WGM#38 NOV/DEC 2015
The Macau gaming industry is synonymous with junkets. First started by none other than Stanley Ho in the 1960s, these junkets and the VIP gamblers they provide have played a vital role in Macau’s rise over the past decade. However, the recent downturn has changed the landscape in this unique part of the world with the junket business suffering more than any other and a number of VIP rooms being forced to close in Macau over the past 12 months. So what does the future hold? In this issue of WGM, we speak exclusively to the Chairman of one of Macau’s biggest junket operators Tak Chun Group, Mr Levo Chan, about the current gaming climate, his expectations for the coming years and why Tak Chun has expanded while other junkets have slowed right down. Poker fans will enjoy our lengthy and intriguing interview with World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Director Jack Effel who explains just how much goes into organizing the world’s biggest tournament series each and every year as well as regaling us with some of his favorite stories from the past. We tackle the smoking debate as Macau’s legislators decide whether to allow smoking in specially designated smoking lounges or ban the habit altogether, while our responsible gambling series sees us visit one of Macau’s main problem gambling treatment centres. In sport, we look at Manchester United’s big gamble on teen star Anthony Martial as well as examining which of the world’s major sports would benefit most from cracking the lucrative Chinese market. And our resident party animal tells us all about one of Macau’s newest trendy nightspots – Ritz-Carlton Bar & Lounge.
The Macau gaming industry is synonymous with junkets. First started by none other than Stanley Ho in the 1960s, these junkets and the VIP gamblers they provide have played a vital role in Macau’s rise over the past decade.
However, the recent downturn has changed the landscape in this unique part of the world with the junket business suffering more than any other and a number of VIP rooms being forced to close in Macau over the past 12 months. So what does the future hold? In this issue of WGM, we speak exclusively to the Chairman of one of Macau’s biggest junket operators Tak Chun Group, Mr Levo Chan, about the current gaming climate, his expectations for the coming years and why Tak Chun has expanded while other junkets have slowed right down.
Poker fans will enjoy our lengthy and intriguing interview with World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Director Jack Effel who explains just how much goes into organizing the world’s biggest tournament series each and every year as well as regaling us with some of his favorite stories from the past.
We tackle the smoking debate as Macau’s legislators decide whether to allow smoking in specially designated smoking lounges or ban the habit altogether, while our responsible gambling series sees us visit one of Macau’s main problem gambling treatment centres.
In sport, we look at Manchester United’s big gamble on teen star Anthony Martial as well as examining which of the world’s major sports would benefit most from cracking the lucrative Chinese market.
And our resident party animal tells us all about one of Macau’s newest trendy nightspots – Ritz-Carlton Bar & Lounge.
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历 史 告 诉 我 们 , 非 亚 洲 传 统 运 动 要 想 打<br />
入 中 国 市 场 , 最 好 的 方 法 就 是 让 一 名 中<br />
国 球 员 在 这 项 运 动 中 成 为 世 界 最 顶 尖 的<br />
运 动 员 之 一 。 说 到 底 , 中 国 人 喜 爱 看 到<br />
本 土 运 动 员 为 国 争 光 。 篮 球 的 姚 明 、 斯<br />
诺 克 的 丁 俊 晖 和 网 球 巨 星 李 娜 , 都 是 各<br />
自 运 动 在 中 国 流 行 起 来 和 蓬 勃 发 展 的 主<br />
要 原 因 。 那 么 , 有 哪 些 其 他 运 动 能 够<br />
借 助 类 似 的 推 动 力 , 打 入 中 国 市 场<br />
呢 ?WGM 带 大 家 走 近 看 看 。<br />
of a<br />
History tells us that the best way for<br />
traditionally non-Asian sports to break<br />
into China is for a Chinese player to<br />
become one of the world’s best in that<br />
sport. After all, the Chinese naturally love<br />
seeing one of their own doing the country<br />
proud. Basketball’s Yao Ming, snooker’s<br />
Ding Junhui and tennis star Li Na are all<br />
examples of Chinese athletes responsible<br />
for their chosen sport becoming enormously<br />
popular back home. But what other sports could do<br />
with a similar boost to help them make it big in the<br />
Chinese market? WGM takes a closer look.<br />
Men’s tennis<br />
If the enormous impact Li Na had on the<br />
popularity of tennis in China is anything to go by,<br />
it’s fair to say the men’s ATP Tour would kill to see<br />
a Chinese champion emerge in the coming years.<br />
The “Li Na effect” – as it is known – changed<br />
the face of tennis both in China and around the<br />
world almost overnight. In 2011, China was home<br />
to just two WTA events in Guangzhou and Beijing<br />
with combined total prize money of US$4.7<br />
million. Then Li won the French Open and tennis<br />
exploded.<br />
Following on from that success and her<br />
second grand slam title three years later at<br />
the Australian Open, by 2014 China boasted a<br />
whopping 10 WTA tournaments on its calendar<br />
including a US$2.5 million event in Li’s hometown<br />
of Wuhan.<br />
Participation numbers in China rose from<br />
just one million when Li first burst onto the<br />
scene to more than 14 million by the time<br />
of her retirement last year, while of the 330<br />
million who tuned in to watch her French<br />
Open victory in 2011 more than a third of<br />
them were in China!<br />
While the WTA itself would love to<br />
find another Li Na, a male champion would<br />
have an even bigger impact competing<br />
against the likes of Roger Federer, Novak<br />
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.<br />
The ATP currently has three<br />
tournaments in China each year –<br />
headed by the Shanghai Masters in late<br />
October. Notably, the Shanghai Masters<br />
is the tour’s most profitable Masters<br />
77
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