VIP players are truly attracted to Crown Sydney’s Casino
James Packer came up with the idea for Crown Sydney. During his own heyday as the owner of Crown Resorts, the billionaire dreamed of building a casino and hotel exclusively for VIP players from around the world. The vision Packer had has now come to fruition, even though he is no longer a member of Crown Resorts. It’s no secret that the Crown Casino in Barangaroo focuses on VIP membership. There is no entry fee to enter the luxurious casino.
In order for Crown Resorts’ Sydney casino to open, the management team worked hard and long. Sydney’s government refused to permit the government to open the lavish casino built by the Australian casino giant for $2.2 billion. It has been a long, hard slog for Crown Resorts, as gaming regulators banned casino games from the hotel’s premises.
Despite many restrictions, the casino floor does not abound with your typical crowd. It opened on August 8, but many restrictions still apply.
There is no better place to be a VIP than at Crown Sydney. As of now, the standard room ranges from $799 to $899 per night. Purchasing an Opera Tower Suite will not result in you receiving change from $2,300. Crown has its sights on customers who don’t mind paying such eye-watering prices.
VIP Customers Only at Crown Sydney Casino
Casino floors often include VIP areas. Gambling for high stakes is often preferred by wealthy patrons in private. Roulette games at $3,000 per spin are not appealing to them, especially when there are dozens of prying eyes watching. Crown Sydney is especially expensive for private games.
Featuring Packer’s dream of a VIP gaming haven, Crown Sydney’s marketing brochure highlights the casino as a VIP gaming haven. As a playground for the world’s highest rollers, it certainly lives up to its promise. Getting into the VIP gaming room requires a bar tab of $10,500, for example. There’s more to life here than a few pints of Victoria Bitter or a bottle of rose wine.
In addition to the 30 private booths, there are also VIP booths, but access to them is not free. Those who wish to gamble privately must be Platinum members. With its bar, hotel, and restaurant expenditures of $45,000, it reaches this lofty status. There is an exclusive Black VIP level at Crown Sydney.
It is not stated anywhere in Crown’s rules how much gambling is required to attain and retain each status.
What are the pros and cons of targeting the rich?
The only people who can frequent your casino are the mega-rich, which is a risky strategy. As compared to a normal punter, they spend a lot more overall, but these VIP players are relatively scarce. Only 66 electronic gaming tables are available at Crown Sydney, but there are 160 gaming tables and 30 private booths. It is not permitted to operate poker machines at Crown Sydney, and New South Wales is a big market for them, especially at The Star Sydney.
In a recent report, Star Sydney reported that pokies revenue is running 129% higher than it was before COVID. There is an estimate that pokies will bring in $115 million. A casino’s bottom line is heavily influenced by slot machines, and Mega Moolah is one of those games.
There are numerous golf, tennis, Grand Prix, and horse racing festivals held at Crown Melbourne throughout the year, which attract VIP players. There isn’t much effort involved in attracting these players. At least one industry expert predicts that Sydney will be different.
Star needed to do a lot more to attract those players to this market than they did to attract that tier one player. There was no doubt Crown had the advantage in that part of the business; however, it is important to remember it isn’t the best part. Making a margin is all about the grind. The profit you make from that is 80%.”
Which are the sources of the rich customers?
The problem isn’t getting high rollers through the door, but attracting them. Chinese VIP players are no longer recruited to the hotel and casino through junkets. The super-rich used these junkets to deposit money into their casinos using non-traditional methods.
These underhand methods have contributed to Crown’s reputation being tarnished in recent years.
A recession and sky-high inflation will not adversely affect the type of player Crown Sydney is looking for. The problem is that some of their business interests are experiencing difficulties at a time when they are unlikely to spend a couple of million dollars.