Mirage Casino Opens in Macau

Published on: December 18, 2007 

MGM a global mega giant in the world of casinos is ready to open their doors in the historic era of the Macau Casino Resorts. Positioned in direct business opposition to the already renowned Crown Macau, the new MGM Mirage casino resort plays host to 600 rooms, with a full casino. The casino holds 890 slot machines, 16 private gaming suites, and almost 400 table games. The resort cost 1.25 billion USD to construct, and appears to be on solid ground.

There is a common factor linking the Crown Macau, half owned by James Packer, and Australian casino mogul, and the MGM Mirage. Quite simply, it’s a bloodline. Stanley Ho originally owned the casino monopoly on the island of Macau, this gaming and casino monopoly formally ended in 2001. Now each of his children holds a license to build, and run a casino. Lawrence Ho agreed to work with James Packer and the opening of the Crown Macau. Pansy Ho, his daughter, is now half owner of the MGM Mirage. With the experience these children now adults no doubt have, they are valuable assets to any partnership in the area, how they will fair in direct competition with each other has yet to be seen.

Recently, Macau has become virtually a second Las Vegas, centered in the Asian market; it is poised to become as popular a gaming destination as is Las Vegas. Incredible in size and lucrative by default, this Chinese Island is attracting the attention of mega casino giants, worldwide. Adding to the unique timing of the MGM Mirage Macau opening is that James Packer has announced an interest in further direct competition with the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr. Packer, who’s gaming group already owns 2 Australian casinos, one the Melbourne Crown, and the other in Perth, has won the bid to purchase another gaming company based in Las Vegas, the Cannery Casino Resorts. The deal is going to cost Packer more than 1.75 billion USD to complete.

With the MGM Mirage opening, a milestone has been hit by the gaming industry in the former Portuguese colony. 6 licenses have been awarded and now all of them are open for business. Along side the Mirage are the Sands, which opened its doors in 2004, and the Venetian who are common neighbors in Las Vegas. Later the US Gaming leader Steve Wynn came into the market, which brought Mr. Stanley Ho’s competition to 4 others, as he holds one of the casino licenses along with the Hong Kong based Galaxy group.

The city of Macau has 530 thousand residents calling the town home. The city however played host to more than 22 million guests in 2006. As 2007 draws to a close, this figure has already increased significantly, and before the New Year rolls in, it is anticipated to reach a full 26 million tourists, visiting, playing and enjoying the competition. This will topple last years gaming revenue, which had been surpassed by September 2007, reaching 7.5 billion dollars. That figure surprised Las Vegas gaming officials, as Macau has outpaced, and created more revenue than Las Vegas in 2007, with 2 weeks left, the fight for gaming revenue is not over, however Las Vegas now has a Mega Competitor in the Asian Pacific Market.

Other Recent News:
News Archives
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
Casino Offers