Inside Asian Gaming

May 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING Slots & Bally 25 M ention the term ‘VIP’ in relation to Asian casino gaming and people tend automatically to think of high roller baccarat players in Macau. But the slots segment of the Asian casino market also has its premium slot players; the margin on slot business in general is typically higher than on high roller table games; and the premium slot segment is growing in Asia, reflecting the positive performance in the region of slots as a whole. Revenue from slots inMacau—the world’s biggest casino gaming market by revenue—reached the equivalent of US$710 million in 2008—up 57.2% on 2007 (5.65 billion patacas from 3.59 billion patacas a year earlier), according to Macau’s regulator the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ). Some of the boost in productivity on a per slot machine basis was due to a reduction in the total number of machines on casino floors—from 13,267 at the end of Q4 2007, to 11,856 at the end of Q4 ’08. Those that remain, though, are bringing in more cash than ever. The gross revenue from slots in Q1 ’09 was 1.53 billion patacas, up 3.72% quarter on quarter and up 13.2% year on year. This bullishness on slots is reflected in Melco Crown Entertainment’s (Nasdaq: MPEL) decision to inject 1,350 new machines into the Macaumarket when the company’s City of Dreams project on Cotai opens its doors in June. One of the barriers to fully effective slot data management in Asia is that players can sometimes be reluctant to play their part in the supplier-operator-customer triangle. Some Chinese players for example have—according to anecdotal reports from casino slot marketing teams in Macau—so far displayed an unwillingness to share even their basic personal information with casinos. The Other VIPs Premium slot players are a growing element in Asian casino gaming