Macau gaming Lounge has launched with 50 slot machines and about seven multi-station machines.

The lounge, which can seat 57 players, was formally launched Monday. Another side of the business has been in operation since last November.

"Last year, we started the bar because we weren't totally ready with the gaming lounge yet; the gaming lounge followed about three to four months after," said Macau Managing Director Matthew Chinn.

"How the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission operates is that they tell you go and apply for the machines and carry them in, but the actual licence to operate we didn't get until December," he said.

Chin said his father Rory Chinn is the sole investor and that more than US$1 million was poured into the operation.

Macau lounge, which is named for the Chinese region renowned for gambling and tourism, will compete with established players such as Acropolis, Monte Carlo Gaming, Vegas Gaming, Treasure Hunt Gaming and El Rancho, in an industry which numbers approximately 25 lounges.

Supreme Ventures Limited is considered a dominant player in the sector, operating four gaming lounges: three under the Acropolis brand at Barbican, Portmore, and State Mall in Cross Roads; and Coral Cliff lounge in Montego Bay.

Similarly, Village Resorts operate four gaming rooms at the Breezes resorts in Runaway Bay, Falmouth and Negril, while World-Wide Concepts operate another seven across the Riu resorts.

Chin said Macau plans to differentiate itself through its bar service.

"What we have unique from the other facilities is this huge bar; so maybe that is our niche. Yes, there are established players, because it's not like we have recreated the wheel or have something per se that they don't have; we just have to do our best, give great service and be familiar with our customers," he said.

The Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission, which earlier this year lifted the eight-year ban on the licensing of gaming lounges for shops with 20 to 150 gaming machines, reported that it received seven applications up to May.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com