The MGM Grand Macau was to open its doors yesterday, becoming the latest Las Vegas-backed casino to crowd into the tiny Chinese gambling enclave hoping to lure China's growing middle class.
The US$1.25 billion MGM Grand is a joint venture between Las Vegas casino operator MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho (
It will vie for high rollers with dozens of casinos already open in Macau -- the only place in China where gambling is legal. Last year Macau raked in more gaming revenue than the Las Vegas Strip.
PHOTO: AFP
Stanley Ho ran the casino business in Macau for 40 years until 2001 -- two years after the Portuguese colony returned to Chinese rule -- when the government broke up his monopoly and handed out gaming concessions to foreign interests.
American Sheldon Adelson was the first to enter the territory, opening the Sands Macau in 2004, and then this August the US$2.4 billion Venetian, a Las Vegas style mega casino-resort complete with Italian gondolas punting down indoor canals.
Pansy Ho said the 600-room MGM Grand will target the wealthiest gamblers, called "VIP customers" in the business, who are interested in top-end shopping and entertainment as well as gambling.
She dismissed concerns that the casino was squeezing into a corner of Macau's main island that was already packed with luxury gambling resorts, including some run by her family.
"These few casinos will actually work in conjunction to present a really formidable proposition to all VIP customers that this should be the center of the high-rolling gaming experience," she said in Macau last week during a preview tour of the hotel.
The 35-story MGM Grand boasts a huge atrium with a 6.5m high glass ceiling that is modeled after the central train station in Lisbon, a nod to the territory's Portuguese heritage. Abstract hand-blown glass sculptures by US artist Dale Chihuly are scattered around the plush lobby.
The hotel offers 400 gambling tables, 800 slot machines and 16 private gaming rooms, comparable to its closest rivals, US tycoon Steve Wynn's Wynn Macau casino and the Crown Macau.
Both the US$1.1 billion Wynn and the Crown Macau, a joint venture between Australia's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd and Hong Kong-based Melco International Development Ltd, run by Pansy's brother, Lawrence Ho, have positioned themselves as high-end casinos.
The Grand is MGM's first entry into Asia. While the jury is still out on whether Asian gamblers will respond to the same type of non-casino entertainment as those in Las Vegas, it was expected to be a successful launch, said Jonathan Galaviz, a partner at Globalysis Ltd, a Las Vegas-based consultancy.
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