Inside Asian Gaming

8 also looking to open a further two venues in 2007, though it will only make a modest ad- dition to the total count, with its outlets each containing an average of 150 machines. Mo- cha’s target is to have 1,400 machines by the end of this year, up from the current 1,000. The new casinos offer huge capacity and increasingly luxurious surroundings, but Mocha is “outperforming more than 60% of the market,” claims Mr Chan. Wynn Macau, which opened in September 2006, is the top performer, says Mr Chan, because “they have a fantastic property. It’s a must-go place.” This, along with the property’s novelty fac- tor and a relatively low machine count gives Wynn Macau an average daily win per slot of around US$375, compared to the market av- erage of US$138. Mocha has three times as many slot machines as Wynn, and despite its lack of casino glitz, its average daily win per slot is about US$213. Machine Focused Asked whether he is concerned about the arrival of mammoth properties like Vene- tian Macau, Mr Chan responds:“I don’t really compete with the casinos. Sands and Wynn focus on visitation of property. They don’t care if visitors play tables or slots. Mocha’s focus is 100% on gaming machines. No tables, no hotel rooms, no retail. We focus on that, we build our membership loyalty – which takes time. It’s growing.They are play- ing the same Aristocrat machines. Why are they playing here? Because they know this guy, they know this attendant, they know this floor manager.” Mocha offers conveniently located out- lets throughout Macau and aims to “accom- modate the needs of serious gaming ma- chine players. There are a lot of choices for tables. But if you are a serious slots player, come and play in Marina Plaza.” Exclusivity at Marina Plaza The Marina Plaza outlet opened on Decem- ber 23, 2006, including the ultra-exclusive Royal Members’ Lounge. The Members’ Lounge has 31 machines, but limits access to only 50 of Mocha’s 76,000 members – with final access to the lounge to be re- stricted to 100 members, alongside plans to grow total membership to 150,000 by 2008. As of January – within one month of open- ing – the average daily win per machine in the Members’ Lounge was double that of the rest of Mocha, with Mr Chan predicting the lounge will prove a much bigger earner relative to the rest of the operation over the coming months. Whereas the big casinos are targeting visitors from all over China, the serious slot players sought by Mocha Slot predominantly hail from Hong Kong, Macau and neighbour- ing Zhuhai in mainland China. Of Mocha’s current members, 50% are from Macau, with the remainingmembers split evenly between Hong Kong and China. Mr Chan reveals “the Hong Kong figure is growing faster than that of China. This year we will do more market- ing in Hong Kong, although there are lots of restrictions on promoting gaming in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a mature, international city. We will do some technical things to tar- get that market.” Mocha employs player tracking to de- termine its members’ preferences and of- fer loyalty points which can be redeemed for F&B and other services. Apart from the Royal Members’ Lounge, the second floor of Marina Plaza operates as a premium area restricted to 1,000 members. Access to the premium area is granted to customers ac- cording to a matrix of criteria including vol- ume of play and number of visits, as well as by invitation. Mr Chan emphasizes Mocha’s focus on visitation, with access granted to both high-spending customers who come once or twice a month, and average-spend- ing customers who come every day. Access to the Royal Members’ Lounge is by invita- tion only. Benefits of the Capacity Boom Mr Chan does not worry about the huge ex- pansion in Macau’s slot capacity. In fact, he believes it will benefit the entire market by promoting “leisure gambling” in a city long dominated by hard core table-gaming. Mo- cha’s parent company Melco will be part of the capacity boom.Melco PBL Entertainment – a joint venture between Lawrence Ho’s Melco and Australia’s Publishing and Broad- casting Ltd – will install 3,000 machines at its flagship City of Dreams mega-resort, sched- uled to open in 2008 along the burgeoning Cotai Strip. Venetian Macau, City of Dreams and other mega-resortswill bringgreater entertainment, retail, dining and other non-gaming draws to Macau, drawing a new breed of visitor to the city. Mr Chan believes this, along with the big growth in the size of China’s middle-class, will raise demand for slots relative to tables, and Mocha will seek to further establish its niche as the only slot-focused venue to capitalise on that market-shift. Star Performers Mr Chan says stand-alone games from Australian manufacturers, including Stargames, are Mocha’s top performers. Australian games dominate in Macau, with more than 50% market share. As for the multi-terminals, In- terblock products imitate the feel of “real tables,”whereas Stargames’ Vegas Star employs a “theatre fit- out.” Mr Chan says both types of interface do equally well at Mocha, with customers generally prefer- ring one or the other type.