Macau junket rep says VIP promoters must change business model to survive after first meeting with DICJ on gaming law

February 22, 2022 Macau Emerging Markets

The President of the Macau Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters says licensed junkets must revert back to their original business model if they are to have a future under proposed amendments to Macau’s gaming law.

Kwok Chi Chung spoke with Inside Asian Gaming on Monday after representatives of the city’s junket industry met with the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) late last week to gain a better understanding of the new gaming law and how it will impact the operations of licensed promoters.

While Kwok said a number of key issues – such as the role of agents and a proposal to limit each junket to working with a single casino concessionaire – have yet to be clarified, he acknowledged that junkets would likely need to revert back to their original business model of only receiving commission on chips rolled at gaming tables rather than through revenue share agreements.

This follows details contained within the government’s draft bill which not only prohibit rev share arrangements between junkets and concessionaires but also put an end to junkets operating out of dedicated junket rooms within Macau’s casinos.

The original rolling chip model, pioneered by Dr Stanley Ho in the 1970s, allowed for designated “chip rollers” or Daa Maa Zai as they were known at the time to bring players into the city’s casinos and sell non-cash chips to these players in return for 0.7% commission on all chips rolled (lost).