With the crash of a champagne bottle against a gondola, Macau’s Venetian casino opened Tuesday, dwarfing anything in Las Vegas and big enough, its operators say, to shift the magnetic north of the gambling world to this small city in southern China.

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When America’s largest casino companies looked at the world’s emerging gambling scene, it wasn’t Pennsylvania where they placed their biggest bets.

Instead, MGM Mirage Inc. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. are pouring money into Macao, a tiny peninsula on the southeastern tip of China.

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This month’s opening of The Venetian Macao hotel-casino in the Chinese gambling enclave is the culmination of three quarters of a century of Las Vegas history built “in one fell swoop,” according to the president of the company behind the transformation.

In a conference call with reporters Thursday, William Weidner, president of Las Vegas Sands Corp., said the 3,000-suite casino complex set to open Aug. 28 would help change a gambling den for day-trippers into an elegant resort destination.

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Three gambling operators became six. Nowadays, there are many more in Macau sharing the gross gaming revenue without a concession. All because the system has been changing since the 1980’s. Official sources are saying that presently “the system is on the verge of its breaking point”. Up against the wall, the government will react by changing the law. The first step is to bar new entrances, such as Star Cruises, Richard Branson or Donald Trump.

More and more companies not holding concessions or subconcessions continue entering the market and share the oligopoly’s revenues. Several sources reached the same conclusion and pointed out that a meltdown will occur if Law 16/2001 - which sets the regulatory framework of the system - is not changed and if the government is not willing to take a stand.

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Posted in CapitaLand, Macau Business, Melco Crown, STDM | SJM, Sands Macau, Stanley Ho No Comments »

As we mentioned before, there is too much of a good thing in Macau! A small population of 508,000 with a workforce of 260,000 people, that needs to be 400,000 people by 2010. This is to support all those new casino’s, hotels and resorts that will be sprouting up all over Macau. And we have not even talked about the drop in per table take which since 2002 has been a whopping 300%!
Global gaming and entertainment operators have been doubling down on new casino development in Macao. Yet it could also be heading for a nasty shakeout thanks to a looming casino glut, some analysts warn.

At first glance, the casino development spending spree seems justified. Macao’s gaming revenues are growing an average of nearly 20% per year and were just shy of $7 billion last year, earning the enclave more than the entire Las Vegas strip. Avid Chinese gamblers, who account for 50% of the bettors, up from virtually zero five years ago, arrive in ever growing numbers.

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Posted in Cotai Strip, Crown Macau, MGM Grand Macau, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, Venetian Macao No Comments »

Wall Street expects Macau casino revenue, which hit $7 billion in 2006, to grow to anywhere from $10 billion to $15 billion in 2010. The Vegas strip of mega-resorts generated $6.69 billion in gambling revenue last year. Las Vegas Sands Corp, will be opening “The Venetian Macao” resort that shares the name of its Vegas casino and will be one of the first examples of a project that duplicates the glitz of the U.S. gambling capital in the only place to allow casinos in China.

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Posted in Cotai Strip, Hengqin Island, Las Vegas Sands, Macau Tourism, Sands Macau, Venetian Macao, Wynn Resorts No Comments »

It was too good an opportunity for Stanley Ho to ignore.

When the Macao gaming tycoon’s arch-rival, Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp., sacked 160 dealers at the Sands Macao in November for not being up to snuff, Ho was quick to take advantage.

He invited the former Sands dealers to apply for jobs, declaring that “it is our duty of care to the Macao community to employ quality, talented local Macao residents and to nurture them for a long and successful career with our company.”

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Posted in Economy, Employment, Grand Lisboa, Macau Business, Macau Casino, Macau General, Sands Macau, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho No Comments »

“Contrary to earlier reports, it seems that approval still has to be given to Las Vegas Sands. Shares of casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. have shot up on a misleading report that the Chinese government had given the green light to a Sands resort complex on an island neighboring the gambling enclave of Macau.

Las Vegas Sands, the world’s biggest casino-operator by value, said a Chinese city government has set up a committee to review a planned $2 billion resort on an island near Macao.

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Posted in Development, Hengqin Island, Las Vegas Sands, Macau Business, Macau Property, Macau Tourism, Sheldon Adelson No Comments »