Macau Casinos Continue Revenue Records, Pummeling the Las Vegas StripAsian gaming capital scoops 42 percent more from gamblers in 2011 |
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High-end gamblers are continuing to lose massive amounts of money at Macau’s casinos, as the region’s gaming authority released data that showed $33.5 billion in revenue for 2011 — about five times what the slowly recovering Las Vegas Strip captures from its visitors.
VIP Baccarat accumulated about $18 billion — in just the first three quarters of the year — of that casino win.
Poker in Macau, represented by just over 100 cash game tables, accounts for an even more negligible percentage of revenue compared to Nevada.
In 2009, Nevada casinos scooped $10.39 billion in win, with $145.6 million coming from poker — marking just over one percent of the overall take. Poker in Macau rakes about 0.1 percent of overall gaming revenue each year.
Macau’s Texas hold’em games took in about $25 million in 2011’s first three quarters. Poker cash games arrived to Macau for the first time in 2008, despite gambling in the region for about 150 years.
Among the 33 casinos in the territory, only Wynn, Venetian, City of Dreams, StarWorld and Grand Lisboa cater to poker players.
Macau keeps breaking its own records for gaming revenue and shows no signs of slowing down, despite concerns over a credit squeeze in mainland China and corruption laced in the immensely profitable relationship between junket operators and VIP clientele, according to Reuters.
The level of criminal activity in bringing wealthy gamblers to the tables has drawn the attention of the Chinese government, Reuters reported in early 2011.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in September 2011 that no U.S.-based casino operator in Macau was alleged to be connected with the region’s organized crime, according to cables obtained by Wikileaks.
Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus
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