Jul 15, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  
Macau junket firm Suncity Group said it had a “soft opening” of a new VIP gaming club (pictured) at Rio Hotel on Macau peninsula on Monday. The property is a satellite venue run by third-party investors under the gaming rights of Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.
The new “Rio Suncity VIP Club” – on the second floor of Rio Hotel - houses a total of “four rooms” and 12 gaming tables, according to a press statement issued on Monday by Suncity Group.
The new facility takes the tally of Suncity Group clubs in the Macau market to 18, according to the announcement.
GGRAsia approached Suncity Group for information regarding how long the Rio Hotel club had been planned. A spokesperson told us it didn’t have more information to share at the stage.
Outside Macau, the group runs 14 high-roller gambling clubs, namely in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and Australia. In addition to these operations, Suncity Group also owns two Poker King Clubs – one in Macau and another in Manila, Philippines.
Suncity Group is said by investment analysts to be a major junket investor in Macau. The firm is estimated to have an “approximately 45 percent” share of the junket market, according to a July 9 note from brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein, although the brokerage didn’t specify in that particular memo the metric being applied.
Privately-held Suncity Group is led by Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, who also chairs the Hong Kong-listed entity Suncity Group Holdings Ltd and Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, the latter the promoter firm of Russian casino resort Tigre de Cristal.
The Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings does not list on its balance sheet any of the Macau junket-related businesses of privately-held Suncity Group. The listed company is nonetheless an investor in a large-scale casino resort complex in Hoi An, Vietnam, where it says it also has a deal to manage the gaming. The listed entity has stated it also has a deal to manage the gaming at a casino resort in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Mr Chau issued on Saturday an apology to the Macau government on what he termed the “inconvenience” of adverse publicity in state-backed Chinese media, that had suggested the Suncity brand had been involved in “proxy betting” and “online gambling’ via what the media outlets referred to as an “app” that enabled Suncity brand clients to gamble online in other jurisdictions.
Mr Chau denied the brand’s Macau-licensed VIP gaming promoter Sun City Gaming Promotion Co Ltd had any involvement in such activity. He added: “For any products that are legally allowed to operate in other countries and regions, the company will not adopt them if the laws of Macau do not allow it and will strictly adhere to the law of Macau.”
May 23, 2023
May 22, 2023
Jun 07, 2023
Jun 07, 2023
Jun 07, 2023
Chinese government policies relevant to investors and consumers might “turn more positive” if the country’s economic-growth momentum “continues to weaken”, says a note from...Jun 07, 2023
Casino gaming content and hardware provider Light &...Jun 06, 2023
Electronic table games (ETGs) supplier Interblock dd is...Jun 05, 2023
Random number generator (RNG) testing tools are among the...Jun 01, 2023
Alfastreet, a manufacturer of electronic gaming machines,...Jun 01, 2023
Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is tweaking...Jun 01, 2023
The iGaming segment in Asia “has grown rapidly” since...May 31, 2023
Showing slot machine players – via animations on the...May 31, 2023
Macau stocks in likelihood “have been punished too much...May 31, 2023
There are foreign companies still interested in investing...May 31, 2023
Thailand could pass the necessary enabling legislation for...May 30, 2023
China will remain a key market for Asian gaming...May 30, 2023
Alejandro Tengco (pictured in a file photo), chairman and...May 30, 2023
There are “plenty of reasons” for the global gaming...May 30, 2023
Gaming equipment provider International Game Technology Plc...May 30, 2023
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023 Special Edition:...May 29, 2023
Austria-based gaming equipment maker and operator Novomatic...May 25, 2023
Sports betting and online casino operating platform...May 24, 2023
The business performance in Asia of gaming content and...May 18, 2023
The organisers of Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2023...May 17, 2023
Gaming content and equipment supplier Light & Wonder...May 16, 2023
Casino equipment maker Sega Sammy Creation Inc is to...May 09, 2023
Casino slot machine and digital gaming content provider...May 05, 2023
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia event in Singapore is the...May 04, 2023
An adviser to a Thailand parliamentary committee mulling...(Click here for more)
”We’ve said we want to grow EBITDA ... to US$1.4 billion in 2025. And we have a really high level of conviction about getting there”
Matt Wilson
Chief executive of casino equipment provider Light & Wonder