Inside Asian Gaming

FEBRUARY 2018 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 35 INDUSTRY PROFILE “If all the properties were filled, Macau could hold 50,000 machines. Right now we only have 18,000 so I think the opportunity is there.” sense at all – gaming and arcades are totally different. The arcade games looked like slot machines but were not slot machines! So after a year I decided to leave, I didn’t want to do that anymore, but then SJM asked me to stay. They said that just because the Japanese products didn’t make sense didn’t mean my company had no value. They asked me to change the business model and find some products that were good for Macau and qualify for what Macau needed. So I started again and changed the name to Asia Pioneer Entertainment. BB: What are your memories of Macau in those early days? HN: In terms of the gaming industry, at that time it was a monopoly by SJM so the gaming industry was very closed and the most important sector for the industry was junkets. The image wasn’t very good – if you were part of the business people thought you must be mafia. It was no good. But I liked Macau back then because everything was much easier. It was humble. I liked the old times because of it all being so humble. But I do like what has happened too because all of the big brands have come here now – there are something like seven Louis Vuitton shops! The most important change though has been regulation. Everything is black and white. It’s more mature and is part of the top level of gaming in the world. BB: What did you think the future of slot machines was in Macau when you first started? NG: Well even now table games are still 95% of the gaming market, but at that time I knew Wynn had been given a gaming license and Galaxy was another one so that’s when I knew the Las Vegas style was heading to Macau. There were only 2,000 slot machines back then so I’ve seen the growth. And if all the properties were filled, Macau could hold 50,000 machines. Right now we only have 18,000 so I think the opportunity is there and I believed back then that it would grow continuously which is why I started the business. BB: What do you enjoy most about your job? HN: If I can sell the games and those games are popular – if the operator says, “Herman this is good” – then I am happy. This is the most enjoyable part and it all happens very fast because when you launch a new game on the floor you will see the reaction immediately. You don’t have to wait to find out if people like it, you can see if the players are happy or not and if the operator is happy or not. That cannot be faked. BB: What does a typical day at work entail for you? HN: A typical day involves seeing customers and doing all my emails! There are lots of emails because the company is growing. Especially these past two years with the IPO process, we had to go backwards in order to do all the due process Herman celebrates APE’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange during last year’s MGS Entertainment Show