Macau junket operator Tak Chun Group is closing its operations at MGM Macau and relocating to Las Vegas Sands’ new Parisian Macao property.
On Monday, GGRAsia reported that Tak Chun had “suspended” its VIP operations at MGM Macau last month. The junket’s presence at MGM Macau is believed to have encompassed a total of 15 VIP tables.
Tak Chun representatives declined to specify how large a presence the company intended to establish at the new Parisian Macao, which is set to open its doors to the public on September 13. Tak Chun had previously confirmed that it would operate 15 VIP tables at Wynn Resorts’ Wynn Palace, which opened on August 22.
On Monday, Macau officials announced that the Parisian would receive only 100 new-to-market tables when it opened, with 25 more granted on Jan 1., 2017 and a final 25 the following year. The new table allocation is well below what Sands was hoping for but similar to that received by Wynn Palace.
However, analysts have suggested the Parisian will open with between 425 to 450 tables as Sands transfers excess tables from its other Macau properties. All of the 100 new tables have been earmarked for mass, but Sanford C. Bernstein analysts suggest the Parisian will offer 50 to 60 VIP tables, some run by junkets, others run by the casino itself as ‘direct’ VIP.
In addition to Tak Chun, two other junket operators – SunCity Group and Guangdong Group aka Neptune – have announced that they will have a presence at the Parisian. Last week, Union Gaming analysts estimated that these ‘big three’ operators controlled over 80% of Macau’s VIP gambling market, up from as low as 45% a couple years ago, before the junket sector began the current period of retrenchment and consolidation.
Last October, Tak Chun chairman Levo Chan told World Gaming Magazine that his company controlled 11 VIP rooms offering more than 160 gaming tables. In addition to its Macau operations, Tak Chun also operates VIP rooms at Manila’s Solaire Resort & Casino and South Korea’s Walker Hill casino.
