Forbes‘ Muhammad Cohen has been reading the latest tea leaves from the world’s gambling capital and doesn’t like what he sees: a 1H14 revenue increase of 13% (“heady for anywhere but Macau“) but a sequential decline from 1Q to 2Q14 of 11%. VIP play has, as a percentage of the total, been on the decline for four quarters now. “Union Gaming analysts in Macau Grant Govertsen and Felicity Chiang attribute VIP softness to China’s anti-corruption campaign. The corruption investigation into China’s former internal security chief Zhou Yongkang, announced Wednesday, adds to the cautious mood among VIP players and promoters.”
Cohen concludes, however, that “the main factor may be simply that the VIP market has matured – all the big money mainland players that want to come to Macau are already coming as frequently as they can, and increases will be more in line with China’s economic growth rather than double or triple that number in recent years.” The opening of new casinos on the Cotai Strip next year — which will require 32,000 new dealers and other employees could spark a mass exodus from existing casinos, with a too-small Macanese population to replace them.
Another problem is rival, overseas jurisdictions with gaming taxes much lower than Macau’s 39%. VIP junketeers can also collect larger percentages in Singapore and the Philippines. After a catastrophic debut, Bloomberry Resorts‘ Solaire has found its footing and is grossing $2.6 in 1Q14. Melco Crown Entertainment‘s City of Dreams Manila ought also ought to be a force to reckon with, powered by a Nobu Hotel. Solaire, meanwhile, must cope with being “isolated on an empty landfill.” (What is this Eastern compulsion to build casinos atop piles of garbage?)
Racino owners in the great state of Delaware are rattling their tin cup again. However, they’re also talking sense about long-range solutions in 
lieu of the patchwork fixes we’ve seen in the last two legislatures. “We don’t enjoy going back to the legislature every year, pleading, and sitting on our hands as some of the legislators take pot shots and we have to sit there and take it,” lamented Dover Downs Hotel & Casino President Ed Sutor. He dryly added, “We’re very pro-recycling,” with regard to some bailout money that didn’t get spent in 2013 and went into the 2014 budget. However, his group would like to see a downward adjustment of the table game tax and licensing fees. It’s bitter medicine for the state but if the alternative is money-losing racinos, Delaware may just have to swallow hard.
