Ho Still in the Race for Macau

Stanley Ho was once the only gambling force in Macau, but that has changed over the past few years. For someone who once had the only slot machines in Macau, Ho still owns more than 60% of the gambling industry on the island. In fact, he just opened his newest slot machine casino – the Grand Lisboa – right next door to the one that started it all.

Ho is 85 now, but that has not slowed him down at all. He still has seventeen casinos on the island, but is competing with names like Wynn and Sands now. His newest casino is a $384 million hotel and slot machine casino that is going to give all of them a run for their money.

The only problem is many think that Ho is still living in a world where he was king, and that he doesn’t understand his clientele any more. They say that service is bad, the casinos look terrible, and that they get treated like guests at other hotels – but not at Ho’s. They say that if he wants to continue to compete he is going to have to change the way he handles people.

Ho is ranked 84th on the Forbes list of the 100 riches people in the world, has seventeen children by four different women – who he calls his wives – and at one point had absolutely nothing. Although born rich, he and his family lost everything in the Depression, and Ho built it back up. However, with the new casinos and a new way of life coming to the island, Ho is going to have to reinvent himself, or he may find himself sliding back down that slippery slope.


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