If you need further proof that Macau has eclipsed Las Vegas, consider this: Macau’s gambling revenue hit a record $38 billion in 2012, according to the Gaming Bureau.

The tiny former Portuguese colony, which boasts China’s only gambling resort, has been booming since 2002, when a four-decade casino monopoly ended. Just two years later, the special administrative region raced ahead of Las Vegas to become the world’s largest casino market. By 2011, it generated more than five times the haul of its American rival.