Director of casino bidder drops out

A director of Galaxy Casino whose late father, Yip Hon, was known as the 'god of gambling' dropped out of the company two days before it was awarded a gaming licence in Macau last month.

Yip Wai-chau's position with Galaxy, which entered into a joint venture with the Venetian casino of Las Vegas in the last week of the tender, ended on February 6, according to documents filed with the Macau companies registry.

The Venetian casino refused to comment on the reason for Mr Yip's withdrawal from the Macau company. Attempts to seek comment from Mr Yip were unsuccessful.

While there is no suggestion Mr Yip has any organised crime links, it is believed his father's reputation may have caused difficulties for the Venetian casino under the United States' tough gambling regulations that require operators' associates, families and friends to be squeaky clean.

Another factor in his withdrawal is believed to have been difficulties that existed between the late Yip Hon and Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun. Yip Hon was one of the founders in the early 1960s of Mr Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) company - whose 40-year monopoly officially ends at midnight tonight.

He withdrew in 1982 after a long-running dispute with his former partner and sought to establish gambling-related businesses, which further infuriated Mr Ho.

A Macau government source said Galaxy had explained Yip Wai-chau's withdrawal as being intended to avoid any potential problems with Mr Ho, who will continue to run casinos.