Casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings has set a new record for VIP turnover at its temporary casino on the island of Saipan.
In a statement released to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this week, Imperial Pacific announced that the temporary casino operated by its Best Sunshine International subsidiary had enjoyed VIP turnover totaling $3.95b in the month of September.
The company offered no details on what may have caused the surge, which represented a 153% rise over August’s $1.56b, the second lowest VIP turnover total recorded since the temporary casino opened last October. September’s total also smashed the property’s previous high-water mark of $3.2b in April.
Imperial Pacific’s permanent Saipan venue, the Imperial Pacific Resort, is scheduled to open in early 2017. On Monday, Imperial Pacific CEO Mark Brown offered government representatives of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) an update on the permanent casino’s progress.
The Guam Daily Post quoted Brown saying the permanent venue’s casino would open in February while the hotel’s grand opening will follow in June. Brown said the excitement was palpable: “Everyone is waiting for this big building to open, everyone is raring to see this six-star hotel to open in full blast.”
The Imperial Pacific Resort will reportedly feature up to 300 gaming tables and up to 400 electronic gaming machines, a significant upgrade from the temporary casino’s 48 tables (16 VIP, 32 mass market) at the end of June.
Imperial Pacific had previously operated without the use of junket operators, preferring to deal directly with VIP gamblers, a strategy that exposes the casino to more risk, but also more profit due to the lack of a middleman. However, the Commonwealth Casino Commission approved its first junket operator license in August, and says 17 more junket applications are pending.
