James Packer unveiled his latest AUD 700 million casino hotel at a lavish party for 1700 guests in the Chinese gambling mecca of Macau. Crown Macau, the newest foreign addition to Macau's thriving gambling industry cost USD 583 million (AUD 706.88 million) to build, and features a 36-storey tower with 216 hotel rooms, 220 gaming tables and 500 slot machines.
As James Packer prepares to showcase his first international casino venture - the AUD 760 million Crown Macau casino - on Wednesday, his biggest rival, Las Vegas Sands, has dismissed the threat of competition. "I've got to tell you, we really don't take Crown and its location and its product very seriously," said Las Vegas Sands executive vice-president Brad Stone of the six-star casino.
In 1950, the teenage Sheldon Adelson ran a business stocking Boston shoe-factory vending machines. As plants closed in the summer, he headed to the beach, outfitting delivery trucks with freezers to sell ice cream. A half-century later, Adelson recalls, he was drawn to another chance to turn a profit when Chinese officials took him to a planned landfill site in the South China Sea off Macau. The chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., the world's fastest-growing casino company, envisioned the biggest gambling resort ever.
Macau confirmed Tuesday it had overtaken the Las Vegas Strip as the world's biggest casino draw, saying it raked in more than seven billion dollars in 2006. The tiny southern Chinese enclave's 22 casinos generated 16.7 billion patacas in the final quarter, taking the year's total gross gaming revenues to 56.2 billion patacas (7.2 billion US dollars).
Macao (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment Group is to open its mega casino resort in Macao's Cotai island next year, local media reported Tuesday. The Macao Post Daily quoted Francis Lui Yiu-tung, director of the group's gaming concessionaire, as saying that the operation phase of the gaming project will start in the third or fourth quarter of next year.
From elaborate skating shows to big-name pop concerts and haute-cuisine restaurants, Macau's booming casinos are sparking a flood of new business into the southern Chinese territory. But economists warn the gaming sector is flourishing at the expense of other parts of the economy as a labour crunch draws staff from public services like teaching and healthcare into high-paying casino jobs. "There is a structural nightmare awaiting Macau in three to five years unless something is done about the labour situation," said Barry Brewster, director of human resources management firm Evans and Peck.
Macau (AP) -- Chinese businessman Cao Yanglin let his lunch of slow-cooked beef rib with truffle puree and lemon cream sauce go cold as he talked about his gambling spree the night before at the baccarat tables in Macau -- the world's new epicenter for gambling. The 58-year-old property developer said he won USD 3,840 at the Las Vegas-style Wynn Macau casino hotel, where he was enjoying his noon meal. But he said he lost USD 7,680 at the new Grand Lisboa, shaped like a giant Faberge egg covered in flashing lights.
Casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson, one of America's richest men, dismissed critics of China on Thursday, saying that the Chinese are living a good life and the United States shouldn't try to police the entire world. The capitalist from Las Vegas defended the communist regime as he checked on the progress of a USD 2.3 billion (EUR 1.74 billion) casino resort he is building in Macau on China's southeastern coast. The tiny city is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.
Nevada gambling regulators are moving ahead with a Feb. 27 hearing on MGM Mirage's casino venture in Macau with businesswoman Pansy Ho Chiu-king, daughter of Hong Kong billionaire and casino magnate Stanley Ho. The state Gaming Control Board, which will hold the meeting in Las Vegas, could make a recommendation to its parent Nevada Gaming Commission, which has final say on the venture, or could continue the meeting to another date if board members have additional questions.
Sydney (Reuters) - Australian wagering firm Tabcorp Holdings was no longer in talks with Richard Branson's Virgin Group on plans to develop a USD 3 billion (1.5 billion pound) casino in Macau, sources familiar with the situation said Monday. However, Virgin was still talking to other potential partners on plans to build and run a casino and resort development in Macau, a former Portuguese territory in southern China, one source said.
On Jan. 24, Macau's Gaming & Inspection Coordination Bureau announced that the city's 2006 casino revenues were just shy of USD 7 billion. To take advantage of this, Las Vegas-based companies are rushing the market with billions of dollars in casino, retail and hotel development. "They say they'll do what they did to Las Vegas: transform a seedy, worn-out, crime-ridden town into one of the world's best spots for gambling as well as conventions, glitzy shows, dining and other family entertainment," wrote William Foreman of The Associated Press.
Las Vegas (AP) -- MGM Grand Paradise, a 50-50 joint venture between casino operator MGM Mirage and businesswoman Pansy Ho Chiu-king, said Tuesday it is in discussions with the government in Macau to develop a second casino resort in the gambling enclave. MGM Grand Paradise said it anticipates submitting plans for the resort on a "prime identified site in Cotai" to the government later this year. MGM Grand Paradise is currently developing the USD 1.1 billion, 600-room MGM Grand Macau, which is expected to open in the fourth quarter.
