Industry News
By 45 Percent in Third Quarter in Macau
Added to the billions in casino gambling revenue the bureau reported for the first six months for the former Portuguese colony, near Hong Kong, the third-quarter figure brings Macau's total gambling revenue for the first nine months of the year to a total 47% higher than the same period last year.
The government didn't detail the figures it issued on its Internet site, but stock market analysts said they expected that casino owners' earnings from bets by "high-rollers" helped boost casino gambling revenue, overall, in the territory, the only place in China where casino gambling remains legal.
Big Whales
High-rollers are avid, professional gamblers who typically spend at least half a million of Macau's local currency -- the equivalent of $62,620 -- betting at casinos on each trip to the territory, according to analysts and gaming industry executives there.
Industry analysts added that the opening of new casinos in Macau earlier this year has actually attracted more gamblers to the territory, increasing casino gambling revenue there greatly.
There are many new winners there now -- including the glamorous Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s (LVS) $2.4 billion Venetian casino resort in the Cotai area, which opened in late August.
"The number of casino gambling tables rose to 3,992 at the end of September, from 2,762 at the end of last year," according to the Chinese government.
The government ended the 40-year monopoly of casino gambling in the territory by casino mogul Stanley Ho just five years ago, after the former Portuguese enclave's return to Chinese rule in December 1999.
Since that time, the territorial government has granted six casino licenses to various casino operators, including Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, and other new revenue-generating operations, and new operations, planned by Ho's estranged daughter, Patsy, are in the works for the future.
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