MACAU BUSINESS
phase of its Sands Cotai Central development in March. It will include a 9,850 square-metre casino and VIP gaming areas. Sands China expects to open a second casino there by the third quarter of next year. Next in line should be Wynn Macau Ltd. The company announced last month that it had agreed to pay the government a land premium of MOP1.55 billion (US$193 million) for the use of about 206,000 square metres of land near the City of Dreams in Cotai, for 25 years initially. Wynn Macau wants to build a resort containing a five-star hotel, gaming areas, shops, food and beverage outlets, and entertainment, spa and convention facilities. The government says it is “still studying” Wynn Macau’s application, but analysts interpret the company’s announcement as a sign that the deal is almost in the bag. Although it is widely expected that the Macao Studio City project, in which Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. recently acquired the controlling stake, will include gaming facilities, Mr Tam has said the company will have to apply for a casino licence and then wait and see. The chairman of MGM China Holdings Ltd, Pansy Ho Chiu King, says she “firmly” believes it is possible that her company will be granted land in Cotai this year.
Live with it
SJM Holdings Ltd. has made two applications for land in Cotai for gaming. And Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. still has enough land
available around Galaxy Macau to put up three buildings of the same size. Shortly before the government announced the new
table growth limit, Las Vegas Sands Corp. president and chief operating officer Michael Leven warned that approving casino projects too quickly in Cotai would be “an unforgivable mistake for the government to be part of”. Las Vegas Sands is the parent of Sands China. Will the growth limit hinder the expansion of the
market? Although the 5,500-table cap in effect limited growth to 15 percent between 2010 and 2013, this year alone gaming revenue has increased at three times that rate. One reason is that VIP gaming is the main growth driver, accounting for three-quarters of gross gaming revenue. Since government restrictions do not distinguish
between VIP and mass-market tables, casinos may try to turn mass-market tables into VIP tables. However, the government is keen on expanding the
mass market. There are no official figures for the proportion of gaming tables that are for high rollers. The regulator has said there are no plans to limit
growth in the number of electronic gaming tables and slot machines. These now account for less than 5 percent of gross gaming revenue. Either way, the growth limit is likely to encourage
casinos to make better use of the live tables they already have.
Play by the rules M
Macau regulator issues draft standard for slots, electronic games By Martin John Williams*
acau’s gaming regulator held a landmark meeting with electronic gaming and systems manufacturers late last month and issued draft technical standards for this segment
of the industry that are expected to be in force from early next year. Industry sources and copies of Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau documents presented at the meeting obtained by GamblingCompliance confirmed media reports that the closed-door meeting between the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau and company delegates took place. Sources said that based on the material presented, the standards will be straightforward and should not
24 NOVEMBER 2011
overly concern the industry. The draft standards have been submitted to
manufacturers and gaming laboratories for review and comment by October 31, a source told GamblingCompliance.
Welcome development Sources said the Gaming Inspection and
Coordination Bureau has worked on drafting the technical standards for around a year and that an official announcement on the results is expected in January after a further consultation period ends. An instruction on the standards will be issued to gaming operators in December, sources said. The meeting was deliberately brief – between 10
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