Inside Asian Gaming

June 2010 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 31 Galaxy Macau—‘comfortable’ on table allocation Cotai five and six—missing tables? Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way... ” In a theoretical land far, far, away from the Macau peninsula, there is talk amongst some theoretical junkets that the town on one side of the street is offering a 45% profit share, whilst their neighbouring city is giving away 47%. And the reason for giving away their margin is plain old competition. When the numbers are what matters, and there are rumours that some of the casinos on the peninsula are even offering 50% profit share, one has to question if the junket commission cap is but mere window dressing for the foreign investors. As an ancient Chinese proverb goes:“Be like the duck”—serene and calm to all, but paddle like hell underwater. It is certainly getting warmer here in Macau again. By Ben Lee Ben is the Managing Partner of IGamiX Management & Consulting Ltd, a well-known Asian gaming consultancy based in Macau. Enquiries may be forwarded to ben.igamix@gmail.com .