Rich Pickings for Richmond City from Baccarat Revenue
River Rock casino is a blessing not just for baccarat lovers, specifically Asians, but also to the City Council which has made huge gains from the casino. The Q2 revenues from River Rock has shattered all past records delivering a whopping $5.57 million to the City Council’s pockets, a jump from $4.11 million registered in the same period last year.
Baccarat lure for Asians
The credit to this record-breaking gain must go to the casino’s Asian gamers, according to the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation Vice President Chuck Keeling. He said the boost came from the new table room, a VIP one, which was introduced this year. This table is exclusively for baccarat, a much-loved game among Asians. In SE Asia, the norm is for baccarat lovers to head to Macau, where baccarat is easily the centre of attraction.
Richmond, BC, is known for its Asian population. Keeling explains that most of the VIP players are Asian visitors who are there for business, education, or have second homes in the city. Baccarat is enjoyable because it is not heavy on strategy and is more of a relaxing game.
In terms of the net revenue (table holds), the casino at Richmond saw a huge 61 per cent escalation. In 2013, the casino revenue that the city raked in was $17.6 million, a jump of $2 million from 2012. The local government bodies get ten percent of the net revenues from the casinos and gaming centres hosted under the city’s jurisdiction.
The casino celebrated its tenth anniversary this quarter and the record earnings of $53.8 million have been the highest in the history of the Richmond property. The city has earmarked a chunk of the earnings toward construction of the Olympic Oval in the city. The revenue from gaming will go towards construction till the end of 2015.
Best ever performance
The 2013 earnings from River Rock beat all expectations and City authorities had budgeted for a mere $12.4 million in revenue. Until 2011, casino revenue for the city was flat, and it was only after that when the rapid increase began. This year, after the second quarter, Richmond has already raked in over $10 million, with more in store.