MGM Criticizes Macao Foreign Zones, Emphasizes Solutions
MGM Criticizes Macao Foreign Zones, Emphasizes Solutions
Blog Article
Casino gambling, sports gambling, and iGame activities are banned in China. The country has strict laws against gambling, but exceptions apply to Macau, a popular tourist destination and a special administrative district in China.
Although the city offers casino gambling, crackdowns on the activity have been expanded from China with requests to implement foreigner-only gambling in Macau. This has been done in an effort to track their activities and find out what portion of the operators' profits come from foreign tourists.
Details of the new requirements first appeared a few years ago around the end of 2022. Despite this requirement, separating foreign casino visitors has been quite unpopular and gambling operators have quickly identified this trend, along with the need for effective ways to track the activities of foreign visitors.
MGM Resorts CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle participated in the J.P. Morgan Games, Accommodation, Restaurant, and Leisure Management Access Forum presented by IAG. At Friday's event, the executive spoke about the ineffectiveness of the foreign-only gambling zone, revealing details of the innovative solutions the company has used to address the issue.
Hornbuckle said that with the implementation of the new requirement for foreign-only visitors, operators faced challenges as they had to create private rooms for gamblers from different jurisdictions. This otherwise separated visitors and turned out to be a fairly unpopular way.
Chip-in-chip technology brings benefits
To address the need to track the gambling activities of foreign gamblers in Macau, MGM Resorts has implemented a new "chip-in-chip" program. Talking about the benefits of the technology, the company's CEO and president explained that the technology allows venues to track all chips and reduce gaming errors at the same time. According to Hornbuckle, the technology has also played an important role in back-end operations, including financing and accounting.
The executive said the technology is a big advantage and that it is easy to track the activities of foreign players. At the same time, Hornbuckle said it contributes to the customer experience because customers in different jurisdictions are not separated from each other. Finally, MGM Resorts' president said the gambling regulator in Macau approves the technology considering its effectiveness. 동행복권파워볼