The row between Macao casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung Sun and his American rival Sands Macao intensified, as the local tycoon Friday blamed the latter for sparking "a vicious competition" in Macao's gaming market.

It was the first time that Ho criticized the Sands Macao openly for paying "excessively high" commissions to the gaming promoters of the VIP gambling rooms.

"It will leave us no space to operate," Ho told local media on the sidelines of a social charity function Friday.

Ho said Sands' high commissions will force him to shutdown one third of his VIP rooms, resulting in the loss of thousands of job.

Casinos in Macao normally attract high-rolling gamblers through the promoters by offering them commissions.

Ho's 16 casinos pay 800 patacas (US$100) to promoters for 100,000 patacas (US$12,500) in gross receipts while Sands Macao pay 1,200 (US$150) to 3,000 (US$375) for the same amount in gross receipts.

Ho said some 70 percent of his casino tax payments are generated by VIP room receipts and when Sands raised its promotion commission, his VIP receipts dropped by 20 percent.

Ho has appealed to the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) to look into the matter and to impose certain controls.

Local analysts, however, doubted that the MSAR government would interfere in the conflict, as the government is keen to encourage rather than to curb the competition.

Ho had dominated Macao's casino sector until 2002, when the government ceased his 40-year monopoly to hug in foreign investment.

Ho has long proposed for a casino-sector business association in a bid to "fix prices" as commissions, wages, fringe benefits and chip discounts, which many observers believe is against the government's willingness to leave the market to make decisions.

"We hope that Sands will cancel commissions that are too high," Ho told the local media while the Sands management rejected to give any comment on Ho's charges.

Ho runs 16 of Macao's 21 casinos and have a market share of some 70 percent.

However, as the foreign investment is keeping flooding in, Sands will hardly be alone to seek more play in Macao's casino market.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)