Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2011 6 4 young and, according to a study conducted in Las Vegas, young staff are more likely to become problem gamblers. So it’s advisable to create this rule.” Anotherplankofthegovernment’spolicy is a likely move to raise the casino entry age in Macau from 18 to 21. This latter initiative is also designed to encourage local people to pursue tertiary education. That’s because raising the entry barrier to 21 will mean they can no longer get a job as a casino dealer after graduating from senior high school. The two SJM Slots parlours most likely to be affected by the ‘proximity’ test—located at the Canidrome (greyhound racing track) on the Macau peninsula and at the Macau Jockey Club racetrack on Taipa—have predominantly low-income customers that can least afford to spend money on gambling, on race days or otherwise. They are also, however, reported to have some of the loosest machines in Macau and thus offer the best value to players. There’s some irony in the fact that the fairest slots in Macau (for players) could be the victims of a policy apparently designed to protect consumers. If the Canidrome and MJC slots do close, then many locals disposed to gamble may still be willing to travel a few minutes up the road—and it is always only a few minutes in tiny Macau—to the majority of parlours not affected by the likely ruling. Those slot venues—while making a modest contribution to SJM’s gross—are probably some of the most profitable for the operator. They have old equipment and therefore— barring any unforeseen costs due to outright electro-mechanical failure of machines— some of the lowest capital depreciation costs, and no construction cost debt to service on the buildings. But the Canidrome slots and MJC slots do suffer from a much more powerful handicap. They are friendless in political terms. Dr Stanley Ho, who helped to develop these facilities in the first place, has now retired from SJM and its parent STDM, so there’s no loss of face to him if the slot parlours there are closed down. The Canidrome and MJC already have sporting events for punters to bet on, so from the perspective of local politicians, having slot machines there as well is a form of double jeopardy for the local patrons. The fact that many state governments in the United States see race tracks as one of the few acceptable public locations for slots—on the basis that the people who go there have already identified themselves as gamblers so might as well be given some consumer choice and fresh opportunities to put taxes in state coffers—appears to cut no ice in Macau. Could slot facility at Macau Jockey Club also go? Market Outlook