Union Gaming: VIP slots room launched at Jimei

A VIP slots room was launched over the weekend at the Jimei casino, located next to Grand Lapa Macau on the Peninsula, Union Gaming Research has disclosed in a research note.
“We believe the opening of this slot parlour could be indicative of a segment of the[junket] industry that is very much in need of revenue and willing to try an idea that in a different era would likely not have even been considered,” research house analyst Grant Govertsen wrote in the report.
According to the research house, the “first-of-its-kind junket-driven” VIP slots room features 130 slot machines. The Union Gaming analyst believes that the new room was primarily funded by traditional junket investors.
“We would caution that slot players are exceptionally fickle and VIP slot players [are] probably even more so. They are very high maintenance from a customer service perspective and are very particular about what games they want to play,” the research house perceives.
Meanwhile, the analyst claimed in the report that he does not see the new VIP slots room easily attracting clients.
“The location of this new VIP slot parlour is within an existing third party casino that offers few other amenities, and we believe it is one of the lower performing third party properties in Macau. As such, it could be a tough sell to attract and retain players based solely on having VIP slots on offer,” the analyst indicated.
Nevertheless, he believes that the new VIP slot parlour could still hold the potential to initiate “a price war” on the Peninsula, which may lead to the near-term disruption of the market as premium slot players may be interested in trying the new parlour.