Philippine casinos cash in on gambling boom

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine casinos are generating record revenues as the country cashes in on Asia’s exploding gambling market, according to state regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Pagcor said in a statement on its website that it raked in 3.03 billion pesos ($69.58 million) in revenues in May, up 10.87 percent from a year earlier for the highest monthly total in its 25-year history.

“We generated more than 2.01 billion pesos from our gaming operations and 1.02 billion pesos from regulated gaming… like commercial bingo and licensed casino operations,” chief executive Cristino Naguiat said in the statement.

Five-month revenues were up 10.45 percent from the previous year to 14.16 billion pesos, Pagcor added in the statement posted on Monday.

A company official who asked not to be named told AFP Tuesday that while Pagcor did not disclose gamers’ profiles nor the specific size of bets, there was a general trend of players staying longer and betting bigger amounts.

“It’s not the number of gamers that is the key… what matters most is the amount of the bets that we generate, and these have become relatively bigger,” the official said.

Pagcor operates its own chain of 13 casinos, as well as regulates and licenses other gaming venues.

Pagcor announced last year that the Philippines was aiming to become Asia’s next big gambling hub with plans to build an “Entertainment City” in Manila to rival boom towns Macau and Singapore by 2014.

Resorts World, majority-owned by Malaysia’s Genting Group, opened last year, becoming the first of four envisaged major gaming venues in the “Entertainment City.”

Located near the international airport, it has three hotels, a 30,000-square-meter (about 323,000-square-foot) casino and a 30,000-square-meter shopping mall.