Three of Macao's 19 casinos are ranked among 13 "hottest casinos" by the famed business magazine Forbes, local media reported Monday.

The Forbes list ranked the Hotel Lisboa, the Mandarin Oriental and the Sands Macao as the No. 6, No. 7 and No. 9 respectively.

The magazine dubbed the Hotel Lisboa "a fixture on the Macao skyline," with its 1,000 hotel rooms and 18 restaurants.

The Mandarin Oriental was described as "a smaller, posher" alternative to the "gargantuan" Hotel Lisboa, according to the Forbes.

The Sands Macao, the first gaming facility in the region being operated by a western enterprise, was hailed by the Forbes for its themed gaming room, a large number of gaming tables and the effective running.

Macao's 19 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct tax to the government, according to official figures.

The region's direct gaming taxes reached a record 16.56 billion patacas (US$2.07 billion) in 2005, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent, according to official statistics.

The region, with a population of over 480,000, has a 150-year history of gaming industry and is the only part of China where casino gaming is legitimate.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2006)