The Grand Lisboa Palace casino resort (pictured) in Macau’s Cotai district, promoted by casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd, has launched a foreigner gaming zone, the company has confirmed to GGRAsia in response to our enquiry.
The foreigner-gambling area in the Cotai resort is located in “Dragon Pavilion”, a premium gaming area within the property.
Referring to the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, SJM Holdings stated in its email reply: “With the approval of DICJ, the foreigner gaming zone was opened at Casino Grand Lisboa Palace on March 30, 2023.”
The company added: “It is currently the only foreigner gaming zone set up by SJM.”
A number of rival firms in the Macau market are known to have launched foreigner-only gambling areas in company properties.
On-site checks by GGRAsia and information from sources had already indicated Galaxy Macau, the Venetian Macao, Studio City, City of Dreams, MGM Cotai, and MGM Macau each have a foreigner-only gambling zone. SJM Holdings is the only operator to have confirmed to GGRAsia that it has such a zone in one of its properties.
Under the updated regulatory framework for Macau gaming, linked to the new 10-year concessions that started on January 1, the city’s chief executive has the authority to reduce by up to 5 percentage points, as a matter of “public interest”, casino operators’ usual 40 percent tax burden on casino gross gaming revenue (GGR), in the case of GGR generated by players from “foreign countries”.
Macau wants to wean the industry away from dependence on high-stakes gambling by players from the Chinese mainland.
