Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2013 28 IN FOCUS is a widespread practice in Macau. For the casinos, the squeeze game translates to significant foregone revenue by reducing the hands played per hour, but they continue to offer it for fear the players would go elsewhere if they didn’t. Face-up baccarat, where the players are not able to touch the cards, has been offered sporadically at a table or two at various casinos—usually featuring a significantly lower minimum bet made possible by the increased hands per hour—but never seems to persist. That doesn’t mean Chinese players won’t play baccarat if they can’t squeeze the cards. After all, only the largest bettor on a given position at the table has the privilege of squeezing the cards, while the rest of the players are left either hoping his or her“force” is strong or merely impatiently awaiting the result. Face-up games in Macau to date have generally been offered on speciality tables that are smaller than regular baccarat tables, conducted as small-scale experiments, and thus perhaps destined to disappoint. It could well be that a large and growing proportionofplayersinMacaudonotactually harbor illusions of control but rather are only squeezing because it is either expected of them, it prolongs the excitement and anticipation of each hand, or simply because it’s fun. If the face-up game was presented in a more compelling package, offering something that the regular tables don’t, it would have a better chance of gaining wider acceptance. Face-up baccarat has already been accepted by legions of Chinese players betting at LT Game’s electronic terminals on games dealt by a live dealer. It would be wrong to think of these players—huddled around LT terminals placed in sprawling amphitheater- style configurations at City of Dreams, The Venetian, Sands Macao and Sands Cotai Central—as less serious than table players. If anything, many of them could be more serious. There are reportedly several among them who bet up to HK$100,000 (US$12,820) per hand at those terminals, playing a new hand every 30 seconds, whereas in a VIP room they may have to wait up to four or five minutes for a new hand. For these guys, the potential draw of the face-up game on an electronic terminal is speed as well as anonymity. “They don’t want to stand out,” explains Jay Chun, chairman and managing director of Paradise Entertainment, the parent company of LT Game. Seated behind one of Mr Chun’s terminals, high rollers easily blend with the masses. Knowing full well how the LT terminals are performing at its casinos, Sands China Embracing face-up baccarat—LT Game terminals at The Venetian Macao, where players bet on games dealt by live dealers at the front Courting the masses—the opening day crowd at Sands Cotai Central