Exclusive allure for Okada Manila

In the Philippines and the giant Okada Manila development has reportedly debuted a new VIP gambling lounge offering a selection of some 200 slots as well as six gaming tables for roulette, blackjack and baccarat.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the fresh 27,986 sq ft parlor branded as Perlas Club is situated in the 993-room property’s 15-story Pearl Wing and features a bespoke entrance alongside a dining space and an events stage complete with a high-resolution LED wall screen.

Extensive entertainment:

Opened a little over five years ago, Okada Manila is run by the Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Incorporated subsidiary of giant Japanese games manufacturer Universal Entertainment Corporation and had already featured a 284,283 sq ft casino with over 3,000 slots and 500 gaming tables. The source detailed that the new Perlas Club is only open to members of the Entertainment City venue’s high-value Maharlika loyalty scheme, which is available to anyone holding a minimum of 15,000 in-house points.

Advantaged admission:

Universal Entertainment Incorporated reportedly used an official press release to declare that the new Perlas Club area with its Okada Manila development offers ‘top-tier’ patrons the chance to enjoy an ‘exclusive, luxurious and private premier gaming experience’ via eleven private and ‘semi-open’ rooms. The behemoth purportedly also stated that the fresh space is the ‘first and only VIP slot area’ in the Philippines with its range of games presenting potentially-lucrative stand-alone progressive jackpots and ‘VIP room progressive links’.

Recent revival:

The premiere of this new VIP-facing lounge comes some three months after Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Incorporated disclosed that its aggregated fourth-quarter gross gaming revenues had increased by 68% year-on-year to top $137 million. The Manila-headquartered operator used an official January 12 filing (pdf) to moreover assert that this rise indicated that there remained strong latent demand for its services despite a series of local coronavirus-related shutterings.

Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Incorporated disclosed that its combined gaming receipts for the three-month period represented about 47% of those seen for the fourth quarter in pre-pandemic 2019. The company furthermore noted that its VIP revenues for the final three months of last year rose by more than 69% quarter-on-quarter to exceed $73.3 million while receipts from its mass-market gaming tables swelled by 58% to approximately $26 million to compliment the almost $37 million it chalked up from slots.

Cumbersome comparison:

All of this saw Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Incorporated experience a sequential boost of 67.4% in its fourth-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to nearly $26.5 million and took its associated tally for the entire year up to almost $44.8 million, although this was still 66% below the eventual reckoning for 2019.