Stanley Ho fighting to stay on top

November 26

Stanley Ho, the well known gambling tycoon from Hong Kong, is slated to open a casino in Macau, clearly to try to fight off the new competition coming from Las Vegas. Ho recently lost his 40 year monopolizing hold on the area to some big Vegas names.

Michael Chan, the deputy general manager of the new hotel/casino, announced an opening date of December 23rd., for the first section of the Greek Mythology Casino at the New Century Hotel. The new hotel/casino is an auxiliary of Ho's Macau Gaming Co.

The first section of the casino will have approximately 228 gambling tables and 160,000 square feet of gambling space. The second section, which will reportedly double the size of the first section., is set to open before February 2005.

In 2002, the Macau government decided to stop Ho's gambling monopoly there by offering deals to outside bidders. In May 2004, Sheldon Adelson, a gambling magnate from Vegas, opened the Sands Macau, the first competition for Ho. Steve Wynn, another well known casino magnate, is also opening his Wynn Macau casino close to Ho's main property, the Lisboa casino-hotel. Wynn's casino is slated to be open for business near the end of 2006.

Now, Ho is diligently trying to keep up with the competition by remodeling and making upgrades to  his casinos, including the Lisboa.  

His new Greek Mythology Casino is set to feature incredibly large statues of Greek gods and goddesses. Also, he is reportedly adding a Moulin Rouge inspired dance to be held daily at the casino resort.