The latest iteration of Steve Wynn's vision was on display in Macau last month when Encore Macau opened on time and on budget.

Highlighted by a spectacular Grucci fireworks show, the sister property of Wynn Macau steps up the gaming experience enjoyed by Wynn guests in Macau. With 414 suites and villas, Encore Macau adds two restaurants, three retail offerings and the "Spa at Encore," a top-of-the-line experience with private therapy suites.

The $605 million Encore gives Wynn more room to host the VIPs and "premium mass market" that is the company's target market.

Wynn also took time in Macau to criticize the policies of the Obama administration to explain why he's focusing on the Macau market and not U.S. gaming venues.

"The governmental policies in the United States of America are a damper, a wet blanket," Wynn said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "They retard investment, they retard job formation, they retard the creation of a better life for the citizens in spite of the rhetoric of the president."

Wynn even threatened to move his corporate offices from Las Vegas to Macau, but most experts thought that an idle threat used to skewer U.S.
policy.

Wynn has also backed away from other U.S. investments, withdrawing from the bidding for the gaming operation at Aqueduct racetrack in New York City and recently canceling a project that was envisioned in Philadelphia. He also visited Atlantic City before declaring himself uninterested in the opportunities there. 

His opinion of China is very different, however.

"I'm thrilled and I love it here," Wynn said at the Encore opening. "I feel a very steady, stable, consistent direction."

Plans for the next Wynn Resorts Macau development are already under way, he said. It will include around 2,000 rooms, 400 tables, restaurants, shopping and gardens-and will contrast with the edifices of neighbors the Venetian, City of Dreams and Galaxy Macau.

"What makes people happy, and what don't they get in China? What you don't get in China is space, and the heart of a resort is space-gardens, places to gambol, not gamble," Wynn said in an AP interview in Macau.

“I know what I want to do on the 51 acres, not build four hotels or six hotels or any of that foolishness,” he said. “I am going to build one hotel of modest size with gardens and extended space wherever you are.”

Wynn believes his Cotai casino would expand the appeal of Macau.

"You create a product that didn't exist before and all of a sudden it broadens the appeal of the city-that makes people who aren't necessarily baccarat players decide to come here," he said.

By GGB Staff

Staff writers for Global Gaming Business magazine. Las Vegas, Nevada.