The Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippine capital is offering online gaming for domestic customers in the nation with effect from mid-April.
The resort’s parent, Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp, said it had received approval from the Philippine authorities to run in tandem with its bricks and mortar casino (pictured), a total of eight online-play live-dealer tables – six baccarat and two roulette – and 80 online-play electronic gaming machines, and had already done a soft launch for them.
The firm said it anticipated that by the end of April it would be allowed to run 16 online-play live tables – 14 baccarat and two roulette – and 150 machines for domestic online services.
The country’s casino regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, typically refers to such operations as Philippine Inland Gaming Operator (PIGO) business, though that term was not used in a Universal Entertainment press release carrying Wednesday’s date.
Universal Entertainment said its Okada Manila operating unit – Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc – had proven to the satisfaction of the authorities, via a period of testing, “conformance of its online gaming services through simulation tests for the proper collection of casino taxes and licensing fees, anti-money laundering and other systems,” and had verified “compliance with various casino regulations”.
Also on Wednesday, Universal Entertainment reported that Okada Manila’s first-quarter casino gross gaming revenue was down sequentially.
