Macau 澳門小游

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wow! This is the advice from our good friend who probably wagered the most among us!!

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Not in Macau, not in casino. 
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I came across this article last week about how junkets work in Macau. The Seeking Alpha article is a bit of a promotion for the stock, but the business description should be correct. I also found a Daiwa research on the same stock.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/307864-asia-entertainment-wealth-play-with-high-octane-business-model-set-for-rapid-growth

Some of the interesting numbers about this VIP room operator:
- 30 gaming tables in 3 casinos
- US$2 billion betting turnover per month! That's HK$17 million per day per table!
- Revenue is 1.25% commission of US$2b, or HK$200 million per month.
- Major cost is rebate to agents, @ ~0.95%. So they keep $47m/mth before operating expenses.
- Baccarat the probably the most popular game, with house edge 2.85% (see Daiwa report). The house kept 1.6% after commission to junkets.
- At US$2b turnover with 2.85% house edge, the hold (gamblers money loss on the table) should be US$57m/mth!
- I believe collection from losing gambler is the highest risk in this business. How much of the US$57m/mth is collected?

For me, the most interesting would be the actual collection rate, but none of the two reports seems to have any number. The Daiwa report says "major shareholders have guaranteed to absorb personally any credit costs". Does it mean that they are popping up the P&L? And why?

Or maybe the major shareholders are having side bets that's supposedly very common among junkets, and supposedly amount to the same or even larger than the reported turnover. However these side bets are not counted in the official report, with all 2.85% profit margin going to the junket operators. If true, the side bet income may be more than covered the credit cost to the major shareholders.

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Just come back from another trip to Macau. Golf, eat, sleep, eat again, etc... lived like a pig.

Anyway, on the way back, I checked out the Duty Free shop which normally would have many expensive brandies or whiskies. But today all expensive stuff are SOLD OUT! Not even a bottle of regular XO.

Who says the economy is bad?!

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Some pictures of the Banyan Tree Macau.

The room is very nice. The only complain I have is the TV - it's incredibly hard to operate. Otherwise it's very nice for a relaxing stay.

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The bedroom part of the room.

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The relaxation pool is about 14' by 4'.

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Tea by the pool.

Our group booked more than 10 rooms. In some room the relaxation pool would start pouring hot water in the middle of the night, thus woke up the occupants. They had to call in the hotel staff to turn off the auto temperature keeping function.

Almost everyone in our group liked the heated, automatic toilet. One couple said they are going to install one at their home.

The wooden bath tub has two small wooden stools inside. When the bath is filled with water, the stools would float! It didn't make sense to me. However later I found out that the stool should have a few small suction cups at the bottom to hold it to the bottom of the tub, but in most of our rooms the suction cups were broken or gone. Consider the hotel is only 7-month old at the time, this design does not last the test of time.

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Some pictures of the dinner at Tim's Kitchen.  

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