Stanley Ho pays tribute to gambling mentor Yip Hon

Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun yesterday paid tribute to the late 'God of Gambling' Yip Hon who helped launch him in business.

The Yip family held a service at the Hong Kong Funeral Home before the body was taken to the Guangdong city of Jiangmen for burial.

Yip, 93, died from a heart attack on May 7.

Speaking after the funeral, Mr Ho recalled how the pair worked together to launch the casino monopoly in the Portuguese enclave in the early 1960s but later had a falling out because of differences over how the business was being run.

'When we got the monopoly, I knew nothing about gambling but he knew everything. He helped train the staff, who no doubt benefited from his expertise,' he said.

'We had some differences in the past. He was more old-fashioned and I was more Western-oriented in running the business.' The two founded the casino monopoly company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau in 1961, along with Henry Fok Ying-tung and Teddy Yip, the father of Macau grand prix racing.