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Casino junket operators pamper high-rollers
IT STARTS with a call - an average of 300 a day - from customers. Then, one of the 1,100 employees at Macau-based junket operator Neptune Group, a key player in Asia, tailors an itinerary for a gaming trip.
Usually held over a long weekend to gaming havens like Macau and Las Vegas, details like accommodation, airport transfer in a limousine, changing of cash to chips, a 24-hour concierge service, bookings at high-end restaurants and tickets for concerts are taken care of.
Sometimes, private jets are chartered and personal chefs are hired.
Mr Ben Leong, business development manager at Neptune, which has applied to the Casino Regulatory Authority to operate here, said customers are mostly couples - husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend. They come from places like China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. Mostly high-rollers, they bet between HK$100,000 (S$16,650) and HK$50 million a night, he added.
Typically, junket operators such as Neptune earn a percentage - about 0.6 to 1.8 per cent - of the amount of chips bought by clients, according to gaming websites. This is paid by the casinos.
While some places like Macau impose a 1.25 per cent cap on the commission earned by junket operators, Singapore has left this to be sorted out by the casinos.'Good junket operators have a very big network and have representatives in major cities. Our job is to introduce more high-rollers to casinos,' said Mr Leong.
To ensure that customers are well-pampered, Neptune signs contracts with hotels and event promoters to pre-buy rooms or seats at events.
'We risk losing money if we are unable to sell what we pre-purchased,' he said. 'But at least the customers are happy, we have taken care of them from the moment they arrive till the minute they leave.'
JESSICA LIM
IT STARTS with a call - an average of 300 a day - from customers. Then, one of the 1,100 employees at Macau-based junket operator Neptune Group, a key player in Asia, tailors an itinerary for a gaming trip.
Usually held over a long weekend to gaming havens like Macau and Las Vegas, details like accommodation, airport transfer in a limousine, changing of cash to chips, a 24-hour concierge service, bookings at high-end restaurants and tickets for concerts are taken care of.
Sometimes, private jets are chartered and personal chefs are hired.
Mr Ben Leong, business development manager at Neptune, which has applied to the Casino Regulatory Authority to operate here, said customers are mostly couples - husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend. They come from places like China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. Mostly high-rollers, they bet between HK$100,000 (S$16,650) and HK$50 million a night, he added.
Typically, junket operators such as Neptune earn a percentage - about 0.6 to 1.8 per cent - of the amount of chips bought by clients, according to gaming websites. This is paid by the casinos.
While some places like Macau impose a 1.25 per cent cap on the commission earned by junket operators, Singapore has left this to be sorted out by the casinos.'Good junket operators have a very big network and have representatives in major cities. Our job is to introduce more high-rollers to casinos,' said Mr Leong.
To ensure that customers are well-pampered, Neptune signs contracts with hotels and event promoters to pre-buy rooms or seats at events.
'We risk losing money if we are unable to sell what we pre-purchased,' he said. 'But at least the customers are happy, we have taken care of them from the moment they arrive till the minute they leave.'
JESSICA LIM
