Inside Asian Gaming

September 2010 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 19 Asian Gaming 50 – 2010 9 (9) Kwon Oh-nam President and Chief Executive Grand Korea Leisure Kwon Oh-nam’s appointment as President and Chief Executive of Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) in 2008 was followed in 2009 by a 67.6% rise in net profits at the state-owned casino operator. It must have been down at least in part to good management as well as natural expansion, given that the rise in performance coincided with a global financial crisis. to be built. This is a clear reversal of normal Philippines policy on overseas investment. It was seen at the time as an attempt by Dr Efraim Genuino, who until May was chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), to seal the Aruze resort deal and secure his legacy as the man who transformed the local casino industry by bringing in internationally recognised partners. It’s nearly two years now since Aruze put down a hefty US$100 million in an escrow account for the project. The negotiations have been protracted because the Japanese fretted that without ownership of the land, they would have no security over their investment. The recent hijacking in Manila of a tour bus full of Hong Kong tourists and the subsequent botched rescue operation that led to eight of them being killed in the gun battle canhardlyhavedonemuch to improve the prospects of Philippines gaming resorts attracting Chinese tourists. 8 (-) Alvin Chau Chairman Suncity Group Having vision isn’t sufficient to make you a visionary. In addition to recognising unrealised market potential, you also need the ability and resolve to turn that potential into a viable business. Others had previously tried to develop poker’s following among Chinese players in baccarat-focused Macau, but until Suncity Group’s Alvin Chau stepped in, that mission seemed a distant dream. Now, Chinese high rollers at Suncity’s Poker King Club— unveiled at StarWorld Casino on October 31st last year—play for the biggest pots in the world. To support the Poker King Club marketing effort, Suncity bankrolled the star-studded Hong Kong film ‘Poker King’ (part of which was shot at StarWorld) and enlisted poker legend and ten-time World Series of Poker Champion Johnny Chan as its representative—Mr Chan was even on hand to give tutorial sessions in Texas Hold ‘em at the club during its first month of operation. Of course, it helps that Mr Chau has the financial resources to back his vision. Although he only set up Suncity Group in 2007, it has become one of the most successful junket operations in Macau. The group operates ten VIP clubs in five-star hotels and resorts in Asia, runs a high roller operation at Paradise Walker-Hill casino in South Korea, and has representative offices in Japan and Thailand. Suncity’s commitment to exploring new business opportunities outside VIP baccarat sets it apart from Macau’s other leading junket operators—Neptune Group, Jimei, and Golden Resorts, which, along with Suncity, control an estimated 80% of the local VIP market. Providing tourism and entertainment services may have been an obvious step for Suncity, given its knack for taking care of such arrangements for VIP gamblers. In 2008, the group established Sun City Tours, which offers comprehensive travel agency services in Macau. Earlier this year, it opened the trendy Club Lotus nightclub at Venetian Macao. Suncity’s media vehicles bolster its tourism and poker brand-building efforts, and include Business Traveller and Poker King magazines, as well as UOMacau , the leading website for Chinese visitors to Macau. The group’s interests go even further afield, however. In July last year, its Hong Kong- listed entity Sun International Group Ltd purchased an 80 million ton capacity iron mine in Indonesia. The rise of 36-year-old Mr Chau—the only bona fide Macau local to earn a top ten spot on the Asian Gaming 50 —over the past three years has been nothing short of meteoric. With his penchant for delving into new business areas, such as the development, marketing and production of software, his eventual influence is likely to extend far beyond the gaming realm. GKL opened the first of its three properties under the Seven Luck brand— Seven Luck-Seoul Gangnam, in January 2006. That was followed by Seven Luck- Millennium Seoul Hilton in May that year, and Seven Luck-Busan Lotte in June. Net profit in 2006 was KRW3.5 billion (US$3 million) on gross revenues of KRW125.2 billion. But as GKL added more capacity and gained more experience in the industry, by the end of 2009, net profit had soared to KRW101 billion (US$85.6 million) on gross revenues of KRW481.2 billion. That bounce helped to stimulate significant interest from private investors when GKL floated 30% of its stock on the