Macau has become the de facto hot spot for gambling in the world. As Las Vegas struggles to emerge from the housing and credit crisis, Macau is experiencing an accelerating rate of growth. Presently, there are 35 casinos in Macau, broken down as follows: SJM-20, GALAXY- 6, SANDS CHINA- 4, WYNN MACAU- 1, MELCO CROWN- 3, and MGM China -1.
Currently, there are currently five new casino projects in the queue all on the Cotai Strip (WYNN, MGM, SJM, GALAXY, and MPEL’s Studio City). Only WYNN Cotai has the green light from the Macau government to build their new casino at this time.
Table games are all the rage and the government has imposed a cap on the amount of gaming tables allowed in Macau. Currently, there is a table cap of 5,500 gaming tables that lasts until March 2013. After March 2013, the number of gaming tables in Macau can increase by an average of 3% per year for the next ten years. All of the new casinos are asking for a certain number of new tables but it is uncertain if all of their requests will be fulfilled due to the table growth limit.
One can think of these table licenses similar to liquor licenses in New York City. They are highly coveted and a driver of revenue that businesses are itching to get their hands on. New casinos being built that are able to acquire a substantial amount of tables have the potential to boost table hold and revenue and attract more visitors.
