Junkets down by one-third since 2015
Macau junket investor the David Group, which runs VIP operations at Wynn Macau, Studio City and Galaxy Macau, has closed its VIP room at the Casino Macau Jockey Club at the Macau Roosevelt Hotel.
In an email to GGRAsia, a David Group spokesperson wrote, “Due to consideration of our business development needs, which are to optimize our management and integrate our resources, our company has decided to cease the VIP gaming operation at the Macau Roosevelt Hotel after some analysis.” The firm ran 10 of 30 baccarat tables at the venue. No replacement junket operator has been named for the property.
“In the short term, we are looking to provide VIP gaming services at new venues, for which we aim to provide brand-new, comfortable gaming sites for our clients,” David Group’s spokesperson wrote.
Government data show the Macau government collected nearly MOP272.4 million (US$33.9 million) in taxes on commissions paid by casinos to junkets in 2016—a decrease of 19.3 percent compared to the previous year.
Between January 2015 and January 2017, the number of licensed junkets in Macau fell from 183 to 126—a drop of more than one-third—reports the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
However, with the resurgence in VIP business in the past year, Macau has seen new interest among so-called “collaborators” who bring in high rollers but are not yet licensed as VIP promoters.
“Lately there have been indeed more gaming collaborators that have interest in getting licensed as a VIP gaming promoter firm,”
Kwok Chi Chung, president of the Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, told GGRAsia. “Quite a number of them are from Mainland China, have been running their business in Macau and made some established client networks over a period of years and would just like to register a firm of their own name.”
