Macau government to keep top cap on number of junkets at 50 in 2025

The number of game promoters (junkets) that can be licensed in the Macau casino market in 2025 will be limited to 50, according to information from the Macau Casino Regulatory Authority, the DICJ.

That leaves the maximum allowed unchanged from this year. In reality, companies looking to act as game promoters now account for less than half of the quota allowed. As of June 11, the latest update provided online by regulators, Macau had 22 licensed junkets.

Macau's gaming code, which includes a statute specifically applied to junk mail, also calls for an upper limit on the number of junk mail each of Macau's six casino operators can work with. This limit varies for each operator, as determined at the discretion of Macau's Minister of Economy and Finance.

According to the latest information, in 2025, the upper limit of junket partner numbers applied to operators will remain the same as in 2024. This year and next, Sands China Ltd and SJM Holdings Ltd have the highest allowances with 12 junkets each.

MGM China Holdings Ltd and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd each have eight junkets this year and next. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd and Wynn Macau Ltd each have five junket partners this year and 2025.

In Macau, junket operators are only allowed to partner with one gaming beekeeper. While junket operators are allowed to earn commissions (the 1.25 percent ceiling on rolling chip turnover) for gaming promotional services, sharing casino revenue "in any form" with casino beekeeper partners is prohibited.

A recent update to Macau's legal framework for games, which will take effect on Aug. 1, stipulates that casino concessionors will be the only players in the Macau market to offer gambling credit to customers.

Junkets themselves would not be allowed to issue credits to any gambler. They would only be able to ask partner casino concessionors to extend the game credits to the players they introduce to operators. Such an arrangement would require notarized agreements approved by the Minister of Strategy and Finance.

The gaming bureau recently updated information on the number of so-called "collaborators" allowed in the casino market in 2025. These are people with a network of contacts who can work with licensed junkets to introduce expensive players to casinos.

As of 2025, these trading limits are the same as this year's 250. As of April 24 this year, only seven collaborators held permission to work in the local market, according to information released by regulators.

BY: 동행복권파워볼