Yip Hon () (1904 – 7 May 1997) was a

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

tycoon in

South China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

. His wealth was estimated to be

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...

100 million. In his childhood, he stayed in Kong Mun of

Kwangtung Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) a ...

, and usually participated in gambling with his

pocket money Pocket money may refer to: *In British English, an allowance for children *''Pocket Money'', a 1972 film starring Paul Newman and Lee Marvin * ''Small Change'' (film), a 1976 film directed by François Truffaut, titled ''Pocket Money'' outside the ...

. He was nicknamed ''Kwai Wong'' (鬼王) (translated as ''Ghost King''.) In his adulthood, he was in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, working for a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

of gambling tycoon Fu Lo Yung (傅老榕). He helped to crack down ''Teng Sik Tong'' (聽骰黨), a gang of

gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...

s, who won by listening

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

. After the crackdown, he became famous, and went to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. He gained a great sum of wealth in the casinos there, by his technique in listening dice, and then opened his own casino. He closed his business in Shanghai, and returned to Macau when the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

broke out. He soon got a casino license in Macau, and cooperated with

Stanley Ho Stanley Ho Hung-sun (; 25 November 192126 May 2020) was a Hong Kong-Macau billionaire businessman. His original patrilineal surname was Bosman, which was later sinicized to 何 (Ho). He was the founder and chairman of SJM Holdings, which owns ...

, Teddy Yip and

Henry Fok Henry Fok Ying Tung (10 May 1923 – 28 October 2006) was a Hong Kong businessman. He has ancestral roots in Lianxi Village, Panyu, now part of Guangzhou, Guangdong. Fok was the vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's ...

to form Casino Lisboa. He later left the company, after arguments over shares and the business. He then started a chariot racing business, which was unsuccessful. In 1988, he pioneered a gambling business in

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

, by purchasing a cargo converted cruise ship named ''Princess of the Orient'', and later selling it off for the 港龍星 which was bigger and solely a cruise ship to begin with. He gained initial success, but was unable to deal with a large number of competitors later. He subsequently sold his business to Heung's Brothers. A story about him circulated in the mid-1980s, on gambling in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He supposedly played for 32 hours continuously, involving more than 3,800 rounds of

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

. He ended up losing US$2 million. The owner of the casino offered him a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

if he could win back a million. Two days after, he won US$3 million and the car from the casino.

Death

Yip Hon suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, and died on 7 May 1997, at the age of 93, while poring over a horse-racing newsletter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yip, Hon 1904 births 1997 deaths Businesspeople in the casino industry Macau businesspeople People from Xinhui District Businesspeople from Guangdong 20th-century Chinese businesspeople

Death

See also

References