U Io Hung added that some of Macau’s six casino concessionaires were holding on to quota they don’t presently use, while others would like more quota, but can’t get it, because of the industry-wide 50-strong cap, and the way it is allocated.

“For instance, Venetian Macau [SA] has a cap of 12 partnering junkets for a full year, but they barely have any working junkets at the moment,” suggested Mr U, referring to the Macau gaming concession entity of Sands China Ltd.

“In the situation we are now facing, it’s not as if the unused quota [of partnering junkets] can be released to the market,” Mr U added. He heads the Macau Gaming Promoter Professionals Association.

GGRAsia approached Sands China and the other five Macau operators, seeking to confirm the number of junkets each works with currently. None of the six had responded by the time this story went online.

The number of junkets they have each been allocated is public knowledge. For this year and last year, Sands China Ltd and SJM Holdings Ltd have had the largest allowance: 12 junkets each.

MGM China Holdings Ltd and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd each had a cap of eight junkets for 2024 and for this year. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd and Wynn Macau Ltd have each a cap of five junket partners per year across the two years.

Back in 2022, the Macau government had introduced a bill – that eventually became Law 16/2022 – covering the junket and satellite casino sector. It dealt with – among other things – what “scale” of junket industry might be deemed appropriate in the city. The quota system arose from that, though quota has been assigned in advance to operators for a calendar year, rather than in response to actual market conditions for each.

Mr U told GGRAsia: “This is a case of wasted resources, and a potential loss of gaming tax income [for the government], as even some junkets – who have their patron network ready – cannot join the market because of this quota issue.”

Macau presently has 24 licensed junkets, according to information issued on March 13 by the local regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

Under the prevailing regulatory framework, the Macau junkets themselves are only allowed to partner with a single gaming concessionaire.

The junket operators are allowed to earn commission – capped at 1.25 percent on rolling chip turnover – for their gaming promotion service, but are banned from sharing casino revenue with their casino-concessionaire partner.

Mr U’s association has been lobbying the city’s operators to seek additional lawful ways to create incentives for junkets to bring to the casinos high-value players only they can find.