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The world's busiest casino town is straining to handle the affections of the world's largest population.

By the boatload, gamblers gripping Chinese passports pour off ferries and cram, sardinelike, into a customs building in this once-sleepy former Portuguese colony on China's coast. They line up, hundreds deep on a weekend morning, for an entry stamp. Then they line up again for scarce taxis or catch shuttle buses into a town bristling with new casinos, fountains and resorts.

Hong Kong is passé; Macau is the new destination for moneybags in China. Its casinos, always its star attraction, were one of the reasons it was given the same status as Hong Kong — that of a Special Administrative Region — after its handover from Portugal in 1999. Gambling is banned in China, but could continue in the ‘one country, two systems’ pattern that governs Hong Kong and Macau.

A major transition is under way in Macau, and last month's opening of the new Venetian resort in the Chinese enclave is likely to be recognized as the turning point.

When the giant resort opened its doors, it signaled the beginning of a change from Macau's status as a day-trip destination reliant on big-betting baccarat players.

Instead, Macau is becoming a more diverse destination resort that could someday join Las Vegas as a place that makes more money from an array of hotel rooms, retail, dining and entertainment than from its casinos.