It’s not very often you get to interview arguably the most powerful man in Macau, but that’s something I’ve just had the pleasure of doing. It’s the second time I’ve interviewed Francis Lui, the first time being about 18 months ago, just before the opening of Galaxy Macau. Mr Lui has seen the share price of his beloved Galaxy Entertainment Group (HKEx: 0027) triple in that time, and his company has clearly become the challenger to SJM for the title of top dog amongst the six Macau concessionaires.
Interviewing Francis Lui is a real pleasure. For a man worth billions of dollars, he has a great deal of humility and a calm and composed demeanour, quite opposite to your stock-standard arrogant billionaire entrepreneur. I’m under no illusion that Mr Lui doesn’t have his moments – anybody in his position needs the wherewithal to negotiate hard, make tough decisions and exercise at least a little ruthlessness – but the way he goes about his business is most impressive.
Francis is an insightful and intelligent man who possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the Macau gaming industry and Macau society in general. It was fascinating to hear his views on all things Macau, and especially his call for the government to take the lead in articulating a new vision for Macau. I thank him for graciously granting us the interview and choosing WGM to put forth his views. You can read our in-depth interview on page 10.
I must say I’m so proud of our staff – the content created by our hardworking writers, editors, translators and designers just keeps getting better and better each issue. This issue our gaming pages include the King of MGM tournaments, some blackjack, more pai gao, and a look at the newest gaming floors in Macau, which you can find at Sands Cotai Central.
Turning to sport, our expert EPL writer Leanne Lu explains the miraculous rise of Manchester City over the last few seasons, James Potter shows us how to make some money betting on sports futures and we try to score 180!
As usual we have plenty of poker for you including the World Poker Tour coming to Sanya, the enormous Macau High Stakes Challenge which saw a mind-boggling prize pool of HK$182,360,000, PokerStars Macau tournaments and of course we have our usual poker tip to help you improve your game.
The Eagle guides you on the hottest watches going around, The Panda grazes at the delightful Merrywell gastropub at Melbourne’s enormous Crown Entertainment Complex and the Stallion takes us partying at Venetian Macau’s Bellini Lounge.
Don’t forget to visit wgm8.com to get your WGM fix while you’re waiting for our Jan/Feb issue to hit the streets. Have a wonderful Christmas, and I’ll see you all in 2013 – it’s hard to believe it will be WGM’s fifth year in Macau!
Follow the dragon
Andrew W Scott
CEO
