go to the Macao SAR, net of losses, and inspectors may provisionally seize their chips.
The decoder below lists the terms you will meet in the law and on casino notices, with the fine attached to each where the law sets one.
| Term | Chinese | What it actually is | Fine or cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proof of age | 年齡證明 | What door staff may ask for under Article 10(3); documents not specified | MOP 1,000–10,000 for refusing inspectors or police |
| Entry ban for under-21s | 未滿二十一歲 | Covers every place reachable only through the casino entrance | MOP 1,000–10,000; MOP 1,000 if paid within 15 days |
| Recording ban | 記錄影像或聲音 | No photos, video or audio anywhere inside a casino | MOP 1,000–10,000 after a warning, plus expulsion |
| Three-metre phone rule | 三米範圍 | No phones at gaming tables or within 3 metres | MOP 1,000–10,000 after a warning |
| Expulsion | Not given in the source | Removal; no re-entry to that casino until the end of the fifth working day | Accessory ban of 6 months to 2 years possible |
| Self-exclusion | Not given in the source | Voluntary bar from all or some casinos for up to 2 years | Breach is a crime of disobedience |
| Smoking room | 吸煙室 | The only place indoors where smoking is allowed | MOP 1,500 for smoking elsewhere |
| Phone betting | 電投 | Illegal proxy betting by phone targeted by the bureau in 2026 | Enforcement measures, not a set fine |
Cameras, phones and conduct on the floor
Article 8-A, added by Law 17/2018, is the rule to remember. It prohibits "the recording of images or sounds in any place inside the casinos, as well as the use of mobile phones or other communication equipment at gaming tables and in an area limited to three metres around them, except when authorised by the director of the DICJ". Staff who see signs of recording may ask to see the device and the recordings and order them destroyed.
The penalty turns on warnings. Continuing to record or use a phone after a warning, or refusing an order to show or destroy recordings, leads to expulsion and a fine of MOP 1,000 to 10,000, and the bureau's director may impose a preventive entry ban while proceedings run. Before 2018 the rule was an entry ban on people carrying recording devices "unless the concessionaire permits"; guides that describe operator permission are describing the old law.
The law lists the other behaviours that get you removed. Beyond breaching the entry and recording rules, you can be expelled for breaking the rules of a game, causing a disturbance, selling goods or services without the casino's authorisation, or behaving in a way that disrupts the casino or other guests. An expelled person may not re-enter that casino until the end of the fifth working day after expulsion, up from three in the 2012 text, and disobeying an expulsion order is the crime of simple disobedience.
Dress is where the law is silent. Article 7 allows a concessionaire to "prevent the entry of persons it considers unsuitable", provided it respects "the principle of non-discrimination, in particular on grounds of sex, race, ethnicity, colour, descent, nationality, place of residence, language or religion". No law read sets a clothing rule, and no operator dress policy could be found on the six concessionaires' official websites, so any rule about shorts or sandals is the casino's own, not the law's.
The comparison below sets out what happens in the situations visitors ask about most. It uses the statutes only.
| Situation | Legal position | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| You are 20 | Barred by Article 2(1)(1) | Refused or expelled; MOP 1,000–10,000 fine |
| You are 21 but carry no ID | Staff may demand proof and refuse if you do not show it | Refused at the door |
| You take a photo of the floor | Banned under Article 8-A | Warning; if repeated, expulsion and fine |
| You check your phone at a table | Banned within 3 metres of tables | Warning; if repeated, expulsion and fine |
| You arrive in shorts | No statutory rule | Up to the casino, within non-discrimination limits |
| You light a cigarette outside a smoking room | Banned since 1 January 2019 | MOP 1,500 fine |
| You change money with a stranger inside | Illegal exchange presumed to be for gambling | Crime for the changer; possible 2–10 year casino ban on conviction |
Smoking, money changers and phone betting
Casino interiors have been fully non-smoking since 1 January 2019, except in approved smoking rooms meeting new standards; all smoking areas on both mass and VIP floors were abolished. On the first day of enforcement, joint inspections by the health bureau and the gaming inspection bureau had prosecuted five people by 4pm, four of them tourists. Smoking in a no-smoking place costs MOP 1,500, and a venue running an unapproved smoking room risks prosecution of up to MOP 200,000.
E-cigarettes fall under the same rules and more. Using one is treated as smoking, and since Law 13/2022 it has been illegal to make, sell, import or export e-cigarettes or to carry them into or out of Macau, with a MOP 4,000 fine. Do not bring one to Macau at all.
Money changing is now a crime. Law 20/2024, in force since 29 October 2024, punishes anyone who, "without being legally authorised, operates the business of currency exchange for the practice of gambling" with up to five years in prison. Exchange done inside a casino, or in adjacent hotel, commercial or entertainment areas, is presumed to be for gambling, and anyone convicted is banned from gaming venues for two to ten years; non-residents may also be expelled or barred from Macau for five to ten years.
The same law targets lenders. Lending money for gambling carries one to five years in prison, rising to two to eight years if the lender takes the borrower's identity document as security; borrowing is not itself punishable. In July 2026 the bureau met the six concessionaires on preventing illegal phone betting, 電投, and asked them to "step up publicity to guests about in-casino rules". Every casino has on-site inspectors, and the bureau urges that gaming disputes go through official channels.
Help, complaints and appeals
Help for problem gambling is written into the law. With the offender's consent, the bureau may pass the details of anyone fined under the casino entry law to the Social Welfare Bureau where there are signs of a gambling disorder. The self-exclusion scheme described below is the voluntary route, and its forms are available from the Social Welfare Bureau's Resilience Centre as well as from the bureau and the casinos. The bureau's exclusion line is +853 8397 3286.
For disputes at the table, the bureau's position is that every casino has on-site inspectors monitoring in real time and that gaming disputes should go through official channels rather than private settlement. Employees breaking the off-duty ban face a fine of up to MOP 10,000 with any winnings going to the SAR, and the bureau runs a reporting line, 2871 3322, for breaches. Outsourced staff who are not employed by a concessionaire or junket promoter are not covered by that ban.
The law also sets out what a casino physically must be, which is why the rules above have clear edges. A casino must contain identifiable gaming areas, cashier areas, entrance and surveillance areas, chip and cash storage and counting areas and back-of-house areas, gaming tables and machines may operate only in the gaming area, and the building owner must "ensure free passage for casino users". Only concessionaires may grant gaming credit under Law 7/2024, in force since 1 August 2024, with junket promoters acting only as agents under approved contracts.
Chips are regulated rather than free-floating. Concessionaires need the bureau's authorisation to buy chips, the Secretary for Economy and Finance authorises their circulation and may cap the total value, and concessionaires must guarantee that chips can be redeemed for cash or credit instruments. When the Kam Pek Paradise satellite casino closed in December 2025, the bureau said it would supervise the handling of cash and chips and of any unexchanged cash coupons. Gambling in public spaces outside casinos carries a fine of MOP 1,500 to 5,000 under Law 20/2024, which replaced a law that had been in force for more than 20 years.
Self-exclusion and how many casinos remain
Self-exclusion is a legal instrument, not a customer service. On your own request, or when you confirm a request by your spouse, a parent, a child or a sibling, the bureau's director may bar you from all or some casinos for up to two years. You apply in person at the bureau with identification and a recent photo; the bureau confirms the dates within five working days, a request to lift the bar takes effect only 30 days after it is made, and entering during an exclusion is a crime of disobedience. Forms are also available from the Social Welfare Bureau's Resilience Centre and from casinos.
The number of casinos has fallen sharply. The bureau's statistics count 20 casinos at the end of the second quarter of 2026 — SJM 5, Venetian Macau 5, Galaxy 3, Melco 3, Wynn 2 and MGM 2 — with 6,000 gaming tables and 12,000 slot machines. There were 30 in mid-2025, 28 at the end of the third quarter and 20 by the end of the year, after the 11 "satellite casinos" run outside the concessionaires' own premises closed by 31 December 2025, the end of a three-year transition under Law 7/2022.
The closed satellites were Grandview, Legend Palace, Fortuna, Landmark, Ponte 16, Le Royal Arc, Emperor Palace, Kam Pek Paradise, Casa Real, Grand Dragon and Waldo. Ponte 16 stopped operating at 11:59pm on 28 November 2025, and the bureau said it would apply the law to SJM's application to run Le Royal Arc directly; eleven closures from 30 would leave 19, so the published total of 20 suggests one site continued in another form, which this guide could not confirm. Gross gaming revenue was MOP 126.9 billion in the first half of 2026. What the concessionaires built beyond the tables is set out in the guide to what the resorts built.
What this guide does not cover
No operator house rules are quoted, because none could be found: the six concessionaires' casino and FAQ pages returned errors or no content. That covers dress codes, bag policies and food and drink rules, none of which appear in the statutes read. The law does not list acceptable identification documents, so none are named here.
Whether under-21s may walk through hotel lobbies, malls or restaurants that are not reached through a casino entrance is not stated by any official source. The law's wording, which bans places "accessible only through the casino entrance", implies those areas are outside the ban, but this guide does not assert it.
No rule requiring patacas for chips or tables was found; the chips provisions name no currency, and the bureau's statistics convert Hong Kong dollars at 1.03. The penalty range for the crime of disobedience under the Penal Code was not opened. The exact date the e-cigarette ban took effect is calculated from the law's 90-day rule rather than stated officially. The Official Gazette's main site, the police site and the health bureau's site returned errors; the laws were read from the gazette mirror and the bureau's own consolidated texts.