Asia's whales take a battering
They are known in the gaming industry as 'whales'. And those from Asia enjoyed a reputation for being the fattest and most inveterate of all. Wealthy hard-core gamblers, their custom is so highly valued that no expense is spared by leading casinos to woo them. Private jets, opulent suites, exotic entertainment, and exquisite food and wines are routinely laid on to snare this rare breed of high rollers.
The Asian whale, who favoured baccarat in a private gaming room and enjoyed minimum credit of US$1 million (HK$7.74 million), could afford to be fickle about where in the world he laid his gleaming betting chips.
'It's unbelievable - sometimes even I'm shocked by how much money these people gamble,' says Jackie Yee, a Chinese-American veteran of casino management from Atlantic City in New Jersey to Sun City in South Africa.
One of the world's biggest whales remains Australian billionaire Kerry Packer, renowned for massive winning bets - which have ruined profits for large casinos - and for tipping croupiers US$100,000 when he is on a roll. (Mr Packer is known as a 'jumbo whale', big enough to drop more than US$10 million in a session without batting an eyelid.) Now in business for himself as a junket operator, Mr Yee networks at a rarefied level, identifying, schmoozing and inviting select Asian whales (and jumbos) to play in casinos around the world. One reason he set up his Castaway Group office in Hong Kong was because of the abundance of big-money local players. 'There are more than 50 regular whales in Hong Kong alone,' he says. 'It's our job to find them. We know who most of them are.' With bundles of cash and time at their disposal, Hong Kong tycoons win - and lose - countless fortunes on the green baize from Monte Carlo to Melbourne to Las Vegas. By taking them there, Mr Yee creams off a tidy slice for himself.
But now, the tide is turning against many of Asia's whales, who have been wounded - some mortally - in the region's economic crisis. In the past 12 months they have been going under at an alarming rate, resulting in sizeable turnover slumps for casinos throughout the world.
Some casino operators, who have long been comfortable allowing top high rollers to bet big on credit, are losing tens of millions of dollars, even when they win. Bad cheques or flat refusals by down-and-out Asian gamblers to settle their accounts are the talk of the industry. Casino revenues throughout the world have dropped - in some places by 60 per cent, say insiders.