Macao's casino tycoon Stanley Ho announced Thursday that his flagship
casino company would offer a 7 million-pataca (875,000 US dollars) lucky draw at
the opening of the Mona Lisa Gambling Hall.
In celebration of the second anniversary of the Macao Gaming Co.Ltd.(SJM),
which was founded by Stanley Ho to enter the bidding ofthe government-issued
casino operation concession, the Mona Lisa lucky draw will be held from Sept. 17
to Oct. 18, and the prizes will be over 7 million patacas.
Ho said that the Mona Lisa Hall housed in the Hotel Lisboa is the third theme
gambling hall opened by SJM to cope with the new competition situation of
Macao's gaming industry.
Stanley Ho's gaming empire had a monopoly on Macao's gaming market for four
decades until 2002, when the Macao Special Administrative Region government
broke the monopoly by issuing three casino licenses.
The first American casino Las Vegas Sands Macao was opened in May, which was
soon followed by the unveiling of the Hong Kong-invested Galaxy Waldo in early
July.
SJM, which now runs 12 casinos, still dominates the mainstay of the market.
It has taken its new bet on the theme attractions of the Italian-styled Crystal
Palace, the Egyptian-flavored Pharaoh Hotel and the Mona Lisa Gambling Hall to
compete with its rival companies.