Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming July 2014 14 smoking ban that will apply to all public areas of the casinos come October will have only a mild impact on gaming revenues—which totaled MOP360.75 billion (US$45 billion) last year, seven times that of the Las Vegas Strip—as tables in the higher-limit “premium mass” segment can be exempted as long as there are walls around them. The impact, however, could be intensified for many older, smaller casinos, given their limited size and dated infrastructure. “Smoking lounges have been a hot topic for Macau casinos in recent times, and we have been in touch with several casinos over the past few months about our products,” says Anthony Lam, managing director of JOL Macau, a local hospitality service. JOL Macau joined with Denmark’s Smoke Solution ApS at the beginning of this year to be a local distributor of the latter’s smoking lounge products. No deals have yet materialized from his discussions with gaming bosses, says Mr Lam. He believes there will be progress soon, though, once more details of the ban are publicized. Macau’s casinos have been partially smoke-free since January 2013, when a new law went into effect allowing for smoking on no more than 50% of their gaming floors. But its enforcement has met with frustration and discontent from gaming workers, labor unions In Focus The partial ban didn’t work. A total ban is next. Or is it? Smoke-Free Macau: NowWhat? A Guangdong man in his 40s, Wang Ming, was sitting comfortably at a baccarat table inMGMMacau, releasing one last puff from his cigarette before asking for a card. It was a scene that soon could become history in booming Macau. “I haven’t heard about a smoking ban on [casino] floors,” said the frequent visitor to the city. “Probably I may smoke less when gambling, but I’ve been smoking—and it’s become a habit—since I was like 14 or 16.” To retain millions of mainland smokers like Mr Wang, and their wallets, the casinos are rushing to establish airport-style smoking lounges on their gaming floors. But many observers believe the