Only eight Macau junkets are currently operating, despite the Macau government having issued 36 junket licenses in January, according to the President of the Macau Professional Association of Gaming Promoters.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Asian Gaming, which features in the March issue of IAG (out today), U Io Hung said not all licensed junket operators had signed agreements with a Macau concessionaire while even some that have are yet to begin active cooperation.
This, he explained, follows implementation of Macau’s new junket law since 1 January 2023, which prohibits junkets from operating their own VIP rooms within the city’s casinos and limits them to commission from rolling only, with revenue share agreements also outlawed.
As a result, only eight junket operators are currently operating and only with three concessionaires between them.
“The other three concessionaires have signed contracts with junket promoters but have not started their junket business yet,” said U Io Hung, who also owns licensed junket Pacific Intermediário Sociedade Unipessoal Lda.
In his wide-ranging discussion with IAG, U Io Hung details the challenging environment for junkets in 2023, claiming the industry is “not developing healthily and is almost extinct”.
He does, however, believe junkets will ultimately survive.
“The industry welcomes the government’s regulation and hopes for healthy development, but it should not be overkill,” he said. “If the regulations are too strict, there is no reasonable room for our survival.
“In a football match, everyone would agree that a good referee makes the match more orderly, but if the referee overdoes it, the game will not run smoothly.”
Read the full interview with U Io Hung in the March issue of IAG.
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