MACAU - MGM Mirage becomes the latest gaming giant to try and lure the Chinese gambler on Tuesday, when the company opens its first casino resort outside the United States in the tiny enclave of Macau.

MGM Grand Macau is a US$1.25 billion (S$1.81 billion) casino resort half-owned by MGM Mirage and half by Pansy Ho, daughter of the original Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho.

Its owners are desperate to tap the players flooding into the former Portuguese colony, in what is rapidly becoming the world's most lucrative betting centre.

'What you have is a mass market and a very aggressive government that is trying to make this a true international destination. I believe that Macau would be a world-class destination of its own.'

'It's certainly one of the reasons that we opened a casino here,' said Mr Moon.

Built on prime waterfront, MGM Grand Macau features 600 rooms and a casino with around 385 table games, 890 slot machines and 16 private gaming salons.

The 35-storey hotel resort also includes convention space, and is pitching its business at the high end of the market to compete with the nearby Crown Macau, rather than the mass-market, gargantuan Venetian.

The centrepiece of the new building is the huge Grand Praca atrium, which has a glass ceiling 25 metres above the ground. Its design was inspired by the Central train station in Lisbon, a nod to the city's Portuguese heritage.

The casino's opening means that all six of Macau's gaming concessions are finally in action, after the city ended Stanley Ho's 40-year monopoly in 2001.

The liberalisation has attracted a flood of investment from foreign operators.

Sands was the first major American company to open a casino in Macau in 2004 and followed it up this August with the US$2.4 billion Venetian mega resort on the reclaimed Cotai Strip.

US tycoon Steve Wynn has also dipped his toe in, as has Australian mogul James Packer, whose Crown Macau is jointly owned by another Ho, this time Stanley's son Lawrence.

Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau retains another of the coveted licences, alongside Hong Kong-based Galaxy.

Mr Wynn and Mr Packer's ventures will now battle it out with MGM Grand to attract the high rollers.

Managing Director Pansy Ho said she was determined to trump all rivals in the area. 'MGM Mirage is the leader (worldwide) of the high-end market. We feel that it's easy for us to do the same here,' she told reporters.

It is not difficult to see what is attracting the giants to Macau - the apparently insatiable Chinese gambler.

In the first nine months of 2007, Macau recorded gaming revenues of US$7.5 billion, already more the entire 2006 take of US$7.3 billion, which saw the territory surpass the legendary Las Vegas Strip.

Macau has a population of just over 530,000, but last year welcomed 22 million visitors - a figure that has already been overtaken and is expected to rise to 26 million by the end of 2007.

Mr Moon hoped the new resort casino will be able to take advantage.

'With the tourism sector burgeoning in Macau, MGM Mirage is determined to create with Ms Ho a brand new experience for tourists coming to see the new Macau,' he said at a preview of the resort last week.

Mr Moon said MGM Mirage saw its future growth in the region.

'We will focus on Asia. We want to expand our brand to other demographic areas,' he added. -- AFP