ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — On a recent Saturday night, Kevin Yu played a few hands of baccarat at the Trump Taj Mahal, then headed to the casino arena to catch the Hong Kong singing sensation Twins.
To Yu's surprise, the midnight concert was sold out.
"Wow, so many Asians!" said Yu, 45, a Hong Kong native and truck driver who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The overflow crowd was no surprise to the Taj Mahal. Along with other casinos here, it is intently courting Asians — the country's fastest-growing gambling market.
That night, it had boosted its offerings of Asian table games, such as Pai Gow tiles; ordered to work every dealer who speaks an Asian language; and kept its gourmet noodle bar, the Rim, open 24 hours.
Asian gamblers contribute 15 to 20 percent of Atlantic City casinos' revenue and nearly one-third of their table-game revenue — critical income when money from slots has fallen 8 percent from last year.
'A perfect add-on'
"With all of the slots capacity in Pennsylvania and New York, we have to aggressively find a way to stem the flow out of Atlantic City," said Michael Osanloo, a senior vice president of marketing for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which owns four casinos in Atlantic City.
"Asian customers and table games are a perfect add-on. ... This is one way to compete and is critical for Atlantic City's success," he said.
In the last three years, eight of the city's 11 gambling halls have poured more than $70 million into elaborate gaming pits that cluster traditional Asian table games, such as mini-baccarat, Pai Gow poker, and the roulette game Sic Bo.
They've added Asian restaurants, including Kwi at Caesars and Asian Spice at Resorts, with top chefs and popular dishes such as giant clams and congee.
Several have hired special Asian marketing teams and ad agencies knowledgeable about the community.
And they've intensified busing programs in heavily Asian communities such as New York's Chinatown.
On Thanksgiving — typically a big Asian weekend in Atlantic City — the Atlantic City Hilton will debut a 30 percent larger Asian gaming area, and Caesars has completed a $9 million expansion of its theater, to 1,600 seats, in time for its big Chinese act that weekend — Grasshopper.
"It's a different niche that Pennsylvania doesn't have," said Mario A. DiGuiseppe, vice president of casino operations at the Tropicana, which is enjoying a nearly 20 percent increase in Asian business from a year ago.
The battle for Asian gamblers, who tend to play more frequently and gamble larger stakes than other ethnic groups, is happening nationally.
The number of tourists traveling from Asia to Las Vegas is dropping as Far East gaming meccas such as Macau open. So Las Vegas and other American casino cities are turning to Asians who live in the United States.
According to 2000 U.S. census data, Asians are an attractive market for casinos. Many are affluent and highly educated, and their population here has tripled since 1980.
Many also enjoy gambling, especially the time-honored games of skill they learned from friends and family.
Steve Luu, an Atlantic City casino veteran who runs the Tropicana's Asian marketing, says it's all about service.
Luu said he never knew when his cell phone would ring.
Meeting customers' needs
"Asian people like to reach you at any hour," said Luu, 45. "They call you for a room. They call you for room service, when they have a problem at a table, or sometimes they need a limo. ... You have to be their translator."
The Tropicana, which began running 15 buses from New York in February, anticipates a 20 to 25 percent uptick in table-game revenue from Asian gamblers.
Among the bus regulars is Fanny Fu, a native of Xinjiang in northern China. Fu said she had learned about the Tropicana from Chinese friends in Brooklyn and from ads in Chinese-language newspapers.
"I like it here. I feel very comfortable," Fu, 35, said in Mandarin as she played mini-baccarat at the Tropicana's Jade Palace.
To assure that level of comfort, the casinos are hiring feng shui consultants, requiring that their dealers get cultural coaching and scheduling concerts as late as 1 a.m. because many Asian customers own businesses in New York and Philadelphia that stay open until 8 p.m.
"You turn around your clock for them," Wu said. |
