IPI reports over $5.5B in chip volume
Commonwealth Casino Commission executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero reported to members of the board in yesterday’s meeting that Imperial Pacific International, Ltd. had recorded $5.59 billion in rolling chip volume for the month of January.
“This is the combination of all tables and other gaming in the casino. We [commission] have been monitoring all movements of cash in the casino. We are also looking at every detail and are making sure IPI’s pays its vendors and others that offered them goods and services,” said Deleon Guerrero.
IPI is currently operating a temporary casino facility, Best Sunshine Live, at the T Galleria shopping mall. Imperial Pacific Resort Hotel, its flagship integrated resort in the CNMI, is currently being built; its casino operations is set to open sometime in March this year.
House of Representatives Gaming committee members, headed by Rep. Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero (R-Saipan), and IPI officials were also present in the meeting held at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library’s video teleconference room.
The rolling chip volume is the casino’s measurement of the total of all non-negotiable chips that were bet on and lost by VIP and other players. It is also the amount of activity of non-negotiable chips being transacted and played according to its value on the floor. (Jon Perez)
IPI, according to GGR Asia’s website, in its filing at the Hong Kong Stocks Exchange yesterday showed its rolling chip volume jump by 147 percent year-on-year numbers. In 2016, they earned a rolling chip volume of $2.26 billion, which more than doubled last month at $5.59 billion.
Venetian Macao, Sands China’s flagship casino in Macau, posted $6.89 billion in rolling chip volume the whole fourth quarter of 2016 while Wynn Macau Ltd. recorded $10.80 billion from October to December last year. IPI also reported a rolling chip volume total of $32.37 billion.
IPI’s actual revenues collected last month is more than $326 million while paying over $23 million in the purchase of goods and other services in other businesses on island. The CNMI government also raked in a gross gaming revenue tax of more than $16 million.
Best Sunshine Live has been operating seven VIP tables at its temporary casino facility along with six premium tables, 32 mass gaming tables, and 106 slot machines. It opened in July 2016.
Can someone please break it down into its simplest term what that all means $5,59 billion rolling chips? Actual earnings for the casino owner/s in dollars and cents and how much does the government gets for taxes in dollars and cents. The ordinary Joe Blow who has very little of all the mambo and jumbo casino terminology may be able to understand with that simplest of explanation, alright gents?
The players hand over real cash, they are given “dead chips” which in theory have no value, when they win a bet it is paid in real cash. They give the cash chips back to the casino who exchanges them for “dead chips” again. This is called “rolling” and the players (or Junkets) get a commission on the amount that they “roll”. when a junket leaves, the amount rolled is calculated, and they will receive a commission on the amount rolled. Anything they win is theirs to keep and all dead chips are exchanged for cash at the end of the trip.
Typically a Casino will “keep” anywhere between 2-3% of the roll.
Do the math.
So what does the “rolling chips volume ” mean? Does this mean that credit from China and elsewhere given to players that will be collected outside of the CNMI thus avoiding any taxes etc.?
“The rolling chip volume is the casino’s measurement of the total of all non-negotiable chips that were bet on and lost by VIP and other players. It is also the amount of activity of non-negotiable chips being transacted and played according to its value on the floor. (Jon Perez)”
So what it would look like by this statement as read by the non gamblers is that these “non negotiable chips” are given to the VIP players and have no value.
This would not make sense as a VIP player (which translates to money) does not make the trip to “bet” with fake money. So back to the first question, where and how are the winning paid and just what does this mean in cash from within and without?
I also do not understand what “rolling chip” means in terms of income to the CNMI in the form of taxes and fees, income to the US government in terms of taxes or fees, payments to employees, payments to vendors, payments to ‘landlord’. Show us a balance sheet of income and expenses, that would make more sense. Please interview federal money laundering officials to check if all is proper. Finally, if they are making money, which is implied, surely they can produce the revised archaeology report?