SJM Resorts moves VIP baccarat tables to Grand Lisboa Palace

Grand Lisboa Palace, SJM's long-awaited debut on the Cotai Strip, welcomed its first guests over the weekend. The $5 billion hotel opened with 150 new table games.

SJM Holdings, the parent organization of SJM Resorts, its gaming and hospitality division, said it had received permission to reallocate tables from other casinos to Grand Lisboa Palace. In a securities statement filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, SJM Resorts explains that the Macau Bureau of Gaming Control and Coordination (DICJ) has signed off on the permission to relocate the tables.

The DICJ has authorized SJM to request the transfer of additional gaming tables to Grand Lisboa Palace from other casinos operated by SJM," the notice explains.

SJM is the oldest casino operator in Chinese Macau. A gaming giant of the late Stanley Ho, SJM held a monopoly on gambling in the region for decades before Macau was returned from Portugal to Chinese control in 1999.

In 2002, five more commercial casino operators were licensed and one of the new concessionaires, Las Vegas Sands, soon began developing Cotai Strip on reclaimed land. SJM was hesitant to develop the new area, which has now become the epicenter where the richest players stay and play. However, there are still players who use unlicensed sites such as https://utansvensklicens.casino/casino-bonusar/ because there are no restrictions placed on those who get licenses.

casino bonusar

The $5bn casino is taking shape

The DICJ is limiting the number of table games and slot machines allowed at each casino location. The regulator has granted Grand Lisboa Palace 150 new table games, but they have been identified as mass-market tables.

SJM owns and operates five casinos in Macau. It also operates gaming in 14 hotels and resorts that it does not own. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, SJM Resorts reported an average of 177 VIP and 1,066 table games for the mass market in the last three months. The firm also operated 1,207 slot machines.

Grand Lisboa Palace Casino opened with mass-market tables only, but that is about to change.

SJM Holdings chairman Daisy Ho said the DICJ had agreed to allow the casino resort to installing 1,200 new slot machines at Grand Lisboa Palace. She added that 118 VIP tables would also be available soon, but did not say which casinos would be transferring some of their high roller tables.

Explanation of the tables: Mass vs. VIP

Grand Lisboa Palace is a $5 billion bet that SJM Resorts is making to recoup its market losses among VIP customers. VIP tables are crucial to the luxury resort's target customer base.

The DICJ limits the maximum bets on tables to the mass market. However, this does not mean that there cannot be a specific amount of money per hand. Maximum bets on mass market tables at Cotai Casino can be as high as several thousand dollars per hand.

At VIP tables the same betting limits do not apply. Instead, the casino can determine what action it is prepared to take. To satisfy the highest players in Macau, casinos need these unlimited betting limits.

Baccarat is a favorite game in Macau. The game dominates most casino floors in the area.

In 2019, VIP baccarat generated gross gaming revenue of $16.9 billion. Mass-market baccarat won another $15 billion. In total, baccarat brought in $31.9 billion of the $36.5 billion the Enclave casinos won in all gambling that year.

More News: Gambling is making a comeback in Ontario as new casinos reopen on Friday