These eight establishments were licensed before March 2017, when the government began a trial project allowing Vietnamese to gamble in local casinos, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Finance. Earlier, only foreigners were allowed to play at casinos in Vietnam.

Five of the casinos are in the north, two in the central region, and one in the south. They contributed VND1.34 trillion ($58 million) to state’s coffers last year, up 49 percent year-on-year.

But not all eight casinos recorded growth. Royal International Corporation (RIC), which operates the largest casino in the northern province of Quang Ninh, for example, saw revenues decline of 45 percent from 2018 to VND97.8 billion ($4.2 million) last year. It also recorded a loss of VND50.4 billion.

The Aristo International Hotel Casino in the border province of Lao Cai, operated by Australian company Donaco International Limited, saw revenues falling 17 percent from 2018 to AUD21.5 million ($15.4 million) last year. Its profits dropped 44 percent to AUD4.8 million ($3.4 million).

After March 2017, three more casinos were licensed in Vietnam, including Casino Corona on Phu Quoc Island off Vietnam’s southern coast, which began operation in January last year and was the first casino in Vietnam to allow locals to play.

Its revenue from casino operations was VND1.38 trillion ($59.5 million) last year. It earned pre-tax profits of VND280 billion, serving 105,000 customers last year, of which 45 percent were Vietnamese.