The temporary Cyprus casino opened last week by Melco International Development is so far performing “below expectations,” according to its property president.

The ‘pop up’ casino in a converted Limassol supermarket space that launched last Thursday welcomed around 2k visitors per day over its opening weekend. The property played host to around 7k unique visitors, of whom over 4k joined the casino’s reward club. Local residents made up the bulk of visitors, with Greece, Ukraine and Russia providing the most foreign guests.

But Craig Ballantyne, president of the Cyprus Casino aka C2, told the Cyprus Mail that, while the launch had been “a real rollercoaster ride,” the reaction had been “below expectations.” Ballantyne referenced the roughly 30 casinos in the Turkish-controlled northern half of Cyprus, saying “we’re not the only game in town.”

Ballantyne added that those northern casinos had an operational advantage over C2 because their comparatively lax regulatory oversight meant they could “give everything free” to customers, including alcohol, tobacco, “just about everything and anything … it’s not a level playing field.”