Wynn Wins Again

Thousands of gamblers crowded into American billionaire Stephen Wynn’s new $1.2 billion casino resort in Macau, the Chinese territory that may soon unseat the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s gambling capital.

Fireworks showered the Wynn Macau with sparks just before its midnight opening last week. A huge sign lit up with red lights, while speakers blared Frank Sinatra’s "Luck be a Lady" outside the 600-room complex that hopes to lure China’s swelling population of gamblers.

Macau–a peninsula and two islands off the southeastern Chinese coast–is the only place in China that allows casino gambling. The tiny territory–less than one-sixth the size of Washington, D.C.–was a Portuguese enclave until it was handed back to China in 1999.

Zhu Jingqing, a middle-aged man from the central Chinese province of Hubei, was in the huge crowd that rushed into the casino when it opened.

"I feel that all mainlanders should come here to have a look," he said.

Kong Ermu, 28, a Chinese tourist from the eastern province of Anhui, said, "It’s far better than what I imagined. It’s classier and comfortable."

Wynn, 65, was one of two Las Vegas gaming tycoons who were allowed to open casinos here after the government in 2002 broke up a monopoly controlled by local mogul Stanley Ho for 40 years. Ho’s casinos were smoky, dingy venues–far from the glitz and sparkle of Las Vegas.

Ending the monopoly sparked a building boom that will bring an estimated 2,200 new hotel rooms into the market this year and another 15,000 in 2008.

"The speed of development is dizzying. The population it seeks to serve is expanding," Wynn said.

Many believe that Macau will soon overtake the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s casino capital. Last year, Macau was about even with the Las Vegas Strip, which had "win," or net amount lost to casinos, of $5.3 billion. Experts see Macau’s gambling revenue growing quickly to $9 billion, then to $11 billion by 2010 and upward of $15 billion by 2012.

Skeptics doubt that Macau can absorb all the rooms. They point out that Chinese gamblers are notorious for staying in Macau for only a day and spending most of their money at casino tables. Unlike in Las Vegas, visitors in Macau don’t go to fancy restaurants, conventions and shows.

But Wynn said the same was true of Las Vegas before developers built high-quality resorts and hotels that gave tourists–even families– a reason to spend a few days in the city. He said the same if-you-build-it-they-will-come approach will work in Macau. "We haven’t had a full-on fancy hotel built here," he said. "This is the first one."

The Wynn Macau has a sleek design with a sloping roof. A man-made lake in front of the resort entertains crowds with jets of water that shoot up as music plays.

Wynn likes to display fine art at his properties, and reception areas at the Wynn Macau feature two original French impressionist paintings: Henri Matisse’s "The Persian Robe" and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s "Among the Roses."

The casino has plush bright red carpet and offers 200 table games and 380 slot machines in a hall of 100,000 square feet. Visitors can relax in a spa, dine in six gourmet restaurants and shop in an esplanade with Bulgari, Chanel, Fendi, Prada and Giorgio Armani stores.

Wynn, the son of a bingo parlor operator, was the keno manager at the Frontier Hotel before he bought the famed Golden Nugget casino. The billionaire developer later built the Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio themed resorts.

Wynn Macau’s opening comes two years after Wynn’s arch nemesis, Sheldon Adelson, began operating his Sands Macau. The casino has been wildly successful, and Adelson recouped his investment within the first year. Adelson said Wynn would "do okay" but wouldn’t be very successful because his complex wasn’t an "integrated resort" that offered a wide variety of attractions.

Adelson is developing another massive project in Macau that will include casinos, a convention center, malls and Hilton, Sheraton, Shangri-la and Four Seasons hotels.

But Wynn said he wasn’t interested in large-scale projects. He also said he was confident that customers would be drawn to his high-end complex.

"We never wanted to be the biggest," Wynn said. "We only enjoy being the best." –AP