Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2013 56 INSIGHTS J ay Chun is a consummate gaming equipment innovator. Nevertheless, he believes it’s a mistake to be too focused on machines in Asia. This month’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas is mostly about electronic games, which makes sense in the US where such games generate the bulk of casino revenue, but in Asia it’s the tables that dominate by a big margin. Mr Chun feels, therefore, that G2E Asia is not sufficiently adapted to local realities, creating an opportunity for a regional trade show with a broader purview. Always quick to fill a perceived gap in the market, his latest creation is the Macao Gaming Show, scheduled for 14-16th November at The Venetian Macao. “In Macau, where over two-thirds of revenue comes from VIP rooms, a show claiming to cover the whole gaming industry needs to include not only gaming equipment but also junkets, Macau Slot [the city’s sports betting monopoly], horse and dog racing and lotteries,” explains Mr Chun. Having an all-encompassing show benefits all exhibitors, he says, and he has convinced Macau’s five biggest junkets to take stands at the MGS, which in turn will draw the major casinos from around the region, since most of them are eager to tap into the supply of mainland Chinese high- rollers provided by the junkets. Among the confirmed attendees beyond Macau are senior management from several casinos in Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnamand even South Africa. US operators have been invited as well. The junkets, in turn, are also happy to meet casinos from other jurisdictions in order to expand their reach and provide their players greater geographical choice next time they want to gamble somewhere outside Macau. The MGS is organized by the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association, chaired by Mr Chun. He is also chairman and managing director of Hong Kong-listed Paradise Entertainment, parent company of equipment supplier LT Game, which has 2,800 of its electronic player terminals installed in Macau, along with a rapidly growing international business. LT will exhibit at the MGS alongside most of the major international equipment suppliers who “are very supportive and will be there at the show,” says Mr Chun. The bonus opportunity for them is that in addition to displaying their wares to casinos they will also get a chance to showcase products to junkets. Mr Chun, known for his solid connections with local junkets (he got his start in Macau gaming in 2004 running VIP operations at the SJM-licensed Grandview Hotel), reveals that at least one junket is currently negotiating with several casino operators on terms to run slots within its own VIP rooms (presumably on some sort of revenue-share arrangement). If that happens, the junkets could also become direct purchasers of slots. “That’s a good opportunity,” he explains, “even if, let’s say, each junket only needed 200 machines. But how many junkets do you have?” (There are 200 licensed junkets in Macau). Show Starter Perhaps the most prolific gaming-focused inventor in Asia, Jay Chun is masterminding a new regional trade show to challenge G2E’s dominance