Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2009 44 that have actually worked both sides of the fence. I have hired and fired numerous junket reps all around the world when I worked as Vice President of Casino Marketing for different large casinos. I have worked myself as a junket rep when I lived in Hong Kong. And I have worked for and with some of the biggest junket reps in the world when I also lived in Hong Kong, Bangkok and the Philippines. I am very familiar with all aspects of casino junkets and dealing with junket reps both domestically within the United States and internationally. There are many positive aspects of dealing with reputable junket reps. There are also many risks and liabilities in dealing with not so reputable junket reps. There was a very famous management textbook several years ago written by Harvey McKay, entitled “Learn to Swim with the Sharks without Getting Eaten Alive”. There are some similarities between the book and dealing with not so reputable junket reps. Therefore, I always advise casino management to proceed with caution when setting up a new junket program. Increasing market-share It is important to understand that Junket Reps serve a legitimate function in many different casinos around the world. They basically act similar to an independent manufacturer’s sales representative, who represents the manufacturer’s line of products on a commission basis instead of working on a fixed salary, as most casino employees do. Casinos today use similar systems with their Junket Reps engaging them as part of their external sales and marketing team. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly The current recessionary economy brings about a number of new scams, with nefarious Junket Reps preying upon innocent civilians and naive gamblers with all type of get rich schemes. Who are they, why are they there and who should we trust? Steve Karoul advises W e need to understand what a junket is and what it is not. A casino junket is a group of individuals that “supposedly” have a propensity for gaming that are being organized by a tour leader— referred to as a junket rep—to take them on an organized trip to a casino for gaming purposes. A casino junket is not a free tour and travel vacation complements of the host casino. It is supposed to be a gaming trip. I am one of the few casino executives Junket Reps