Crystal Palace, a former gaming area housed within the Hotel Lisboa building on Macau peninsula, is likely to be relaunched in “late November or early December”, using ex-satellite casino tables, and with the aim of appealing to former satellite players.
That is according to gaming licensee SJM Resorts Ltd, in an emailed response to an enquiry from GGRAsia.
GGRAsia’s recent checks showed revamp work going on at the Crystal Palace zone. The Crystal Palace zone had been shuttered for some time, though the company did not clarify for how long.
“We can confirm that SJM Resorts is preparing to relaunch the former Crystal Palace gaming area, with its opening slated for late November or early December, pending final government approval,” said SJM Resorts.
The firm further noted, regarding Crystal Palace: “The refreshed space will primarily serve the market segment traditionally centred on Macau peninsula satellite casinos, offering a service configuration similar to a mid-sized satellite property.”
SJM Resorts, part of SJM Holdings Ltd, has been the licence provider for the majority of the city’s traditional satellite casinos. A June press release from SJM Holdings, had mentioned nine SJM-licensed satellites as of that date. Since then, a raft of closures has been announced, and some have already been effected. GGRAsia reported on Monday that SJM-licensed Casino Fortuna will shut down on December 10.
Only one legacy satellite of any licensee – namely SJM-licensed Casino L’Arc in downtown Macau – will remain in the city’s market as a non-satellite operation after the end of this year.
The SJM parent announced last week that it would spend HKD1.75 billion (US$224.8 million) to acquire L’Arc Hotel the location of the Casino L’Arc satellite, and absorb it in to core operations. The parent said that venue would form part of a “core peninsula cluster” of properties, alongside the group’s Casino Lisboa and the next-door Grand Lisboa gaming resort.
GGRAsia asked SJM Resorts how many gaming tables are to be transferred from shuttered satellite gaming venues it licensed, to the revamped Crystal Palace.
It stated: “Final arrangements, including the precise table allocation, are currently being concluded.”
The existing main gaming floors at Casino Lisboa were – as of Friday checks by GGRAsia – offering ‘smart’ table live-dealer baccarat at minimum bets between HKD300 to HKD500. The existing main floors also featured non-baccarat table games, including sic bo and pai gow.
In an August filing, SJM Holdings said SJM Resorts had signed a promissory agreement with the brand’s ultimate parent, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau SA (STDM), to acquire a portion of Hotel Lisboa, the host site of Casino Lisboa, for a total consideration of HKD529 million.
Once that deal is completed, SJM Resorts intends to expand the operational footprint of Casino Lisboa by 7,504 square metres (80,772 sq.feet), it was stated in the filing.
It also mentioned the group would be transferring certain gaming assets from satellite casinos to a “central flagship location” under Casino Lisboa.