Inside Asian Gaming

19 O ve r the next few years, Macau is pegged to experience greater slot machine growth than anywhere else in the world.The growth, however, comes against a woefully low base. Macau Slot machines earned US$65 mil- lion in the third quarter of 2006,compared to a mere US$29 million for the whole of 2003. Despite the explosive percentage increase, “slots haven’t really grown in terms of rev- enue,” said Mocha Slot General Manager Ted Chan. Indeed, slot machines contributed a mere 3.8% of total gaming revenue in Ma- cau in the third quarter — up from 0.8% in 2003 — compared to well over half of the revenue on the Las Vegas Strip and over 70% Welcome to the Machine As more gaming facilities open in Macau, the slot machine will play an increasingly important role in the ultimate success or failure of casino properties. But is the predominately table game oriented Chinese gambler ready to spend money on ‘hungry tigers?’ in downtown Las Vegas. However, on a more positive note, the ratio of slot machines to gaming tables in Macau is now less than 3 times, compared to over 20 times on the Las Vegas Strip. So there is clearly potential for big growth. David Green, director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Macau gaming practice, predicted there will be as many as 13,000 slot machines in Ma- cau by 2008. Las Vegas Sands Corp’s Venetian Macau resort alone will add as many as 4,000 slot machines when it opens in mid-2007. Chan predicted the slot market will start showing strong growth in absolute terms af- ter three to five years as new developments such as the Venetian Macau bring greater entertainment, retail, dining and other non- gaming draws in the Vegas-mould to Macau, drawing a new type of visitor to the city.This, along with the big growth in the number of middle-class mainland Chinese, will raise demand for slots relative to the 1,000 pa- taca minimum baccarat tables favoured by the small group of big-spending mainland- ers that currently contribute the bulk of the city’s gaming revenue in VIP gaming rooms (US$1 = 8 patacas). “Gradually, slots will become very popu- lar in Macau,” predicted Chan, who sees po- tential for the contribution of slots to total revenue to rise to 20%. Slots are also drawing in Macau residents, and about 70% of cus- tomers at Mocha Slot are locals, as are more than half the customers at Emperor’s slot hall. 10 ሇ ޖ ϖ૑ ދ ᆣ۸࿷ᇤႼ۸ ࡍ۾ ૌ ށ ໊֬দ For the past 75 years, the Bally name has stood for the broadest array of superior gaming products, ranging from the latest in video and reel- spinning slot machines to cutting-edge casino management and slot accounting systems. With the recent opening of our new office in Macau, we now proudly bring our global vision of excellence and innovation to this rapidly emerging and dynamic gaming market. • We offer the broadest array of gaming technology products from traditional slot machines to advanced table-management systems in the gaming industry • We are the undisputed world leader in slot management and slot accounting systems with more than 345,000 machines running a Bally system in 625 locations worldwide • We feature an extensive library of video gaming titles on the robust, reliable and technically advanced ALPHA OS™, including our hot new multi-level progressive games • We offer an exciting array of innovative high-coin reel-spinning slots sharing the same ALPHA OS as our video slots • We are the systems provider of choice at the Sands Macau and a table systems technology provider to Galaxy Entertainment Group For more information about Bally products or our vision for Macau, please contact Asia Managing Director Cath Burns at +853-785603 or [email protected] Av: Dr. Mario Soares. 323, 31st Floor (C) Edf. Banco da China, Macau www.BallyTech.com Global Vision. Local Outlook In Macau. ©2006 Bally Gaming, Inc. All rights reserved.