Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group has launched a new public market gaming zone with a 108-seat stadium-style electronic table gaming zone on the third floor of the Star World Casino and Hotel.
According to a report published by GGRAsia, the new zone is complete with 14 traditional live dealer game tables and various slots, as well as restaurants open to the public.
Galaxy Entertainment Group says Macau's downtown stadium-style offering was supplied by LT Games, a brand of Hong Kong-listed Paradise Entertainment, with a minimum bet starting at $3.22, and can offer up to eight live dealer games covering baccarat, shibo and roulette.
The operator declared that the new electronic table game area for Starworld Casino & Hotel offers the additional Macau's largest "infotainment" screen, which shows content such as videos from live sports events and results from in-house games.
"LT games [products] and the rest of the electronic table games have recorded growth over the past few months, so entering the field is a very promising future for us," Raymond Yap Yin Min, head of international premium and mass market development at Galaxy Entertainment Group, told GGRAsia. "We use SMS and [email] blasts to inform our members and deliver new game locations and destinations to any channel we can."
According to figures released yesterday by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, total sales of VIP games in the second quarter fell 16% year-on-year, and total sales of games in the public market fell slightly to 1.1%. The regulator also said the region's total casino gaming revenue fell 4.5% in July from a year earlier, marking the 26th consecutive month of decline.
However, Yaf told GGRAsia that he was optimistic that the company "seems to be shrinking" because it experienced only "a slight year-on-year decline" with hopes that it would be "better in the second half."
"As far as we're concerned, we've fully overstated our operations since May, so this is our year-on-year basis," Yap said. "As long as we record small growth compared to last year, I think we will be very happy."
On top of this optimism, figures from the Bureau of Gaming Inspection and Coordination show that in the second quarter of live multi-games, a category that utilizes real dealers alongside electronic betting and betting settlement procedures, gross gaming revenue rose 11.5% year-over-year to $70.3 million.
"Like any other operator, we need to adapt to the decline in the VIP sector," Yap said.