proximity to Asian populations a top consideration for Casinos. Older Asians are a vulnerable target [View all]

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

Casinos Target a Vulnerable Clientele: Older Asian Gamblers

MONTICELLO, N.Y. — Soon after the white coach bus pulled up on a recent Monday morning, the passengers stepped off into the frigid cold. Outside, they rushed to the nearest tree, railing, wall or grassy knoll to stash their plastic bags crammed with thermoses of rice and soup.

With their lunches stowed away, they headed into the gleaming casino at the end of the sidewalk.

And so began the routine for the hundreds of older Chinese immigrants who ride the bus two hours north every morning from New York City to the Resorts World Catskills casino in Monticello, N.Y., collecting a $45 slot machine voucher with each trip.

The scene illustrated a longstanding phenomenon in the industry: people of Asian descent are among the demographics most targeted by casinos, and casino buses have been ubiquitous for decades in Chinatowns and Koreatowns across the country. With New York City set to get its first full-service casino in the coming years, and potentially three of them, Asians are expected to be a core customer base, deepening a complicated relationship the community has with casinos.

Many of the city’s older Chinese residents rely on the weekly bus routine for entertainment — and even income from selling their vouchers — as a way to deal with the isolation of living in a country where they barely speak the language.

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https://dnyuz.com/2022/12/26/casinos-target-a-vulnerable-clientele-older-asian-gamblers/

On a recent Monday, shortly after 8 a.m., a white coach bus parked on the edge of Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood, one of at least a dozen buses departing from heavily Chinese neighborhoods in New York City that day. Every seat was full, almost entirely with repeat customers. “I ride this bus everyday,” one man said in Cantonese as he boarded. A woman whom the riders referred to as a tour guide stood at the entrance, collecting the $20 bus fare.