Flexibility in table caps needed: Angela Leong

Wednesday 4th of May 2016

SJM Holdings executive Angela Leong has said Macau needs to introduce more flexibility in its policy of capping the number of table games.

Speaking at a meeting of the Macau government and Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to discuss the city’s five-year plan, Leong said the current table cap policy in Macau would “not be able to cope with future needs” of the industry.

Leong, who is also a Macau legislator, expressed concern over the government’s confirmation two weeks ago that it would stick to its current formula for capping the number of tables at Macau casinos until at least the end of 2022.

The table cap mechanism was introduced as a means of controlling the development of the casino industry, and is designed to limit the compounded annual growth of new live dealer tables to not more than 3 percent from its base of 5,485 tables at the end of 2012. Ms Leong said she hoped the government would consider “a flexible adjustment” to the number of live dealer gaming tables allowed in Macau casinos. She also called for the government to set clearer goals for the Macau gaming industry’s mid- and long-term development, though did not elaborate on what those might be.

Melco Crown Entertainment and Galaxy Entertainment were only allocated 250 tables each for their new properties on Cotai, far short of the 500 they had requested.

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