Macau: Oriental gamble looks a sure-fire bet

"GEOFF McCauley was at his desk one day in 2001 when an email from a Kenny Wynn, requesting a meeting, popped up on his computer. 'I thought to myself, 'I don't know anyone by that name',' said Mr McCauley, senior director of quantity surveying firm, WT Partnership. As it turned out, Mr Wynn had approached him on behalf of older brother Steve, the fabulously wealthy Las Vegas casino operator. Steve Wynn has a personal wealth of $US1.3 billion ($1.7 billion), according to Forbes's list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, and his company, Wynn Resorts, was bidding for one of three new licences in Macau, subsequently issued in 2002. Mr McCauley, then managing director of the firm's Hong Kong operation, met with Kenny Wynn, who literally appointed his firm on the spot to handle the procurement for its Macau project. Macau is going off. It grew so rapidly last year that the former Portuguese enclave surpassed the Las Vegas strip, according to UBS, with revenues totalling $US5.4 billion, to become the world's largest gaming market." more: