The operator of South Korea’s only casino open to locals, Kangwon Land, has announced that it has secured government approval to significantly increase betting limits on two specific baccarat tables within its “VIP floor.”
The changes took effect on Wednesday, May 14th, marking a strategic move to potentially bolster its VIP gaming revenue.
According to a filing with the Korea Exchange on Wednesday, the minimum bet for these two designated VIP baccarat tables has been raised substantially to KRW500,000 ($353), a tenfold increase from the previous KRW50,000 ($35) limit.
Furthermore, the allowed betting differential between “banker” and “player” bets on these VIP tables has also been significantly elevated to KRW30 million ($21,200), a fifteen-fold jump from the original KRW2 million ($1,413).
Kangwon Land clarified that these new betting limits are a result of an approved revision to the “membership floor operating regulations” by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
This development comes on the heels of Kangwon Land reporting a year-on-year dip of 0.6 percent in first-quarter sales, while its casino sales fell 0.2 percent in first-quarter gaming sales, totaling KRW316.8 billion ($223.7 million). While mass table revenue saw a minor decrease of 0.5 percent to KRW160.4 billion ($113.3 million), the membership club revenue, categorized as VIP play, experienced a positive growth of 4.2 percent year-on-year, reaching KRW48.7 billion ($34.4 million).
