Macau — The Dragons’ Den

Macau is the world’s biggest gaming city that you’ve never heard of — until now. With estimated revenue of $30 billion in 2017, it dwarfs Nevada and its combined revenue from all of its casinos totaling a lowly estimated $11 billion. Macau has been a destination for serious players for decades, and thanks to Dragon Coin, its popularity will only increase in the years to come.

Five Star Luxuries for Everyone

Macau doesn’t just cater for the casino gamers — it has something to offer everyone, whether spending time relaxing at a spa, sampling the delicious food the city has to offer, or enjoying one of the many tours of the historic area, there will always be something exciting to do. And with thirty three five start hotels offering 22,000 rooms between them, luxury accommodation is never far away.
With the number of visitors to Macau increasing year on year, industry is confident that this growth will continue, with sector analysts generally agreeing that increases in VIP gamers (junkets) numbers is driving the growth.

What is a Junket?

Dragon Inc. describes a junket as “… an area or a room in a casino leased by operators who invest and manage these venues as independent profit centers. So-called ‘Elite Gamers’ are then invited to attend and are fully hosted whilst they play high-stakes games of chance.”
However, it’s not as straightforward as simply showing up wanting to play — there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes before anyone gets to sit at a table.

How Junkets Work

Typically, high roller players are invited to junkets after being vetted by an international network of agents for credit worthiness and sustainability. Should the player decide to attend, they will inform the junket operators of how much they want to stake. The junket operator arranges the requested line of credit with the casino and then provides the player with what are called non-negotiable credit chips. These are chips that cannot be cashed in, and are used to play games at the tables throughout the duration of the junket. Player winnings are paid in negotiable chips that can be cashed in, and transferred back to the player account. Given that some VIP junket baccarat tables have a maximum bet of HK$2 million per play, it’s easy to see how the amount of money that the junket operators need to transfer to the casino can reach staggering amounts in a short space of time.

Not only are the amounts of money large, the costs associated with arranging the players bank role is too, with the typical fee, including commission for the introducing agent, coming in at around 5% of the stake. However, that’s just the initial cost — 5% is charged again when the player wants to cash out.

This is where the Dragon Platform comes in to play. By using the Dragon Platform, a gamer can easily convert their Dragon Coins (DRG) to digital Dragon Global Chips (DGC) for use in the junket. This manages to cut out the expense of the traditional money managers, saving both the player and junket operators a substantial sum in fees.

The savings and benefits of switching to the Dragon Platform are obvious and considerable for everyone involved, allowing funds to be channeled back in to the magical city of Macau, to the enjoyment of all.