Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming JUNE 2015 16 Cover Story Tables For One It wasn’t until nine days ahead of the opening of Galaxy Macau Phase 2 and Broadway that gaming regulators granted the operator 150 gaming tables for the property. In 2012, Macau mandated a 3% cap on annual growth of tables, running through 2022, with a total of around 200 new tables available this year. Galaxy had reportedly requested 400 tables, but executives expressed gratitude for the smaller allocation and said it would be sufficient for the current market. “When it comes to tables, I will never say, ‘that’s too many,’ but I think that for the current market 150 is very much acceptable,” Galaxy Entertainment Group Vice-Chairman Francis Lui said at the property’s 27th May opening. “Today, we feel it’s not just about the number of gaming tables,” he added. “Things have evolved. It’s about how to wisely use the tables in the face of new challenges.” Galaxy deployed an estimated 72 tables on its extended main casino floor, 38 tables in Broadway Macau’s casino, and about 70 tables in its new VIP facilities, including 30 tables moved from StarWorld and/or Galaxy Phase 1, Union Gaming Research Macau estimates. The 150 tables granted to Galaxy leave somewhere between 24 and 55 tables—depending on whether you use the actual number of tables or the allowable number of tables under the cap as the Galaxy’s Grand Resort Deck