Crystal Palace, a gaming area at the Hotel Lisboa site on Macau peninsula, has reopened with a new look (pictured) after renovation.
When GGRAsia visited on the evening of the Thursday relaunch, it had 35 ‘smart’ baccarat tables in operation, most full of players.
Thursday’s onsite review revealed minimum bets ranging from HKD300 (US$38.6) to HKD500, i.e., predominantly Macau’s lower-tier table gambling segment, It is the same price point observed recently by GGRAsia at some of Macau’s remaining satellite casinos.
SJM Resorts Ltd, the gaming licensee for the Crystal Palace site, last week told GGRAsia the reopened Crystal Palace would “primarily serve the market segment traditionally centred on Macau peninsula satellite casinos“.
All but one of Macau’s legacy satellite properties – run by third parties but relying on a licence of a Macau concessionaire – will have closed their gaming business by year-end, amid changes to Macau’s gaming regulatory system. Most have been under an SJM licence.
Only Casino L’Arc, at nearby L’Arc Hotel, will remain in the Macau market, to become a core part of the SJM brand’s gaming operations. SJM Holdings Ltd, the Hong Kong-listed parent of SJM Resorts, will spend HKD1.75 billion (US$224.8 million) to acquire the whole site.
The parent said that – when Casino L’Arc was operated in tandem with Casino Lisboa and Casino Grand Lisboa – it would create for the brand, a “core peninsula cluster” of properties.
Thursday’s visit to the new-look Crystal Palace showed live-baccarat smart tables with side bet options for “Small/Big 6”; as well as either two- or three-card “Lucky 7”; and “Super Lucky 7”.
That was akin to the main gaming floors of Casino Lisboa at the Hotel Lisboa site, and at the SJM group’s Grand Lisboa casino across the street.
In the middle of the Crystal Palace gaming area, patrons are also offered a snack station with seating area.
