Melco Crown Entertainment saw net revenue increase 48% in Q1 2011, exceeding the 43% growth in the overall Macau gaming industry. CEO Lawrence Ho credits the City of Dreams casino for contributing 58% of Melco’s overall revenue. City of Dreams’ net revenue grew 59% in Q1, significantly outperforming the 16% revenue boost posted by its Cotai Strip neighbor, the Venetian Macau. As for its newest neighbor, Galaxy Macau, Ho told the Wall Street Journal that the enthusiasm surrounding Galaxy Entertainment’s new property will benefit all Cotai Strip casinos by drawing traffic from the Macau peninsula. With Las Vegas Sands preparing to open another Cotai Strip casino in 2012, traffic could get heavy.
It’s not only casino magnates like Lawrence Ho that are enjoying the spoils. Among Macau’s 325k employed residents, median monthly earnings increased almost 7% in the first three months of 2011. Around 23.6% of these 325k workers are employed in ‘recreational, cultural, gaming and other services’ with an additional 14% working in ‘hotels, restaurants and similar activities.’
Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority has fined Resorts World Sentosa 530k Singapore dollars (US $423k). The integrated resort owned by Malaysia’s Genting Group was found to have violated four regulations, including reimbursing the mandatory $100 entry fee levied on Singapore residents to a bunch of undercover journalists. Whoops. The resort was also found to have fallen short of its requirements to record and archive video surveillance files. Chief regulator T. Raja Kumar declared that the fine “serves to remind casino operators to act responsibly to uphold the integrity of social safeguards put in place by the authorities.”
If Resorts World Sentosa truly is short on video footage, they could do a lot worse than this clip. Even if the regulators recognize that there are no baccarat tables in sight, there are poker cards. Deadly poker cards. Seriously, if you need further proof of history’s eastward shift, consider this fact: America has morbidly obese guys going on Stupid Human Tricks and making their man-boobs swirl in time to music, and China has guys that can kill you from a distance using only rectangular bits of paper.
