SJM lower gaming table requirement for new resort

SJM Holdings Chief Executive Ambrose So Shu Fai said the company is planning to apply for “400 to 500” new live gaming tables for the under-construction Grand Lisboa Palace in Cotai.

Previously the firm had said it would look at asking for 700 tables but that figure has dropped and the new application will be put in once the completion of the new resort is nearing completion.

Grand Lisboa Palace is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year, but in 2014 when SJM executive break ground on the construction it said that they will apply for 700 tables and some 1,200 slot and gaming machines.

However many analysts believe that SJM along with the other the other resorts being built in Cotai will be given 250 tables each, which will include Wynn Palace from Wynn Macau Ltd; Parisian Macao from Sands China Ltd; MGM Cotai from MGM China Holdings Ltd; and Grand Lisboa Palace.

Last year Studio City operated by Melco Crown Entertainment and Phase 2 of Galaxy Macau were both given 250 tables each when opening their new resorts.

Mr So said on Friday that SJM Holdings would wait for the government’s table allocation for Grand Lisboa Palace before looking into the possibility of shifting tables from some of its other Macau casinos to the Cotai property. The latter scenario would be in case SJM Holdings did not receive enough new gaming tables for Grand Lisboa Palace.

The SJM Holdings chief executive told reporters that it was still “hard to predict” whether the Grand Lisboa Palace project would face any construction delays. He said the project so far was progressing as scheduled.