Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings (IPI) continues to struggle with the construction of its US$7 billion integrated resort, and is likely to miss its August 31 deadline.
The Hong Kong-listed casino operator have asked the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) to extend the time frame for the completion of Imperial Pacific Resort until the end of December 2018, according to the Saipan Tribune report.
In a meeting with the CCC members on Thursday, IPI Vice President for Construction Eric Poon conceded that the casino operator may not be able to finish the construction of Imperial Palace by the end of August. Currently, the site is only 68 percent complete, according to the casino operator.
Failure of IPI to finish the construction on August 31 would mean another amendment of the casino operator’s license agreement. CCC chair Juan Sablan pointed out that it will be the sixth amendment to the license agreement if IPI misses the deadline.
“The development of the resort hotel experienced a big jump and we are trying to [do] everything and get ready for the inspection by the end of the year,” Poon said, according to the news outlet.
Poon said construction work is currently focused on the resort hotel, the hotel tower (including the building facade and roof), and the external works particularly in front of the hotel lobby. He added that they’re now working closely with the Development Planning Advisory Council to craft their extension package.
However, patience of CCC members is running thin due to the nitty-gritty paperwork that the amendment would entail as result of the construction delay. They pointed out that the IPI’s construction might see more delays since getting a government approval on casino operator’s extension request will take quite some time.
Sablan pointed out that IPI should have given a more realistic date on the integrated resort’s completion at the very start.
“Before it was manpower, then issue with the materials, but now you have materials here on Saipan… ask for a date that’s realistic…because if you pick a date that is unrealistic that would require another extension… violations in the agreement require sanctions,” Sablan said.
In February 2017, IPI asked for a construction extension citing delays caused by 2015’s Typhoon Soudelor and a shortage of trained workers.
Two months later, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Lottery Commission granted IPI extension request for completing the casino portion of its in-development Imperial Pacific Resort in Saipan’s Garapan region.
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Months of preparation and speculation ended with a bang as Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Resort Casino put on a show for AC on opening day.
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GiG – Gaming Innovation Group gets New Jersey approval and is pleased to announce that it has been authorised by The State of New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) to provide a real-money online casino platform solution to operators in the state. GiG has, as part of the standard licence application process by the DGE, received what is called ...
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South Shore Holdings Ltd. (SSH), the developers of ‘The 13’ casino in Macau, have announced that a loan with a principal value of $387.4 million is now payable to the lenders “on demand.” A 
covenant on the loan, originally required that the hotel operations be open by the end of July, 2017; however, SSH has renegotiated the terms several times with the lender since the original agreement was signed. In a filing from yesterday, SSH now hopes to open the hotel by July 31 of this year – instead and has contacted the lender about another extension. The unnamed lender has still not provided written confirmation by the time this story was written.
Since there has not been a response by the lender, SSH has stated in its announcement, “As a result, as at the date of this announcement, such bank borrowings are repayable on demand.” It added that it felt certain that it could “obtain all the licences for the operation of hotel business from the relevant authorities by the end of July 2018.”
In its 2017 annual filing, which was published in July of last year, SSH – then known as ‘The 13 Holdings Ltd.’ – said that it had already drawn around $384.7 million from a six-year term loan of approximately $388.5 million that it had been provided through a “mainland China-based bank.” That same month, Bloomberg reported that the company had missed its hotel opening deadline condition that had been stipulated in another loan agreement worth $382 million that was issued by the Bank of Communications Co. Ltd.
For its annual report through March 31, 2018, filed yesterday, SSH said, “Up to the date of this announcement, the group has not been rejected on the application for extension.” It also added, “The bank has frequent communications with the group on the progress of hotel opening preparation and also shows the positive support on the group. Therefore, the directors of the company do not expect the application of further extension will be withheld by the relevant bank.”
The project has met a series of delays since it was first begun two years ago. There have been a number of construction, as well as funding, delays, and the opening date has continuously been pushed back. Most recently, SSH expected to open the hotel tomorrow, but will miss that target, as well. There are now questions regarding licensing, with SSH “hoping” to secure a licensing agreement with an existing operator in Macau.
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An NJ lawmaker reintroduced a piece of legislation that would allow North Jersey casinos. The move is a curious one, if for no other reason than enthusiasm for Atlantic City casinos is at incredible highs.
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Like kids demanding to open their presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning, Atlantic City’s two new/old casinos opened their doors to the public one day ahead of schedule.
Both the Hard Rock Atlantic City and the Ocean Resort Casino were scheduled to open to the public by mid-day Thursday but both venues decided to throw caution to the wind after the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement authorized their launch by mid-afternoon Wednesday.
The Hard Rock (the revamped Trump Taj Mahal) began welcoming gamblers around 3pm, while the Ocean Resort (the de-mothballed Revel) followed suit less than an hour later. Both properties insist their scheduled grand openings will go ahead as planned although the allure of these events has obviously been muted somewhat.
Todd Moyer, the Hard Rock venue’s senior VP of marketing, told the Associated Press that last-minute preparations for the grand opening were still underway, “but the heavy lifting has been done.”
The music-themed Hard Rock is planning a celebrity-filled launch party complete with a ceremonial mass guitar smashing on the Boardwalk at 11am to officially christen the venue. Carrie Underwood and Pitbull are slated to perform at the venue this weekend, while Thursday’s opening will culminate in a fireworks show on the Boardwalk at 9pm.
The Ocean Resort might not have plans to dynamite any sousaphones in the offing, but they will have an amenity that the Hard Rock won’t: sports betting. Work is still ongoing on the Ocean Resort’s 7,500-square-foot permanent sportsbook but the property’s sports betting partner William Hill US will have a temporary book open for wagering on day one.
The Hard Rock has said it’s leaning towards opening its own sports book and Hard Rock International CEO Jim Allen said this week that the company was preparing to announce its own betting partnership, but offered no timeline for when wagering might commence.
The excitement over this week’s opening celebrations, which will include a beach concert on Sunday, is expected to draw up to 1m tourists to Atlantic City over the four-day stretch. It’s the kind of hubbub that AC hasn’t enjoyed all that often in recent years, which saw the original 12 casinos dwindle to seven before new operators breathed life back into two of the shuttered venues.
Not everyone is celebrating the new arrivals. AC’s seven surviving venues had enjoyed a surge in profitability in the downsized (some say right-sized) market, and it remains to be seen if the market can support two more properties.
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Pennsylvania gaming regulators have doled out over $480k worth of fines, more than $400k of which was due to American Gaming Systems’ (AGS) failure to disclose a business relationship.
On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) announced that it had fined four companies a total of $481,116 for various infractions, including a $50k penalty against the operators of the Valley Forge casino for giving out excess amounts of free slots play, and a $24k fine for slots provider Ditronics Financial Services being late in filing its annual financial statements.
But the bulk ($351k) of the fines were levied against AGS for failing to disclose an intellectual property purchase agreement with In Bet Gaming, which develops tweaks to popular casino table games such as In Between blackjack side wagering, Dragon Poker and Hot Roller Craps.
In Bet Gaming is licensed to operate in Pennsylvania but AGS is not, but the PGCB claims this didn’t prevent AGS from engaging in business with Pennsylvania casinos via In Bet Gaming and receiving proceeds from In Bet Gaming’s business with these casinos.
The Nevada-based AGS made its name supplying electronic gaming devices and table games to US tribal casino operators, but branched out into interactive social gaming via its 2015 acquisition of developer RocketPlay.
The New Jersey-based In Bet Gaming didn’t emerged unscathed from this debacle, as the PGCB hit the company with a nearly $56k fine for circumventing the state’s licensing requirements by failing to inform the PGCB of the intellectual property rights deal with AGS.
The deal in question appears to have been struck last October, when AGS acquired the rights to five In Bet Gaming products, including Jackpot Blackjack and progressive games Super 4 Blackjack and Royal 9 Baccarat.
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Greentube extends its deal with Kindred Group and the acclaimed Greentube slots became available at Kindred Group’s online casino brand Unibet in Romania Greentube, the NOVOMATIC Interactive division, has went live with a portfolio of Greentube slots on www.unibet.ro. A diverse selection of market-leading games, all seamlessly integrated via the Greentube NRGS platform, is now available for Unibet players in ...
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US tribal gaming operators reported revenue rising nearly 4% in their most recent fiscal year, pushing the sector to yet another record result.
Figures released Tuesday by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) show that the 494 gaming venues operated by 242 federally recognized tribes generated gross gaming revenue of $32.4b in fiscal 2017, 3.9% higher than the fiscal 2016 result, which featured 10 fewer gaming venues.
The FY17 sum marks the seventh consecutive year of annual growth after flatlining at $26.5b in 2010. There were 33 venues earning over $250m in FY17, unchanged from FY16, while the number of venues earning between $100m and $250m rose by five to 56.
The 74 tribal casinos in the Sacramento region (California and Northern Nevada) claimed the largest slice of FY17 revenue at just under $9b, followed by $7.3b generated by the 37 venues in the Washington DC category (Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and New York).
The Sacramento region also claimed the largest year-on-year gain in percentage terms (7.3%), followed by the Portland region (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington), which grew by 6.5%. The Rapid City region (the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming) was the only one on a negative revenue trajectory, falling 2.7% from FY16.
2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), and NIGC chair Jonodev O. Chaudhuri said the success of the tribal gaming sector over that span proves that “the foundational principles of federal Indian law should remain at the forefront of any future public policy discussions.”
Future annual reports will likely get a shot in the arm from sports betting, an activity that the NIGC fully intends to incorporate into the tribal gaming mix. Following the US Supreme Court ruling in May that struck down the federal betting ban, the NIGC issued a statement noting that tribes should be given “a seat at the table to voice their positions, bring their perspectives and collective expertise, and maintain regulatory and operational control over all the gaming that occurs on their lands.”
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Fears are subsiding in Macau’s gaming industry as the clampdown against UnionPay transactions appears to be winding down, according to gambling analysts.
International brokerage JP Morgan Securities and Japanese credit-debt watcher Nomura have allayed concerns of a sustained crackdown on UnionPay terminals in the former Portuguese enclave. While the recent clampdown on retail shops’ use of the terminals added negative sentiment to the gaming market, the two financial institutions believe that the crackdown will not have any measurable impact on gross gaming revenue trends.
“We believe the latest UnionPay terminal removals and World Cup have had little (if any) impact on Macau GGR so far,” Nomura analysts Harry Curtis, Daniel Adam and Brian Dobson stated in a note issued on Monday.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan analysts DS Kim and Sean Zhuang pointed out that most of their contacts were unaffected by the clampdown “as players are finding other ways to obtain liquidity.”
They also noticed that the Chinese government didn’t launch further crackdowns in recent weeks—an indication that the incident could have been an isolated case.
“Our on-the-ground checks reveal that some (not many) of the jewellery shops inside casinos have actually resumed UnionPay services recently, although they seem more cautious than before in offering such services (this could be because they may be utilising illegal mobile point-of-sale machines, though we couldn’t verify this),” according to the JP Morgan analysts.
Over the past few years, Macau authorities have conducted raids on illegal UnionPay terminals—events that made no considerable impact on GGR. Perhaps one of the reasons why the raids don’t have a measurable impact is due to an abundance of legal UnionPay terminals.
Furthermore, Macau financial and gaming regulators have not placed other notable restrictions on transactions. Early this month, the Monetary Authority of Macao quickly doused speculations that Macau pawnshops have been banned from using UnionPay.
However, Macau’s financial watchdog pointed out that “banks are obliged to perform adequate due diligence on, and ongoing monitoring of, the merchants in order to prevent the abuse of POS machines [for] illegal activities.”
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With New York just a few steps away, Meadowlands Racetrack plans to open its Betfair-powered sportsbook on July 15 and reap rewards of legal NJ sports betting.
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The Atlantic City casino is finishing its last details ahead of its big opening on Thursday.
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In this video, Melco Resorts & Entertainment CEO Lawrence Ho explains how shaking up their business in Macau is beneficial to the casino operator’s future venture in Japan.
After some delay, Melco Resorts & Entertainment finally rolled out the red carpet for its new flagship luxury hotel in Macau.
The Zada Hadid-designed Morpheus Hotel is indeed one of a kind and perhaps one of the icon structures not only in Macau, but also across Asia. It is considered the world’s first free-form high-rise exoskeleton, which reflects Hadid’s penchant for sweeping curves, strong lines, and sensuous aesthetics. Melco Resorts CEO Lawrence Ho said Morpheus was conceptualized in order to introduce the premium mass to amazing new experiences.
“I can see that Asian customers have Asian tastes—particular Asian taste. So, once the novelty of Vegas has worn off, they’ll be looking something unique that exceeded the experience. Something that landed them fairly and squarely to the future. An Asian future,” Ho said in a keynote speech he delivered at G2E Asia. “Philosophy is that we don’t want only to simply serve the people of what they like right now. We want to introduce them to awesome and amazing new experiences. And we exceeded them in our newest venture. It beats everything we’ve done before and that’s Morpheus.”
Ho also shared the casino operator’s plan to upgrade its flagship Macau integrated resort City of Dreams. Like Morpheus, Ho envisioned City of Dreams to be a go-to place of not only the VIPs but also the premium mass guests.
To do that, Ho said they plan to reinvent retail by curating their own shopping environment for the first time. The reinvention of City of Dreams include the construction of “pop-up” retail space where some of the coolest retail brands will rotate, according to the executive.
“A totally different take on the current retail proposition. That’s why we are designing and running our own hotels and creating our own five star brands. Pushing differentiation, giving everyone a five-star experience but offering distinctly different personalities and owning it,” Ho said.
All these changes in Melco properties are being made in preparation for the casino operator’s bid for a casino license in Japan, according to Ho. Just last week, the Japanese Diet has passed the much anticipated Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill to the delight of many casino operators like Melco Resorts.
While waiting for Japan to bid out its casino license, Ho believes that it is in the best interest of the company to be able to attract premium mass Chinese in their gaming and entertainment facilities in Macau.
Ho noted that Japan welcomed at least 29 million visitors in 2017, a far-cry from the 33 million visitors to Macau alone. With Japan tourism figures down 6.7 percent, Ho believes that Japan, a country where necessary communications and infrastructure are ready in place, remains to be underutilized.
“And which tourists are knocking on Japan’s door? Yup, our premium mass Chinese—the curious and culture seekers,” he said. “China contributed almost 60 percent of Japan’s in-bound tourism growth over the last five years. And the number of Chinese outbound premium travelers, are forecast to go from 64 million today to 120 million by 2025. Just in time, hopefully, for the opening of our first integrated resort in Japan.”
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An Ocean Resort Casino license was the final piece of the puzzle for the Atlantic City casino to open June 28, and the two-day hearing was an eye-opening experience for many.
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The Atlantic City facility obtained its licence a week before its scheduled grand opening.
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Macau junket operator Amax International Holdings has won a court case over the disputed ownership of the Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel.
On Friday, Macau Business reported that Macau’s Court of First Instance had ruled on June 15 that Amax subsidiary Empresa Hoteleria de Macau was the rightful owner of the Imperial Palace property, dealing a blow to Victory Success Holdings Ltd, an offshoot of Macau’s largest junket operator, Suncity Group Holdings Ltd.
The fight for control of the Imperial Palace, formerly known as the New Century Hotel, dates back to 2012, when a former paramour of Amax chairman Ng Man Sun claimed the property as her own after the couple split up. Ng had transferred 80% of his stake in Empresa Hoteleria to his ex before they split up but always insisted this transfer was ‘temporary.’
In 2016, Empresa Hoteleria announced that it had transferred the ownership stake to Victory Success the year before, purportedly as the settlement of a debt. This March, the Macau court ruled that Victory Success had “pretended” to hold a general assembly meeting, which in the court’s view invalidated the ownership transfer.
The following month, Victory Success sent around 40 staffers to forcibly take over the hotel and change all the locks. In May, the court issued an injunction ordering Victory Success to vacate the building. Victory Success challenged this injunction but its arguments were swatted down by the June 15 ruling.
The Imperial Palace hasn’t welcomed any guests since 2016, when the Macau Government Tourist Office ordered the property closed due to the ownership squabble having contributed to the general demise of the property.
Amax had also waged a long-running war regarding the property’s Greek Mythology Casino, which operated under an SJM Holdings license until it shut down in December 2015. Amax held a nearly one-quarter stake in the company that ran Greek Mythology, but claimed it hadn’t received any payments or proper accounting of gaming revenue for years.
In June 2012, Amax chairman Ng was viciously attacked by a gang of thugs while he was visiting the then New Century Hotel. Conflicting reports claimed the six attackers were armed with either hammers or razors, and speculation was that the attack was meant to ‘send a message’ from parties unknown.
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BlockChain Innovations Corp. (“BCI” or the “Company”), an international blockchain technology supplier serving the regulated gaming industry is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of intent with Capricorn Business Acquisition Inc. (NEX Board CAK.H), for its qualifying transaction to go-public in the Third Quarter of 2018. With the 6-3 United States Supreme Court decision two-weeks ago striking ...
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If you have little time left in this planet, what will you do?
Perhaps most of us will spend much of our time with our family and cherish every second making them feel loved. There are those who will take their time fixing broken relationships or making amends to the people they’ve caused undue pain. Ultimately, it is about seizing the moment and not letting time pass by—and that’s what a terminally ill New Jersey man has done when he learned that he may die anytime soon.
The Press of Atlantic City reported that 71-year-old John Mudry got his wish to have one last big day at Bally’s Atlantic City on Tuesday, and it was made through the efforts of his family and with the help from his hospice caretakers and health care providers.
Mudry, who is suffering from a non-treatable bladder cancer, had chosen to live his life to the fullest by enjoying a couple of cold beers and playing a few more hands of blackjack instead of moping around and feeling sorry for himself inside his hospice, according to the news outlet.
The septuagenarian made simple wishes to his family when he learned that his health started deteriorating and that his days are numbered. Some of those wishes include drinking Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda and munching on his favorite snacks of Vienna vanilla cookies. Mudry’s wish to visit Bally’s for the very last time was the most special. It was like asking someone to take him home, he said.
“I liked coming to Bally’s, they treated me good here,” Mudry said, according to the news outlet.
Inside the casino, Mudry prayed to hit a big jackpot in the blackjack table for his great-niece Ryan Smentkowski. Mudry knew that he wouldn’t be around to see Smentkowski walk the aisle that’s why he was hoping to rake some big bucks that day and give it as wedding gift to his niece.
Though he didn’t win the jackpot, Mudry was able to hand a few hundred dollars that he won that day.
Bally’s operator Caesars Entertainment treated Mudry’s family to a complimentary lunch at Buca di Beppo after several rounds of blackjack game as part of its corporate social responsibility program.
“We partner with many community groups,” Caesars Entertainment Public Relations Director Noel Stevenson said, according to the news report. “If you had one wish like this, to spend the day and enjoy yourself, we’re happy to help.”
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The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the general development plan special permit for the MMCT venue in East Windsor.
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If the New Jersey government shuts down June 30, Atlantic City casinos would follow suit a few days later, but one state senator wants to prevent that from happening.
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Games integration service APIgrator from Slotegrator is a tool to save your time and money. Thanks to this offer, the operator can add over 2 000 games into the online casino within a single session. Spinomenal as a known software developer in iGaming is now available for integration through the unified protocol called APIgrator. Thereby, the online casino vendors can ...
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The casino from Upstate New York has named Mark Juliano as its new general manager.
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Atlantic City casino revenue was down 5% in May compared to 2017, which is not a concern just yet with NJ sports betting and two new casinos coming soon.
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An initiative to expand casino gaming in North Jersey may have died but the people of Atlantic City believe that it’s only a matter of time before the plan rises from the grave.
The Press of Atlantic City reported several New Jersey lawmakers are trying to revive the proposal of casino expansion near New York City, almost two years after the electorate overwhelmingly rejected the idea.
Several bills aimed at expanding casino gaming in North Jersey were quietly filed at the start of the 2018-19 legislative session while everyone was busy waiting for the historic U.S. Supreme Court’s sports betting decision, according to Trenton’s Bad Bet Executive Director Bill Cortese.
Cortese zeroed in on Assemblyman Ralph Caputo’s ACR32 measure, which seeks to amend the state constitution to accommodate casino gambling in the northern parts of New Jersey.
Cortese said the measure got stuck in the Assembly Tourism, Gaming and Arts Committee, which was headed by Caputo. Nevertheless, Cortese vowed to continue opposing North Jersey casino expansion to preserve Atlantic City’s billion-dollar economic activity and the jobs of those who are living in South Jersey.
Veteran casino executive Steve Norton, considered the architect of bringing casino gaming to Atlantic City, believes that expanding gambling in North Jersey wouldn’t put Atlantic City at a disadvantage.
Gaming operators with existing gaming facilities in Atlantic City may also benefit should they construct another casino in North Jersey, according to Norton. He suggested that a portion of the revenue from North Jersey casinos could be allocated to Atlantic City.
“Atlantic City should understand that if they get taxes from the Meadowlands, it could be a win-win for everybody,” Norton said, according to the news outlet.
In November 2016, 78 percent of New Jersey voters thumbed down a ballot proposal to allow casinos outside Atlantic City. Proponents of the ballot lamented the outcome of the polls, claiming New Jersey would miss the chance to generate millions of dollars in tax revenues for the state and produce thousands of jobs.
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Pennsylvania casino operators had a basically flat performance in May, with both slots and table games reporting only minor improvements.
Figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) show the state’s 12 licensed casino operators reported combined gaming revenue of $278.9m in May, up a modest 0.4% from the same month last year.
Slots revenue was also up 0.4% to just under $204m, led (as always) by the Parx Casino with $35.7m (+4.7%) followed by Sands Bethlehem’s $27m (+1.9%) and Rivers Casino’s $22.7m (+2.4%).
The table game scores were led (as always) by Sands, although its May total was down nearly 9.7% to $19.6m, while Parx reported its tables rising 12.7% to $16m. SugarHouse Casino ranked third with $10.1m (-11.8%).
Speaking of SugarHouse, the Philadelphia property welcomed a new general manager last week. Cheryl Duhon, who formerly managed business at Resorts Casino Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi, replaces Wendy Hamilton, who relinquished her role as SugarHouse GM in April.
BUELLER? BUELLER? ANYONE?
Pennsylvania’s casino market has seen two properties – Sands Bethlehem and Presque Isle Downs – change hands in recent months, and at least some of the interest in this market was reportedly sparked by the state’s imminent launch of intrastate online gambling operations.
However, while the PGCB officially invited casino operators to submit their online gambling license applications in April, Online Poker Report revealed last week that the PGCB has yet to receive a single application.
The delay may have something to do with Pennsylvania legislators requiring online slots operators to pay the insanely high tax rate of 54% that the state’s land-based slots operators pay. But while the land-based casinos can derive extra revenue from their slots players enjoying food, drink and other non-gaming amenities while they’re on the property, there is no similar benefit in the online realm.
As such, would-be online licensees may be waiting out the 90-day window in which the $10m fee allows online operators to offer slots, table games and poker. At the conclusion of this deadline, licenses for those products can be had on an individual basis for $4m apiece, and the growing suspicion is that interest in slots licenses will lag those other two products.
The PGCB has yet to confirm whether it has received any applications for sports betting licenses. The PGCB opened the licensing derby earlier this month but early reports had the regulator still waiting to see its first application come through the door.
Similar to the online slots issue, Pennsylvania has imposed a punitive 36% tax on betting revenue, four times the rate charged just across the border in New Jersey (where interest in betting licenses has been high). Honestly, it’s almost as if Pennsylvania really doesn’t want to see its gambling expansion plans succeed.
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On opening day, Hard Rock Atlantic City will be home to a 36,000-square-foot strip club run by national gentlemen's club chain Scores, a fact that Hard Rock isn't too happy about.
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Last week, Monmouth Park in Oceanport and Borgata in Atlantic City took the first legal sports bets in NJ. And with that, NJ sports betting at long last was live.
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Leading provider of digital casino solutions, NetEnt continues its growth strategy on regulated markets. Right now NetEnt becomes the first supplier to launch its award-winning games with The Stars Group in Portugal. Following successful technical integration, a collection of selected NetEnt’s popular games are now available with The Stars Group in Portugal. The Stars Group is one of the leading ...
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Last Friday, Macau welcomed a new casino when it turned on the lights in the Morpheus resort. The resort, which was designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid, features characteristics commonly seen in her work, such as futuristic curves and skeletal steel structures.
The $1.1-billion structure adds a 42-story building to the skyline in Macau. It was named after the Greek god of dreams and was developed by Melco International. Construction initially began in 2013 and Melco chairman Lawrence Ho chose Hadid for the design in order “to find the most iconic architect that can do something just insane.”
The top floors of Morpheus are reserved for high rollers. They offer duplex villas with private in-room gyms and massage rooms. The top floors also provide an exclusive gaming area open only to the high rollers.
Morpheus is designed to be the flagship hotel for Melco’s City of Dreams in Macau. According to Ho, “Everything we built up until now has been to build up a great showcase.”
There are no internal columns in the building – the first of its kind in all of Asia. Instead, the exoskeleton frame supports the entire structure. It was designed to look like the number “eight,” which is often correlated with fortune and prosperity.
The launch of the resort comes after China began a crackdown on corruption in 2012. Casino revenue suffered for years following the crackdown, and only last year started to show signs of life. This year has been particularly favorable to the casinos.
Following the increased regulations and oversight, Macau has now seen an explosion of mega-resorts that offer everything from theme parks to luxury spas. While the VIP gambling market has begun to return and drive up revenue, the mass market is still trying to catch up. The mega-resorts are an attempt to attract that market.
Hadid passed away in 2016. She was the first female to earn the Pritzker Prize, an award given to a living architect whose work combines vision, talent and commitment and who has consistently contributed to humanity through architecture. Hadid, who held dual nationality from Iraq and the UK, won the prize in 2004 and also won the UK’s Stirling Prize for architecture in 2010 and 2011.
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