Plans on 33 tables
High rollers now have a place to gamble at Studio City in Macau.
According to the Asia Gaming Brief, the casino’s first VIP room opened November 5 and will be followed by two junket rooms this week. Brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein said SunCity and the Tak Chun Group will be operate the two junket rooms at Melco Crown’s Hollywood-themed resort, which will have a total of 33 VIP tables.
“VIP operations were anticipated to begin in September. However, there has been a two-month delay as the company was negotiating with the DICJ with respect to from where the VIP tables would come. At this stage we do not yet know if the 33 tables are being transferred from other MPEL properties (i.e., Altira) or if any of the 250 mass tables at Studio City are being converted to VIP,” said Bernstein.
Studio City opened last October in the midst of the crackdown on corruption and money laundering that sent VIPs who once crowded Macau to other jurisdictions. It made headlines at the time by opening without VIP rooms, and said at the time it wasn’t interested in adding them. It has since reconsidered as the VIP demographic slowly returns to Macau.
Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment, recently told the Hollywood Reporter that non-gaming attractions will continue to be the draw for most patrons, “because if you just build a casino, every single casino in the world is really a similar product. You need the amenities to differentiate yourself amongst your competitors.”
He also said business is good at the resort, which opened in a difficult time in Macau and has struggled to find its footing on the Cotai Strip, despite the modest recovery that began in August.
“In terms of hotel occupancy, we’re well over 90 percent on a daily basis. And the attractions are extremely popular,” Ho said. “But I think we still need to do more in terms of converting the attraction-goers into spending at the rest of the property.”
