Macau casino operator SJM Holdings says its in-development Lisboa Palace resort won’t have any VIP gambling rooms when it opens, given how few VIPs actually visit the world’s number one gambling hub these days.

The Lisboa Palace is scheduled to open on Cotai in Q4 2017 but SJM executive director Angela Leong On Kei says the property probably won’t have any VIP rooms when it launches. Macao Daily quoted Leong telling reporters on Sunday that the decision to add VIP rooms would likely be a game-time decision based on whether the demand for such a product actually exists.

SJM’s market-driven plan follows Melco Crown Entertainment’s decision to launch its new Studio City resort with nary a single VIP table. Melco based part of its decision on Macau’s depressed VIP market but also because the property was issued only 250 gaming tables – 200 now, 50 more on Jan. 1 – rather than the 400 it had been expecting. SJM’s original plan for Lisboa Palace called for 700 tables, an expectation that now seems very unlikely indeed.

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