Macau, China, Nov. 26, 2025 (Lusa) - Macau gaming concessionaire SJM Resorts announced on Wednesday that the Kam Pek Paradise “satellite casino”, with nearly 600 employees, will close on 1 December.
SJM said Kam Pek Paradise "will officially cease operations at 11:59 p.m. (3:59 p.m. in Lisbon) on Monday, 1 December," making it the seventh “satellite casino” in the region to close its doors.
In a statement, SJM, founded by gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung Sun (1921-2020), stressed that all local employees directly hired by the company have employment guaranteed.
SJM explained that staff with Macau resident status will be "transferred to other company casinos to perform gambling-related duties, according to operational needs."
Local employees who SJM Resorts did not directly hire "are invited to apply for related positions" within the group, "with priority for hiring" and with the same conditions they had previously.
Also today, the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) assured that it will "strictly supervise, on site, the closure procedures" of Kam Pek Paradise.
Concerning the 584 casino employees, the DICJ said in a press release that it will maintain communication with the Labour Affairs Bureau to ensure compliance with the guarantees given by SJM, namely "the relocation of all the aforementioned workers".
The SJM stressed that "all gaming tables and machines currently in operation at the venue will be transferred to other casinos owned by the company".
The world's gambling capital, Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.
The DICJ assigns each of the six concessionaires - MGM, Galaxy, Venetian, Melco, Wynn and SJM - a maximum quota of gaming tables and machines that they can install in the casinos they operate.
On 9 June, the Macau Government announced that the gaming concessionaires had informed them of the end of operations for the 11 “satellite casinos”, where around 5,600 residents worked.
On Monday, the Secretary for Economy and Finance confirmed that, following the closure of six “satellite casinos”, 1,300 workers had already been reintegrated into the staff of the gaming concessionaires.
"There are still four satellite casinos that will close, involving around 3,000 workers," said Anton Tai Kin Ip.
In addition to Kam Pek Paradise, Ponte 16, with 1,025 employees, will close its doors on Friday after SJM Resorts withdrew from the purchase of the property.
Another “satellite casino”, Fortuna, will close on 10 December, according to an internal memo from the property's owner, Kou Seng Holdings, cited on Monday by the gaming news portal GGRAsia.
The Landmark “satellite casino” is also expected to close by the end of the year.
The only of the 11 satellite casinos expected to remain open is Royal Arc, as SJM intends to ask the authorities to take direct management of the gaming space.
On 20 November, SJM confirmed the acquisition of the company that owns Royal Arc for HK$1.75 billion (€195.2 million).
The “satellite casinos”, under the jurisdiction of the concessionaires, are managed by other companies, a legacy of the Portuguese administration that existed before the liberalisation of gambling in the territory in 2002.
When the legislation regulating casinos was amended in 2022, the end of 2025 was set as the deadline for these gambling venues to cease operations.
VQ/ADB // ADB.
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