Gamblers continued betting on their fortunes in Macao's ten casinos on the first day following the transfer of power in Macao, from Portugal to China, at midnight.

At five a.m., clients packed the smoky, dim Casino Lisboa, the largest gambling venue in Macao.

With wall-to-wall carpeted floors, the birdcage-shaped Casino Lisboa provides gamblers from all over the world with wild excitement.

Half the tables on the ground hall were occupied by gamblers playing fantan, a Chinese game.

Pawnshops surrounding the casino are open round the clock.

At ten a.m., more people came into the 11-story building, which also houses a hotel, with a history of 30 years.

People were busy playing hundreds of slot machines in the casino's arcade.

Compared with the ground hall and the arcade, VIP rooms upstairs were fairly quiet, with men and women in expensive designer clothes, stacks of chips in front of them, betting big sums of money.

"It's just an ordinary day for the casino," said Ambrose So, a senior manager with Macao Tourism and Entertainment Company which has monopolized the local gambling industry for 40 years.

No change has occurred in Lisboa, including notices stuck onto the wall outlawing picture taking and interviewing.

To celebrate Macao's return to its motherland, Lisboa made a float with four giant dices that appeared in the streets around noon today.

At three p.m., young people gathered in Macao's second largest casino Pelota Basca to bet on soccer games.

A local television station broadcast routine greyhound races in Canidrome.

"In the predictable future, gambling will still be a pillar industry and part of people's life here," So said.

Although the Chinese government bans gambling on the mainland, casinos in Macao, a special administrative region of the People's Republic, constitute a big industry here, providing 40 percent of revenues to the local government.

Among the three most famous gambling places in the world, Macao attracts eight million global tourists every year, 20 times its population.

The Chinese government has said that people in Hong Kong and Macao may keep their lifestyle for 50 years after their return to China.