Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | December 2011 34 Feature Asian Gaming 101 — Part 2 In the second of two essays, respected US-based gaming journalist James Rutherford discusses more of the key features of the red-hot Macau and Singapore casino markets VI. The “Hungry Tigers” Much has been made of the alleged aversion to machine gambling among Asian players generally and the Chinese in particular. Slots in Macau used to be known as “hungry tigers,” a pejorative suggesting at best fear and at worst distrust. That’s probably because during the days of STDM— Dr Stanley Ho’s gambling monopoly—slot machines were merely a device for wringing any remaining change out of table players on the way out of the casino. The return to player (RTP) was horribly low (estimated at 60%), the machines were old and uninviting and their reputation among consumers was correspondingly poor. Macau’s current slot offering—including that of STDM’s successor, SJM—bears no comparison to the gloomy, wall-mounted, electro-mechanical monsters from yesteryear. Since then the major slot suppliers from the United States, Australia, Europe and Taiwan have brought to Macau the very latest electronic ‘mousetraps’ with all kinds of bonus features and storylines to hold players’ attention. And thanks to the competition between the Macau casino operators, those mousetraps have been marketed much more effectively both overtly—via the development of carded play—and covertly, through dramatic improvements in RTP. Although there is not yet a mandated jurisdictional minimum RTP in the manner of Singapore, it’s generally accepted that in Macau no machines offer lower than 85% RTP. The growth of carded play—after reported initial consumer resistance from some mainland Chinese visitors—has created a new value proposition for regular slot players in Macau. Some locals-focused venues have found that groceries and