Casa Real Casino in Zape, one of the city’s remaining six “satellite casinos”, will close for good after midnight on Friday, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has announced.
The bureau made the announcement in a statement last week.
Casa Real (“Royal House”) Casino is one of the six satellite casinos currently still in operation in the city.
The government announced in June that in compliance with the three-year transition period stipulated by the new legislation amending the gaming law, all of the city’s then 11 satellite casinos had decided to close for good by December 31 this year. Grandview Casino in Taipa, which closed in late July, was the first of them to cease operations.
After Grand Dragon Casino, also in Taipa, closed in September, two satellite casinos in the peninsula, namely Emperor Palace Casino in Nam Van district and Waldo Casino in Zape, ceased operations late last month.
Legend Palace Casino, located in the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf entertainment complex in Nape, closed for good last week.
Consequently, Casa Real Casino will be the sixth to cease operations. After its scheduled closure later this week, there will still be five satellite casinos in Macau.
The so-called satellite casinos in Macau are formally owned by gaming concessionaires but are actually run and managed by third parties as they are housed on premises that are not owned by the respective gaming concessionaires.
After the three-year transition period, which is scheduled to end on December 31 this year, all satellite casinos must close, unless the respective gaming concessionaire chooses to hire a “management company” to operate the casino. However, such a management company is only allowed to receive a management fee from the respective gaming concessionaire, no longer being permitted to share in the casino’s revenues.
According to June’s government announcements, the three respective gaming concessionaires, SJM, Galaxy, and Melco, decided to terminate the operations of all 11 satellite casinos before the expiration of the transition period based on their respective commercial decisions, comprising Grandview, Legend Palace, Fortuna, Landmark, Ponte 16, Le Royal Arc, Emperor Palace, Kam Pek Paradise, and Casa Real owned by SJM, Waldo owned by Galaxy, and Grand Dragon owned by Melco.
Last week’s DICJ statement announced that after business negotiations, Casa Real Casino’s third-party operator and SJM decided to terminate the operations of the casino after 11:59 p.m. on Friday, i.e., it will cease operations from Saturday.
The statement pledged that the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, in collaboration with the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL), will ensure that SJM fulfils its promise to ensure the employment of those working at Casa Real Casino after its closure.
According to the statement, there are currently 285 employees working at Casa Real Casino.
This photo taken yesterday shows Casa Real Hotel on Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues in Zape where Casa Real Casino is located. – Photo: Tony Wong
