New rules for electronic table games in Macau expected in 2017, DICJ says

Regulations for Macau’s increasingly popular electronic table games will undergo an overhaul in the coming months.

Macau casino regulator Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) plans to revise the existing regulations for electronic table games in the territory by 2017. Bureau director Paulo Martins Chan told local reporters over the weekend: “We’ll be doing regulation [for electronic table games]—this is not in our work plan for this year, but next year.”

Under the current table cap, DICJ allows between 50 and 60 electronic table game (ETG) seats as equivalent to one traditional gaming table inside Macau casinos, according to data from Union Gaming Research Macau Ltd.

However, the number of ETG seats in Asian casino markets is forecast to grow by nearly 3,100 over the next three years, with the potential for a further 2,500 seats in the years beyond 2018.