Macao – Billionaire Stephen Wynn will make one of his biggest gambles this week when he opens a sleek $1 billion hotel-casino in Macao – the booming Chinese territory that could soon bump off Las Vegas as the world’s gaming capital.
Wynn is betting that his lavish rooms and trendsetting casino, which opens Wednesday, will attract the Chinese gambling masses eager to wager the money they’ve been raking in from the country’s sizzling economy.
But his critics doubt that the crescent-shaped Wynn Macao complex – a smaller replica of his Las Vegas resort – has enough attractions to be successful in this former Portuguese enclave on China’s southeastern coast.
Macao, which returned to Chinese rule in 1999, is the only place in China that allows casino gambling. For 40 years, the industry was controlled by local tycoon Stanley Ho. But Ho’s monopoly ended in 2002 when the government began shaking up the market and inviting new competition from Las Vegas.
Only two Las Vegas companies were allowed into Macao: Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp. – the world’s largest gambling company run by Wynn’s arch nemesis, Sheldon Adelson. Sands got established first in Macao, opening in 2004 the gleaming Sands Macao, which has been wildly successful.
Last year, Macao’s income was about even with the $5.3 billion earned on Las Vegas strip, according to figures from both places.
Chinese gamblers are notorious for being solely focused on gambling. They spend most of their time at the tables and only take breaks for cheap meals or a quick trip to a sauna-massage parlor.
