Macau casino resort Studio City is gearing up to start operating its VIP gaming facilities, according to Melco Crown Entertainment.
A spokesperson for the casino operator, which holds a 60-percent equity interest in the integrated resort, told GGRAsia that they will “start our in-house VIP business on November 5, while the confirmed junket operators Suncity and Tak Chun will open doors on November 8.”
A total of 33 tables will be allocated for VIP gaming at Studio City, according to Melco Crown, making good on its previous statement that two-thirds of VIP gaming tables would be allotted to two junket operators, while the remaining tables would go to the casino’s directly managed VIP business.
Suncity Group and Tak Chun Group told the news outlet that “their VIP gaming clubs at Studio City would start operations on November 8.”
Studio City made headlines during its official grand opening last year based on its complete lack of VIP gaming tables. However, the company’s chief operating officer Ted Chan Ying Tat indicated in June that Melco Crown is considering ending its VIP embargo in part because “we internally are not very satisfied with the current condition” of the Studio City property.
In October, the city state’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) said it has received an application from Melco Crown to open new VIP gaming tables in the integrated resort.
At the time, DICJ noted that Melco Crown’s application did not specify where the VIP tables will be coming from. But given the government’s cap on the number of live-dealer gaming tables allowed in the market, the report stated there is a possibility that the tables will either come from Studio City’s main floor or from Melco Crown’s other Macau venues. Studio City originally applied for 400 gaming tables, but had received 200 new tables when it opened, while the remaining 50 were scheduled to come in January.
