MACAO, Jul. 2, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Macao's gross gaming revenues for the first half of this year dropped by 12 percent year-on-year to 51.5 billion patacas (6.52 billion U.S. dollars), the Macao Post Daily reported on Thursday, quoting unnamed government sources.

Local gaming sector generated 8.25 billion patacas (1.04 billion dollars), a decrease of 17 percent from the same period of last year, according to the daily. In the second quarter of this year, Macao's gaming revenues amounted to 25.5 billion patacas (3. 23 billion dollars), dropping by 2 percent compared with the first quarter of this year.

In the first half of last year, local gaming sector raked in a total of 58.7 billion patacas (7.43 billion dollars), according to the figures previously released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region ( SAR).

Currently, there are six licensed casino operators in Macao, the only place where gambling is legal in China. SJM, a gaming company that is owned by local gaming magnate Stanley Ho, led Macao's gaming market with a share of 30 percent in the first half of this year, while Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) , which runs the largest local casino Venetian Macao, maintained its second position with a share of 26 percent, the daily said. Sands had a total of three casinos in Macao so far.

Meanwhile, other four operators, including Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) , Galaxy Entertainment, Melco Crown Gaming, MGM Grand Paradise respectively had a market share of 14 percent, 12 percent, nine percent and eight percent, according to the daily.

With Melco Crown Gaming opening its flagship casino complex City of Dreams in June, number of local casinos has reached 32 by the end of the first half of this year, 19 of which are controlled by SJM.