What is Junket?
A junket is an intermediary that brings high-stakes players to a casino, traditionally arranging travel, credit and debt collection in exchange for a share of the casino's revenue.
Junkets were central to Macau's VIP baccarat market, where they ran private gaming rooms and extended credit to wealthy players, often from mainland China, where gambling and cross-border capital movement are restricted.
The model came under heavy scrutiny after the arrest in 2021 of Alvin Chau, head of the Suncity group, who was sentenced in January 2023 to 18 years in prison for running a criminal syndicate, illegal gambling and fraud. Macau's 2022 reforms bar junkets from extending credit or running VIP rooms and limit each junket to working with one concessionaire.
Since then, Macau's VIP segment has shrunk sharply and the premium mass segment has grown. In other markets, such as Australia, casino inquiries have also examined junket links with organised crime.