Cr134 digital

ANewsEurope

THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER FOR THE GLOBAL CASINO INDUSTRY

ECA UNVEILS ITS INAUGURAL STATE OF THEEUROPEAN CASINO INDUSTRY REPORT 4

WWW.CASINOREVIEW-ONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2013 EDITION 134

SOUTH AFRICA Is a new casino on theCape Town agenda?AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST NEWS 16

SAGSE 2013

SPAIN

Argentine difficulties fail todrown out the SAGSE spirits

fter months of ongoing dis-cussions with variouslevels of the Spanish gov-ernment and continuedinternal due diligence, LasVegas Sands Corporation(LVS) has announced thatis has shelved plans toinvest more than $30bn(E21.8bn) to develop aseries of integrated resortsin Madrid, Spain.

We have reiterated timeand again that our internaldevelopment processwould dictate the outcomeof a proposed developmentin Spain, said LVS chair-man and chief executiveofficer, Sheldon Adelson.That process has beenextremely thorough, andwhile the government andmany others have worked

diligently on this effort, wedo not see a path in whichthe criteria needed to moveforward with this large-scale development can bereached. As a result we willno longer be pursuing thisopportunity.

As chairman and CEO,my role is not only creatinga vision for the companysfuture, it is also fulfilling itin a way that best repre-sents the interests of ourshareholders. Developingintegrated resorts inEurope has been a vision ofmine for years, but there isa time and place for every-thing and right now ourfocus is on encouragingAsian countries, like Japanand Korea, to dramaticallyenhance their tourism

offering through the devel-opment of integratedresorts there.

Michael Leven, the com-panys president and chiefoperating officer, added:We are thankful to themany people who havedevoted time and energy inan attempt to bring thisdevelopment to fruition.The government of Spain,specifically the RegionalGovernment of Madrid, hascontinuously pursued thisopportunity with the inter-ests of the Spanish peoplein mind and they should becommended for theirefforts.

According to reports,the Spanish governmenthad rejected some of thedemands put forward by

LVS, including guaranteesof compensation in theevent of future legislativechanges. Regardless, thenews will come as a majorblow to the capital, asSpain continues to dealwith mass unemploymentbrought about by the pro-longed economic down-turn.

LVS named Madrid as itspreferred location for theso-called Eurovegasdevelopment in Septemberlast year, with the capitalbeating rival Barcelonaafter a drawn-out biddingprocess. The project hadbeen slated to include sixcasinos, 12 hotels and arange of retail and leisureoptions, employing asmany as 250,000 people.

Casino operatorLas Vegas Sandshas scrappedplans to build amulti-billion dollarresort in Spain.

RESORT CASINOS ANALYSIS

Sheldon Adelson hadlong strived to open aLas Vegas-style casinostrip in Europe. Levenhimself outlined the groupstransatlantic ambition andfielded numerous questionsfrom delegates at anafternoon conferencesession ahead of this yearsICE Totally Gaming event inLondon. However, whileSpain may lament LVSannouncement that itwould pull the plug on theambitious Eurovegasproject, the companysdecision to place its effortsin high-growth Asianmarkets will come as nosurprise to many industryobservers. After almost 15years of above averageGDP growth, the Spanisheconomy began to slow inlate 2007 and entered into arecession in the secondquarter of 2008. GDPcontracted by 3.7 per centin 2009, ending a 16-yeargrowth trend, and byanother 0.3 per cent in2010. The countrysunemployment rate, whichreached an all-time low ofeight per cent in 2007,stood at 26 per cent in2012. In addition to theSpanish governmentspurported rejection ofsome of the demands putforward by Las VegasSands, which includedguarantees ofcompensation in the eventof future legislativechanges, Adelson wasunderstood to be pushingfor an exemption from anational smoking ban,putting Madrids localpoliticians at odds withcentral governmentregulators.

Las Vegas Sandsscraps ambitiousEurovegas project

SAGSE 2013 REVIEW 32-37

CR134-Front_Coinslot NEW 12/17/13 6:08 PM Page 1

AWorldNews

rgentinas sorry reputationas a place for foreign firmsto do business has takenanother hit with the ejectionof Casinos Austria Interna-tional (CAI) from the Saltaprovince in the north westof the country where its sub-sidiary Enjasa held anexclusive 30-year conces-sion to operate casinos,street gaming and lotteries.The state governorannounced in August thecompanys licence would berevoked; the decision wasconfirmed in late Novemberwhen the regulator rejectedthe administrative appealand announced the divisionof gaming concessions.

Enjasa was accused offailing to respect rules andregulations concerning

money laundering. CAIs spokesman Martin

Himmelbauer told Interna-tional Casino Review: Thesituation there is not totallyclear to us at the momentand due to on-going legalproceedings we are more orless forced not to commenton the details. We cannot yetdetermine what the nextsteps will be.

He continued: What Ican - and wish - to do is clar-ify the accusations madeabout money laundering.We have to pay wins of morethan 10,000 pesos (aboutE1,200) in cheques - some-thing we have done strictly.These cheques must thenalso be noted down in abook - and this hasnt beenproperly carried out in a

couple of cases in relationto small amounts, and thatin the context of tens ofthousands of transactions.

Despite an assurancethat Enjasa would have allthe defence processesavailable to it, and CAIagreeing to take 100 percent control of the com-pany, buying out a minorityshareholder, the authoritieshave decided to use whatwould otherwise be a rela-tively minor administrativeinfraction as an opportu-nity to restructure gamingin the province.

On November 25, Decree3330 was published in theOfficial Gazette of the Saltaprovince, which dividesEnjasas licence between 11operators for an initial

period of six months, dur-ing which time the compa-nies must come up withinvestment and develop-ment plans. They must alsoabsorb all the formerEnjasa employees. At thesame time tax rates willrise: from 16 per cent to 24per cent for the casinos andthe gaming arcades andfrom 15 per cent to 17 percent for the lotteries. Therates will rise in stagedincreases every month overthe six-month period.

During the appealprocess, CAI said it was notminded to take its casebeyond state borders inorder to reach a mutuallyacceptable agreement,however, it may now beforced to - and the likely

forum is the World BanksInternational Centre for theSettlement of InvestmentDisputes (ICSID). Whetherthat would be possible is apoint at issue, however: atthe start of this year,Argentina signalled itsintention to withdraw fromICSID where it faces dozensof cases and ten of billionsof dollars in claims, some todo with government expro-priation of private compa-nies assets.

Money laundering alle-gations are serious andunless CAI can find a forumin which to have them with-drawn, it could have animpact on the companysreputation in other mar-kets, including its homemarket.

South America has not been kind to Casinos Austria International in the last few years: now it has unceremoniouslyejected from a long-term licence on the basis of an apparent administrative error. Hugh Sorrill reports.

ARGENTINA

CONCESSIONS & LICENCES

CAI manoeuvred outof Salta, Argentina

2 | casinoreview December 2013

CR134-p02-03-World_Coinslot NEW 12/17/13 3:38 PM Page 1

December 2013 casinoreview | 3

YXYXYXY

ICR NEWS SECTIONS: WORLD 2-35 EUROPE 4-11 ASIA & OCEANIA 12-15 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST16-17 NORTH AMERICA 20-23 SOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICA 24-25 COMMENT & POLITICS 28-31

JAMAICA

ARGENTINA / BAHAMAS / JAPAN

ANALYSIS

South America, which had so muchpotential, has not created the happyexperiences CAI was hoping for. Itwas forced to withdraw from Chile forreasons that combined underperformanceat its venue there with lack of returns onseveral other major projects closer tohome. However, this setback seemsparticularly unfair: the government of Saltaappears to have been able to exploit aminor administrative issue to tear up anestablished agreement and in the process,of course, raise taxes. This is not the firsttime that authorities in Argentina havereneged on agreements and treatedforeign investors indignantly - oil companyRepsol is still reeling from theexpropriation of its business and Codere,from our own industry was barred fromrepatriating its profits. And, of course,other companies are having to jumpthrough extraordinary hoops to export tothe country to meet balance of tradedemands. Future investors in the countrywill now want to look at safeguards verycarefully.

Casino Salta, one of twocasinos formerly

operated by CAIsubsidiary Enjasa

Following many years of falsestarts, lawmakers from Japansruling Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) have finally submitted a bill tolegalise casinos to parliament, bring-ing the nation closer to opening upwhat is estimated to be the worlds sec-ond-largest gaming market.

The bill was jointly submitted withthe Japan Restoration Party and othergroups, Hiroyuki Hosoda, the chair-man of a cross-party group of pro-casino lawmakers, said earlyDecember. LDPs junior coalition part-ner New Komeito has approved thesubmission, LDPs policy chief SanaeTakaichi said.

The parties now aim to pass the billin the next Diet session that begins inJanuary. I think the bill will definitelypass, Kazuaki Sasaki, assistant pro-fessor at Nihon University College ofEconomics, told Bloomberg. TheLDP is supporting the bill and even forthose parties that are against the bill, Idont think they will put restrictions oneach members vote.

While betting on horse, boat andbicycle races is permitted in theworlds third-largest economy, casi-nos are currently banned. A competi-tive bidding process will be neededbefore one or more casino resorts canbeing developed and it would take fiveyears after the legalisation before thefirst casino is operational.

While the tender process is set to bea drawn out one, international compa-nies including Wynn Resorts have saidthey plan to spend billions of dollars tobuild resorts after the opening of the

market.Wynn earlier pledged to invest at

least $5bn (E3.6bn) in Japan, with thisfigure being matched by Galaxy Enter-tainment Group, the Macau casinooperator that made Lui Che-wooAsias third-richest man.

Meanwhile, property developerMitsui Fudosan, media company FujiMedia Holdings, and constructioncompany Kajima Corporation havesubmitted a joint proposal for the con-struction of a hotel casino in Tokyo,should the Japanese governmentlegalise casino gambling.

Ryosei Akazawa, head of the LDPspartys transport panel, who has beenplaced in charge of ushering the legis-lation through the approval process,said: We are now able to move for-ward. The next step will be to take thebill to the partys policy panel for offi-cial backing.

While similar efforts to legalisecasinos have petered out in the past,Tokyos successful bid for the 2020Olympics has spurred anticipationthat the law will be passed.

Japan has long been touted as anattractive gaming market with a largeand relatively rich population base.The country could generate $10bn(E7.3bn) in revenue a year should itopen up the market, Union GamingGroup estimated.

So far, the sprawling cities of Tokyoand Osaka have garnered much of theattention for future casino develop-ment, but even towns like Sasebo insouthern Japan, and the ageing portcity of Otaru to the north, are hoping toset up casinos to draw tourists, gener-ate tax revenues and reverse demo-graphic decline.

NEW MARKETS

Japan casinolegislation takeskey step forward

In Jamaica the Ministry ofFinance is currently consideringfour applications to create thefirst of three integrated resorts onthe island. Casino Royale,Amaterra Jamaica, CelebrationJamaica and Harmony Cove haveeach submitted their own pro-posal, although to date only Har-mony has paid the J$16m(E110,048) application fee. For aproject to be successful it mustcommit to building a resort with atleast 2,000 rooms, half of whichwill be available by the time thevenue opens.

In the Bahaman capital Nassau,a $3.5bn (E2.5m) luxury leisuredevelopment is underway at BahaMar. As part of the project, MeliaHotels International has beengranted control of a beachfronthotel now known as the Melia Nas-sau Beach Resort. The Spanishresort chain are set to completetheir renovation of the 694 roomhotel in time for the December2014 launch of the Baha MarCasino and Hotel.

RESORT CASINOS

Caribbeandevelopmentcontinues apace

Hotel and casinodevelopment among theCaribbean islands hasseen a surge in recentactivity, with constructionprojects at all stages ofdevelopment announcingfresh progress.

JAPAN

CR134-p02-03-World_Coinslot NEW 12/17/13 4:19 PM Page 2


T

EuropeNews

he European Casino Asso-ciation (ECA), which rep-resents national casinotrade bodies at the EU level,has released its first eversurvey of the state of thecasino industry in Europe.

The Casino IndustryReport 2013 offers statu-tory and market updateinformation for every mem-ber country of the ECA.Chairman Ron Goudsmitsaid: This report repre-sents a milestone in the his-tory of the ECA. It fitsperfectly with our mandateto serve as the representa-tive and unified of Europeslicensed casino industry, asit offers a detailed accountof the situation of the indus-try in our member statesand touches upon theimportant contributionsthe industry makes to soci-ety year in and year out.

All the members of theECA plus the UKs NationalCasino Forum contributedto the information pub-lished in the report, whichwas overseen by two asso-ciate members of the asso-ciation, HerzfeldConsulting and GamblingCompliance.

The result is a reportthat provided a transparentpicture of Europeslicensed casino industryand includes not only eco-nomic data but also theinformation essential tofostering a well controlledand regulated and gamingenvironment, saidGoudsmit.

Through its members,the ECA represents theinterests of around 800casinos and 55,000 employ-ees in 23 countries.

The report sets out thestate mainly of the land-based industry with sub-stantial reference to onlinegaming and poker as appro-priate. However, it is by nomeans the comprehensivetransparent overview ofthe entire continental gam-bling sector that Goudsmitwould very much like tosee.

He said: In order to beable to capture the full pic-ture of the European gam-ing industry it would benecessary for all sectors toprovide similar auditedinformation. Therefore theECA calls on all other sec-tors of the European gam-ing industry, where this isnot yet common practice tofollow suit. This effort

would help to put an end toall of the speculation andguessing about the size andrevenues of the variousparts of the gaming indus-try in Europe and wouldprovide a valuable tool forall key decision makers andstakeholders.

Not all the sectors seeeye-to-eye, particularlywhen it comes to overlap-ping markets and compet-ing priorities. Onlinecompetition is one of themajor issues affecting theland-based industry: unli-censed and illegal opera-tors offer the largestthreats but so too do play-ing fields that are not level.

Goudsmit said: TheECA fully supports the

need for a clear definitionof what it takes to be a legalgambling operator. Firstand foremost, the operatormust have a licence to oper-ate in the member state ofthe player [and] the opera-tor must not be definable asillegal with respect theapplicable law and proce-dures of any other memberstate. Considering thenature of online gambling,it might be advisable tocome to a definition on thelegality of gambling opera-tors on a much broaderscale that the EuropeanEconomic Area.

REPORT

ECA launchesfirst report ofEuropeancasino industry

In the US, the AGA produces State of the States everyyear. Now, Europe has its own version: the ECA CasinoIndustry Report 2013 aims to provide a snapshot of thecasino and gaming industry in each of the associationsmember states. Hugh Sorrill reports

EUROPE

ECA Chairman Ron Goudsmit

CR134-p04-10-Europe_Coinslot NEW 12/17/13 4:51 PM Page 1

YXYXYXY

RON GOUDSMIT: IT OFFERS A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE SITUATION OF THE INDUSTRY IN OURMEMBER STATES AND TOUCHES UPON THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS THE INDUSTRY MAKES...

TheEuropeanmarket stateof address

BELGIUM / BULGARIA / CYPRUS / HUNGARY / MALTA / NETHERLANDS / SPAIN / SWEDEN / UK

ANALYSISREPORTHINTS ATCASINORECOVERYIN EUROPE

Europes casino industryis by no meanshomogeneous, either inits characteristics or itsfortunes. By any standardsthe last five years have beentruly extraordinary: theRichter-busting economicearthquake was followed byrumbling aftershocks that insome markets have beenworse than the initial jolt,causing collapses in thecasino customer base; atthe same time smokingbans have rippled outacross the continent andgambling on the internet,whether legal or not and farless regulated in eithercase, has risen to be a realthreat, as has street levelelectronic gaming in theform of VLTs. However,according to the ECA report,Europes casino industrymight finally be turning thecorner: in 2012, 40 per centof the industry reported ayear-on-year increase ingross gaming revenues.That still, of course, leaves60 per cent who aresuffering, especially Greeceand Italy, which saw,continued contraction, andthe formerly strongSwitzerland, which hassuffered significantly fromthe increasing strength ofthe franc against the euro,by which it is surrounded. In2012, says the report, theECA member statesgenerated E6.58bn - 6.5 percent down on the previousyear. Notable however wasthat 80 per cent of that totalcame from just eight of the23 countries - France alonegenerated 35 per cent of thetotal. The UK, althoughoperating under a mish-mash of regulation andlegislation, is now growingstrongly at above nine percent to over E1bn inrevenues. Europes casinosoperate under such diverseconditions, it will never bepossible to present a unifiedpicture - but all that any ofthem need at root is a strongeconomy to operate in.

There are now 11 Hun-garian cities seeking alicence to operate casi-nos it has been reported, afigure that has increasedfrom nine in the summer fol-lowing a new amendmentthat has reinvigorated theprocess. Under the legisla-tive revision, the cities thathave submitted casino plans- Gy r, Debrecen, Szombat-hely, Pcs, Szeged, Miskolc,Nyregyhza, Szentendre,Hvz, Gyula and Balaton-fred - would be able todeduct the concession feefrom the gaming tax thatthey must pay under the newlaw.

There are currently justthree casinos operating inthe country - two inBudapest and one in Sopronnear Hungrys border withAustria - with the Hungariangovernment having bannedslot machine gaming outsideof these venues. The ban isthought to have seen the

number of slots operating inHungary fall from approxi-mately 24,000 to just a fewhundred.

Under the new amend-ment to gaming tax, the Hun-garian Finance Minister,Mihly Varga, has the powerto grant casino openingrights to competitors with-out a tender, as long as theyare reliable gambling organ-isers, have clear, straightfor-ward ownership and havepaid all their taxes. Those

applying without tenderingwould have to pay double theconcession fee and shouldoffer a minimum ofHUF100m (0.3m) for thefollowing year. As one com-pany can maintain a maxi-mum of five casinos and thebudget is aimed at nine loca-tions in total (now revised to11), potentially only a coupleof concessions might beawarded licences. One pop-ular measure enables opera-tors seeking to avoid the

tender and pay the higherfee, to deduct the conces-sion fee from their gamingtaxes. This inclusion isthought to have encouragedplans for more casinos.

Speaking out against thenew amendment, SocialistMP Csaba Tth said that thecabinet terminated the slotmachine market in 2012because it claimed the sectorposed a risk to national secu-rity. He added: Now you arere-opening it. For yourself.

LICENCE APPLICATIONS

More Hungarian citieschase casino licenceA tax amendment to Hungarys proposed gambling regulations has led to an upsurgein applications to operate in the country, brining the total to 11.

HUNGARY

EUROPEROUNDUP

Greeces woes continue tomanifest themselves withgambling monopoly OPAPrecording a drop in profits for thefirst nine months of the year,attributing the decline to newnational tax laws and the countryscontinued economic stress. In thenine-month period to September30, revenues for the Athens-basedgroup slipped 10.3 per cent toE2.6bn, with net profits totallingE111.7m, down 70 per cent on theE371.7m reported in thecomparable period last year. Frenchoperator Viking Casinos hasinvested over E10m in developingits 10th gaming floor at Casino deFrjus in the Provence-Alpes-Cote

dAzur region in south-easternFrance. The casino, which openedon December 13, has created 50jobs with turnover in the first yearof operation expected to reachE12m. The local government willreceive 50,000 for the annualcontribution plus a taxcalculated on the basisof gross gamingrevenue. Germanys16 state-ownedlotteries,meanwhile, havepublished an openletter calling forthe countrysfederal governmentto introduce newregulations to guaranteetheir role in the countrysgambling market and enforce a banon illegal operators offering poker,casino and lottery games. The

letter, also signed by the 16 statesporting associations, explains thatin order to maintain the level offunding generated by the lotteriesfor sports competitions, theirinvolvement in promotionalactivities for sporting events has tobe guaranteed by law. Finally,

having made its way acrossthe UK throughout 2013,

the Genting PokerSeries finally came torest in Britains city ofsteel Sheffield thismonth with the startof its Grand Final.

Taking place fromDecember 11 and

featuring a packed rosterof side events and cash

games, the GPS Grand Final willpeak with an main event that willboast an impressive 200,000(E238,000) guarantee.




Europe

ALL EYES ON ICE: THE 2014 SHOW IS LOOKING TO EXCEED THE 2013 AUDITED ATTENDANCE OF22,247 WHICH WAS A 4.3 PC INCREASE ON 2012.

ICE creativejuices areflowing

62News

By summer 2014, Sven-ska Spel will haveintroduced compul-sory customer cards for allgaming in Sweden, apartfrom the purchase of physi-cal lottery tickets and gam-ing inside CasinoCosmopol casinos.

According to the state-owned gaming group, themandatory customer cardwill be an important tool inpreventing problem gam-bling, further reinforcingage checks and preventing

crime and fraud. It will alsomake it easier for cus-tomers to keep track oftheir gambling, as bothinformation and activitiesnow can be tailored to thecustomers individual gam-bling behaviour.

Our decision repre-sents a major effort tostrengthen consumer pro-tection on the gaming mar-ket, said Lennart Kll,CEO of Svenska Spel. Weare convinced that amandatory customer cardis an important part of amore consistent and clearapproach to responsiblegaming, and that it will lead

to the development of ahealthy and secure gamingmarket. Meanwhile, wemust continue to develop awide range of attractivegaming experiences, sothat our customers do notseek out unregulated gam-bling sites.

Kll added: The use ofour customer card enablesus to provide an extendedservice to the customer,with new features such asinformation about theirgambling history, settinglimits with regard to timeand money, and suspensionfrom all gaming productsand platforms at the Sven-

ska Spel. It also allows us tobe more proactive in cus-tomer relations andenables us to initiate dia-logue with those customerswho perhaps gamble toomuch.

Another effect of thechange is that Svenska Spelcan make it difficult forthose who want to exploitSvenska Spels operationsfor the purposes of fraudand money laundering.

During the autumn, alle-gations were made aboutseveral football matchesbeing fixed, and in somecases we have been able toidentify irregular betting

patterns and have reportedthis to the police, Kllstated. This is a develop-ment we take very seri-ously, because fraud of thiskind can damage both usand our customers, butabove all it erodes the cred-ibility and integrity ofsport.

The customer card isalready mandatory forSvenska Spels gaming site,for mobile gaming andunder certain conditions inthe retail environment.Customer cards have alsobeen used on a voluntarybasis for Svenska SpelsVegas machines.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Svenska Spel introduces registration for all gamingIn an effort to strengthen consumer protection in the gaming market, Svenska Spel, Swedens state-owned gaming group, is rolling outcustomer cards that will be mandatory for those wishing to gamble.

SWEDEN

So, its a final farewell toGala Coral on the UKcasino stage. TheGroup completed the sale ofits remaining four UK casi-nos based in Aberdeen, Bris-tol, Cardiff and Teesside anda cold casino licence inDundee to Double DiamondGaming for an undisclosedsum.

The four casinos wereexcluded from a sale of 19casinos to the Rank Group inMay 2013, following a Com-petition Commission ruling.

Carl Leaver, CEO of GalaCoral Group, said: Thistransaction concludes theexit of our casino interests inthe UK and is a continuation

of our strategy to focus ongrowing our core opera-tions. I would like to thankour colleagues at the fourcasinos for their hard workand contribution over manyyears, and to wish themevery success under newownership.

Double Diamond is anindependent casino opera-tor that owns the RainbowCasino in Birmingham.Commenting on the deal,Duncan Savage, managingdirector of Double Dia-mond, said: We aredelighted to have workedwith Gala Coral to concludethis transaction. The acqui-sition is a continuation ofour strategy to build a highquality casino group in theUK. It builds on the success

of our acquisition and re-launch of the RainbowCasino in 2010 and we lookforward to re-launching thecasinos under the Rainbowbrand over the Christmasperiod.

Last month Gala unveiledits full-year results for fiscal2014. In the 12 months toSeptember 28, groupturnover was up six per centover the previous year, withgross profits up three percent to 20.5m, reflectinggrowth in all continuingbusinesses except the com-panys retail division. Thesale of 19 UK casinos to theRank Group for 179m wascompleted on May 12.

In light of the difficulttrading conditions, espe-cially in Q4, the group

posted a satisfactory per-formance in the year, withgross profit ahead in all ourbusinesses with the excep-tion of Gala Retail, Leaversaid. Performance in theyear to Q3 was resilient, buta prolonged period of abnor-mally hot weather in Q4resulted in reduced footfallin the UK retail businesses.This, combined with poorsports results (primarilyfootball), resulted in a mate-rial adverse impact on Q4EBITDA.

Trends in the new finan-cial year have been morepositive with results andcustomer volumes return-ing to more normal levels,and encouraging growth inour online businesses, headded.

ACQUISITIONS

Gala offloadsfinal fourcasinosGala Coral Group has completed the saleof its four remaining casinos to DoubleDiamond Gaming.

UNITED KINGDOM

Britains MP forRochford andSouthend East,James Duddridge, hascalled for online gamblingto be accessible insidecasinos, on the groundsthat the establishmentsare a more regulated envi-ronment.

Talking about a newgambling bill that is cur-rently being passedthrough Parliament, Dud-dridge said that while theUK government is lookingat online and land-basedgaming together, the twoare still too polarised.

Slamming the currentposition as ludicrous, hebelieves that playerswould have greater pro-tection if casinos wereallowed to offer onlinegambling within theirpremises. It is ironic that acasino is able to advertiseoutside the establishment,

but games cannot beplayed online inside it.Quite how we could stoppeople gambling on theirown devices I do not know,but it would be much bet-ter to allow casinos to havegambling online withintheir own premises. Thatwould bring it into the fam-ily that has greater protec-tion for problemgamblers.

Duddridge praisedGenting Casinos, whichoperates casinos in hisconstituency. The com-pany has invested millionsin the economy. It supportsthe broader communitythrough mayoral charities.All three casinos havebeen fantastic on respon-sible gambling, he said.

UNITED KINGDOM

ONLINE

MP calls for greaterinteraction between land-based and online


www.novomatic.com

[email protected]

Bring your guests the freedom to play their favourite NOVOMATIC NOVO LINE machines everywhere in your casino WLAN! Any of the casinos tablet PCs can be used to play in your smoking area, in a bar or a restaurant or in the comfort of a VIP lounge.


BrBrBrBrrBrBrBrBrBrBrBrBrBBBBrBBB iinininininininninininininnnngggggggggggggggg yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyyyoy ururururrrururururururururururrr ggggggggggggggggggggueueueueueueueueueueueueeestststststststststststsss ss ssssssssssss ththththththththththtthththththththththhhe e ee e eeeeee eeeeee frfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrfrf eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedddddddodododododododododododododod mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm totototototototototototototototooot ppppppppppppppppppppllllllalalalalalalalalaaaaayy y y y y y yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy thththththththththththththththththhht iiiiieieieieieieieieieieieieieeee rrrr r r rrrrrrr r r r fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafaaafaavovovovovovovovovovovovov urururururururururururururuurriitititititititititititititttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee NNONONNONONONONONONONONONNONONONN VOVOVVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOOMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMMMM TITITITITITITITITTITITITTT CCC C CCCCCCCCCCCBrBrBrBrBrBrBrBrBrBrBBBB ininninininininininggggggggggg yyyoyyoyoyoyoyoyoy rrrururururururur gggggggggggueueueueueueueueeestststststststststsssssssss tththththththhthhhheeeeeeeeeeee frffrfrfrfrfrfrfrfreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee dododododododododododd mmmmmmmmmmmm ttotototototototo pppppppppppllllalalalaalaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy thththththththththh iieieieieieieieieiee rrrrrrr fffffaffafafafafaaaavovovovovovovovov rrurururururururiiititititititititteeeeeeeeeeee NNNONONONONONONONONONN VOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAM TITITITITITITITICCCCCCCCCCNONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONNNNONONON VOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVVVOO LLLLLLLLLLLINININININININININININININNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmacacacacacacacacacacacaaaachihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihh neneneneneneneneneneneneeenenen ssssssssssssssss eeevevevevevevevevevevevevevveve ererererererererereeeeererywywywywywywywywywywywywywwwyyyyyyy hehehehehehhhhehehehehehehehehehheheheherereereereererererererereeeeee iiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoy ururururururururururururururuurrr ccccccccccccccasasasasasaasasasasasasasasasa iinnininininininnininininininnno o o o o o ooooooooooo WLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWWWWWWWWWW AAAANANANANANAAANANANANANANANANANANANAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAnAnAnAnAnAnAnAAnAnAnAnAnAnAnAnAnAnAAnA y y y y y y y yy yyyyyyyyyyy ofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofof NNONONONONONONONONONONNN VOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOV LLLLLLLIININININININININNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEE mmmmmmmmmm ccacacacacacacaaa hihiihihihihihihihihinneneneneneneneeeesssssssss eeevevevevevevevevv rerererererereeeeryyyywywywywywywwwyy hhhheheheheheheheheheherererererererereeee iiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnn yyoyyyoyoyoyoyoyoy rururururururuu ccccc sasasasasasasasaaa iiiininininininininoooooooo WLWLWLWLLWLWLWLWWWWWWW ANANANANANANANANANANAN!!!!!!!! AAAnAAnAnAnAnAnAnAAA yyyyyyyyyyyy ffofofofofofofofofthhthththththththththththhthththththhthhheeeee e e eeeee eeeee ccccccacacacacacacacaaaaaaa iiiisisisisisisisisisisisisiss nonononononononononononononooossssssssssssssss tttttttttttttttt bbbabbababababababababababababablelleleleleleeleleleleleleleeet t t t t t tttttttttt PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPPP ss s s s s sssss cccccccacacacacacacaaaacaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn bebebebebebebebebebeebebebebebebebebebebe uuuuuuuuuuuuuuusesesseseseseseseseseseeeeedddddddddddddddddddd totototototototototototototototototoo pppppppppppppppppppplllalalalalalalalalalalaaalayyy yy y y y yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy inininininininininnininininininnn yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyououououuuuouououououourrr r r rrrrrrr r r r r smsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsms kkkkkokokkokokokokokokokokokokokokokkkkiiiinninininininininininnnnnggggggggggggggggg aararararararararararararaaaaareaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaea,,,,,,,,,,tthtththththththhhthheeeeeeeeeeee cccacaaaaaaaaa iiiisisisisisisis nonononononononosssssss ttttttt bbabababababababababa lleleleleleleleleleeettttttttt PCPCPCPPCPCPCPCPCPPP sssssss cccacacaaaaaaannnnnnnnn bebebbebebebebebebbebebe uuuuuuuuusseseseseseseseseseeddddddddddd tottototototototo ppppppppppplllllalalalalaaaayyyyyyyyyyy iiinininininininnnn yyyyyyyyyyyouououououououourrrrrrrr ssmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmms kkokokokokokokokokokokkkiiininininininnnggggggggggg ararararararararaaa eaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaa,,,,,inininininininininininnininninnn aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbarararrrrrarararararararararaaaar ooooooooooooooorrr r r r r rrrrrrrrr a a a a a a a a aaaaaaaaaaa rrererererrererererererererereeeeer stststststststststststststststs auauauauauauauauauauauauauauaa rarararararararararararaaaaaraantntntntnttntntntntntntntntntntnt oooooooooooooooorrr r r r rrrrrrrr r inininininininininininininininnnn ttttttttttttttttttheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheee cccccccccccccccomomomomomomomomomommmomomomo fofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofofortrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtt ooooooooooooooooof f fff ffffffffff f ff a a a a a aa aaaaaaaaaaaa VIVIVIVIVVIVVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV PPPPPPP PP PPPPPPPP P P P P P PP P lololololololololololololololololooool ununununununununununununununnngegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegegggeg .....iniinininininininnnn aaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbbb rrrararrarararaaaaa ooooooorrrrrrrr aaaaaaaaa rrererererereeeeeeststststststststs uuauauauauauauaaa rarararararararaaaa tntntntntntntntntnt oooooooorrrrrrrrrr iininininininininnnn tttttttttheheheheheheheheheheee ccccccomomomomomomomommffofofofofofofofof rtrttrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrt oooooooffffffffff aaaaaaaa VIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIVIPPPPPPPPPPPP lllolololololooounununununununungegegegegegegegegegegege...


International Sales: Jens Halle, Phone: +43 2252 606 234, [email protected], www.austrian-gaming.com

Europe

A GRECIAN T-URN: INTRALOT SHOW SIGNS OF GREEK IMPROVEMENT WITH THE FOURTHCONSECUTIVE QUARTER THAT WE SEE AN IMPROVEMENT OF THE EBITDA MARGIN...

Greecesfinancial t idesshifting?

56News

Construction onBenidorms first casino,which is expected toopen in July 2014, has officiallybegun. Casino Mediterrneoannounced the start of thework on its new gambling andentertainment venue in theSpanish holiday resort with anhonorary act of laying the firstfoundation stone, attended bythe Mayor of Benidorm,Agustn Navarro, the firstDeputy Mayor and Councillorfor Tourism, Gema Amor, thePresident of Casino Mediterr-

neo Alamo Barajas and its CEOJesus Antonio Barajas.

The new casino, which willbe located in the Rincon deLoix, on the Avenida delMediterrneo, will occupy anarea of 3,600 square metres inan urban complex that will alsofeature a shopping mall and 4-star hotel in the future. Theinvestment in the constructionof the building is E1.8m and thenew infrastructure is expectedto create around 70 jobs.

The ground floor of thecasino will house most of the

gambling activity includingslot machines, table games, apoker room and sports betting,while the first floor will be usedfor poker tournaments. Theproperty will also feature aspace for culture through itsmulti-purpose room to belocated on the second flooralong with a terrace of 300square metres. The Benidormcasino will follow a similar aes-thetic to that used for CasinoMediterranean Orihuela withits corporate blue and goldpalm tree.

Work starts onBenidorm casino

SPAIN

Holland Casino, the belea-guered Dutch state-owned casino group, iscutting a third of its head officestaff as part of a new strategy todecentralise operations andincrease competitiveness in thecountrys soon-to-be demonop-olised gaming market.

The Hoofddorp-based com-pany said it would give its 14casinos more say in how theirindividual operations are run,enabling its headquarters to

shed a further 100 out of 350jobs. Two separate announce-ments earlier this year led to theloss of 500 jobs.

According to reports, Hol-land Casino is likely to book

losses of E30m this year, withdebts expected to increasefrom E60m to E100m, as thegroup continues to face declin-ing visitor numbers andincreased competition fromonline gambling outlets.

The operator reduced itsworkforce by 800 between 2008to 2012, during which timeturnover dropped by 30 percent. Chief executive Willem-Jan van den Dijssel said thecompany had to reduce person-nel costs by 18 per cent byNovember 1 in order to keep thebusiness viable.

OPERATIONS

Holland Casino to implementfurther staff cuts

French casino operator Par-touche has sold one of itsfour casinos in Belgium via itsholding company Belcasinos toonline casino group NapoleonGames for E16.5m. The sale doesnot include Jackpotparty.be,which operates under an A

licence issued to the casino. Lastyear, Knokke recorded gross gam-ing revenue of E12.1m and con-tributed positively to the groupsconsolidated EBITDA of E0.9m.Partouche has been struggling topay debts of around E230m debtand plans to sell more of its assetsin Spain and France as it is facedwith potential action from its cred-itors.

DISPOSAL

Partouche looks to ease debts

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

The bids for a second casino on the Balearicisland of Mallorca have been considered andpermission has been awarded for a group oflocal businessmen to convert the Palma BalaericTheatre into the Gran Casino Theatre Balear.

The group narrowly beat off competition fromMerkur and Nervion - the operator of the existingcasino on the island - which scored 74.62 and 75.48respectively, compared to the Balaeric Theatreprojects 76.69.

Due to open within a year, the new venue inRosello Olivar market square will cost E10m andcreate 170 jobs, bringing a casino, conference,restaurants, bars and an auditorium to the old the-atre. The renovation will see the location include70 slots and 13 gaming tables, as well as bingo pro-vided by Eusebio Cano. It is hoped that the newcasino will revitalise the downtown Palma area, alocation that the projects group says mirrors thecurrent trend for casinos in Spain to be located incity centres.

The groups victory is likely to be challengedby the losing bids, with Nervion for Platja dePalma, which was considered to be the favouriteat one stage and the one with the backing of localgovernment, scoring five points in the categorymarked proven experience in similar projects,compared to its two competitors that scored zeroin that category.

However, the most recent round of votingbased on the personal and financial guaranteesprovided, saw the Balearic Theatre score 8.03points, Bendinat 10, with Platja de Palma receiv-ing just 0.01, which undoubtedly left a questionmark hanging over the reliability of the investment.


CASINO OPENING

Palma Balearic Theatreto be converted intonew casino

Amid torrideconomic timesfor the Spanisheconomy, itsdown to twotourist hotspotsto help turnthings around.But while the UKex-pat haven ofBenidorm makesa start on itsschedule of work,theres nosurprise thattrouble may bebrewing on theisle of Mallorcawhere nothing todo withbureaucracy isever far from acomplication.


www.igt.com/videoreeledge

2013 IGT. All rights reserved.

Put the future of bonusing in your players hands

Mix the thrills of video slots and video gaming when you bring the joystick-driven excitement of Video Reel Edge to your oor

Video Reel Edge is the latest breakthrough from the innovators at IGT, generating a new form of gaming thrill for a new generation of players. In Video Reel Edges unique skills-based bonuses, your players grab hold of a radical joystick interface to show off their video game skills and control how much they win. Its an adrenaline-fuelled ride thats sure to keep them coming back for more.

The transformation of bonusing has begun. Ask your IGT account manager for more information, or visit:

www.IGT.com/VideoReelEdge


Europe

RUSSIAN GAMING WEEK: AROUND 1,500 INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS VISITED RUSSIAN GAMINGWEEK TO SAMPLE THE OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED BY THE REGIONS GAMING INDUSTRY.

Russia: Belarusfl ies f lag forgaming

62News

The government in SouthernCyprus has said it plans togrant the winner of a licencefor a single integrated casino resortthe right to operate a temporarycasino for two or three years untilthe creation of the integratedresort.

Energy and Commerce MinisterGiorgos Lakkotrypis said at a pressconference at the end of Novemberthat this will allow the governmentto start receiving revenue, addingthat securing the licence willbecome more attractive becausethe winning consortium wont haveto wait two or three years untilthere is liquidity. The target is tolicense the casino within 14months.

The governments decision tomove forward with just one casinolicence has caused great contro-versy on the island with complaintsthat only one of the districts willbenefit from the economic boostthat the new casino will bring. TheMayors of Cyprus five main dis-tricts believe that there should be anumber of licences strategicallydesigned and placed to appeal tothe various tourist segments thatCyprus attracts.

Casinos in Malta thatadvertise on socialmedia sites like Face-book could face chargesand be risking their licencesthey have been warned.

Although the MalteseGaming Act allows casinosto advertise in tourist spots

such as airports, hotels andholiday complexes, legisla-tors are warning that socialmedia advertising does notfall under the guidelines setout in the law. Online adver-tising on social media by alllicensed land-based casinosand gaming establishmentsare regulated by the LGA,and the licensees mustensure compliance with the

laws, LGA executive chair-man Joseph Cuschieriexplained.

The LGA warned that itwould take all the neces-sary actions as is pertinentto it at law if it is confirmedthat the provisions are beingbreached after investigat-ing any possible breaches.Cuschieri added that theLGA will request the

licensees in question to pro-vide submissions justifyingtheir position.

Under the current law,any director or manager of acasino found guilty ofbreaking gaming legislationcould have their casinolicense cancelled, as well asfacing a fine of up toE233,000 or a maximumtwo-year imprisonment.

MALTA

CYPRUS

SOCIAL MEDIA

Malta casino licences at risk over social media advertising

LICENCE

Plans to granttemporary casinolicence to Cyprusoperator

The Bulgarian Parliamenthas approved newamendments to the east-ern European countrys Gam-ing Act that will change thecurrent 15 per cent tax onturnover to a 20 per cent tax onprofits.

Motioned by Member of theParliament of the BulgarianSocialist Party (BSP) and theMovement for Rights and Free-doms (DPS), the vote to changethe way gaming taxes are cal-culated in Bulgaria passed with110 votes in favour, 79 againstand two abstentions. A corpo-rate tax will now be introducedon bookmakers, lottery andlotto games organisers, as wellas poker and online casinos.

Under the terms of the newtax structure, licensees willpay a one-off fee ofBGN100,000 (E51,127), with asecond fee - comprising of 20

per cent of the differencebetween the bets value and thepaid winnings - being paidmonthly.

It is thought that the legalamendments will result in athreefold reduction in Bulgar-ian gaming taxes and encour-age more investment in theregion.

Yordan Tsonev, chairman ofthe parliamentary budget com-mittee, said tax revenueswould increase by BGN50m(E25.6m) by 2015 as a result ofthe change, and by BGN100m(E51.1m). Initially, the new taxwill benefit operators offeringsports events betting, such asEurofootball, Eurobet, theNational Sports Totalizator andEurofootball.

Foreign bookmakers havebeen indicating for quite sometime that the 15 per cent tax rateon sports betting and eventsturnover is too high, becauseover 90 per cent of the earningsare returned as profits.

BEGEThe pulse of the Balkan, andindeed the entire regionsgaming industry, was meas-ured against the backdrop ofprospective legislative changewhen the sixth edition of theBalkan Entertainment andGaming Expo was held onOctober 22-23 in the Bulgariancapital, Sofia. Drawing an audi-ence of more than 2,000 visi-tors, the event was officiallyopened by Ognemir Mitev,chairmen of the state commis-sion on gambling, and Angel Iri-bozov, chairman of themanagement board of tradeassociation BTAMOGI.

The Bulgarian industry wasrepresented by leading manu-facturers and distributors ofentertainment and gamingequipment and software solu-tions. The leading Bulgarianmanufacturer, Casino Technol-ogy, introduced its newest ver-sions from the multigame

series Gamopolis Highway,along with the latest develop-ments of the server-based andonline solutions.

More and more interna-tional leaders are presenting atBEGE expo, and some of themare participating at the showfor second, third or fourth con-secutive year, said the showorganisers. In 2013 their latestinnovations presented the fol-lowing companies: Apex Gam-ing Technology, Abbiati,Advansys, Betconstruct, Finin-vest, Future Gaming, GamingSupport, Interblock, Verman-tia, Microgaming, Suzo-Happ,SB Tech, Spielo International,Syswin Solutions and Styl-Game. The entertainment sec-tor was presented by theAdvanced TechnologyResearch, Sega and SoundLeisure.

The exhibition ended suc-cessfully with positive feed-back from both exhibitors andvisitors.

Bulgarian politicians have voted to approve amendments to the countrys Gaming Actthat will see a threefold reduction in gambling taxation levels.

Authorities approve Bulgariangaming tax reduction

GAMING TAX

BULGARIA


www.aristocratgaming.co.uk/vids/Flashdance.pdfggg ggg // // pp ffffwwwwwwwwwwwwww.w.w aarararariisisissttototot crcrcrcr tatatatatgagagagaa imimimim nggngngg cc.c.cooo.o kukukukukk///v/v/vididididds//s/s/s/s FlFlFlFlasasasashdhdhdhdhdanananancececece pp.p.ppddfdfdfdfdf

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zRYlZlvJEs

www.aristocratgaming.co.uk/vids/Flashdance.pdf

The music and characters 7KHGD]]OHDQGDLU Flashdance will bring the players and keep them, with the inspiring tunes, totally 80s sights, and eye-popping interactive hit features of an instant legend. With an upgraded LCD touchscreen and the surround sound ichair, your players will keep reaching for their dreama ve-level progressive that can take them to new heights.

What a feeling!What a feeling!

Flashdance 2013 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.Aristocrat 2013 Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited.

Contact your Aristocrat representative now.

ww

MAKE A HUGE SPLASH WITH FLASHDANCE.

PUT A MANIAC ON YOUR FLOOR. maniacmaniac YYYYYYOOOOOUUUUUURRRRRRR FFFFFFLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRR... PPPPPPPUUUUUUUTTTT AAAAAAA MMMMMMMMAAAAAANNNNNNIIIIIIAAAAAAACCCCCCC OOOOONNNNNN PUT A MANIAC ON YOUR FLOOR. OOOOOOmaniacmaniac


C

Asia & OceaniaNews

onstruction on the ManilaBay Resort complex, whatwill - or rather could - be thelargest of the casino resortsplanned for EntertainmentCity, has begun again,according to an announce-ment from Tiger Resort,Leisure and EntertainmentInc, the subsidiary ofJapans Universal Enter-tainment.

Recommencement camejust a month after Universalsigned land developmentdeals with Century Proper-ties Group, which hasstepped into a breach for-merly occupied by Robin-sons Land Corp until lastMay when negotiations fellapart.

This is a rare piece of pos-itive news for Universal.The project has been besetby delays and controversydating back years, not leastbecause of a land owner-

ship issue that the agree-ments with Century willhelp resolve. The develop-ment company for the proj-ect Eagle 1 Land Holdingswas 64 per cent owned byUniversal through varioussubsidiaries. That put it inbreach of a Philippineslegal requirement limitingforeign ownership to 40 percent.

One of the deals seesCentury acquire fivehectares of the 44-hectaresite; the other sees itacquire a 36 per cent inter-est in Eagle 1 itself. Univer-sal has also sold preferredstock to another companyFirst Paramount Holdings888. Together the dealsmean more than 60 per centof the company is in Philip-pine hands.

With the project goingforward, Masahiro Terada,president of Tiger, said the

companys timetable is stillon.

He confirmed: Wevealready started our con-struction, which will con-sist of several phases, threeor four, but were on trackfor our 2015 target.

Universal has alreadyinvested US$200m(E148m) in the project,however, the plannedinvestment by the companyis ten times that at $2bn(E1.48bn), out of totalexpected investment ofaround $5.75bn (E4.24bn).

Universal and its bossKazuo Okada still face sig-nificant challenges, notleast the prospect that thegaming licence might yet berevoked. The company isfacing two separate investi-gations, one by the FBI inthe United States, the otherby Philippines authorities,into allegations of bribery,

specifically suspect pay-ments alleged to have beenmade by a Universal shellcompany in Hong Kong to aclose associate of the for-mer head of the PhilippinesAmusement Gaming Corpo-ration (PAGCOR), the regu-lator and currently largestgaming operator in thecountry. Along with otherallegations, that wasenough to have Okada, for-merly the largest investor inWynn Resorts, expelledfrom that companys boardand his shares compulso-rily purchased at a dis-count, losing him millions.Wynn was already upset atOkadas Manila project,believing it to be a directcompetitor to its expandinginterests in Macau.

A year after the allega-tions of malpractice werefirst made, investigationsand lawsuits are continu-

ing. A case brought by Uni-versal against Wynn inTokyo for defamation wassummarily dismissed inNovember, although Uni-versal may yet appeal.

If it overcomes thesehurdles, Manila Bay Resortwill be four times largerthan the Solaire, whichopened in March. In addi-tion to the casino and asso-ciated VIP facilities, it willfeature hotels at differentprice points, luxury shop-ping mall as well as foodand beverage.

RESORT COMPLEX

Okada restarts workon Manila Bay Resort

According to thedeveloper, ManilaBay Resort -potentially thejewel in the crownof theEntertainmentCity project in thePhilippine capital- will see phaseone opening in2015. Hugh Sorrillreports.

Kazuo Okada, chairman ofUniversal Entertainment

PHILIPPINES

CR134-p12-14-Asia_Coinslot NEW 12/16/13 3:10 PM Page 1


YXYXYXY

MASAHIRO TERADA: WEVE ALREADY STARTED OUR CONSTRUCTION, WHICH WILL CONSIST OFSEVERAL PHASES, THREE OR FOUR, BUT WERE ON TRACK FOR OUR 2015 TARGET.

Manila BayResort:Back ontrack

AUSTRALIA / INDIA / PHILLIPINES / SINGAPORE / VIETNAM

Manila Bay Resort expects todeliver thousands of jobs forFilipinos. Tigers vice presi-dent Kenji Sugiyama said: Our targetis to really attract lots of people, localand foreigners, and in the process beof great help to the Philippine econ-omy and employment.

He said that a lot of Filipinos workoverseas as hotel and restaurantstaff: Thats one of the big reasons tocreate employment here for morethan 15,000 Filipinos, almost 95 percent will come from the Philippines,five per cent from expatriates.

The jobs will be very much neededin the wake of recent natural disas-ters, including Typhoon Pablo of 2012and Typhoon Yolande in early Novem-ber, as well as the Visayas earth-quake.

Sugiyama said: It is part of our mis-sion to extend a helping hand to thosein need.

ANALYSIS

The risk with any bigproject such asManila Bay Resort isthat the people who startit off may not end up beingthe people who run it.Usually that happensbecause of financialdifficulties, however, inthis case there are manydifferent factors at play.The claims of bribery andgraft are extremelyserious and have yet toreach their conclusion:any guilt there wouldimmediately mean the endof Universals involvement.The companys difficultieswith Wynn Resorts largelyhave no direct bearing onthe Manila project butthey are a distraction. Oneof the few issues unlikelyto upset plans is finance:Universal generates a lotof money from itsPachislot and Pachinkobusiness. However, ittakes more than money tobe able to operate acasino resort - reputationcounts for a lot.

EMPLOYMENT

Jobs whenjobs areneeded

One more hurdle hasbeen jumped by

Universal in its bid todevelop what may be

the largest resort inEntertainment City:

the pool wil l be acentral feature

The chairman of parent companyDeltin Corp, Jaydev Mody,recently unveiled details of thegroups construction project inDaman. The proposed resort wouldbe known as The Deltin Hotel and isslated to launch in the first quarter of2014. Once opened it will become thelargest casino in India.

The property stretches across 10acres, incorporating 35,000 squarefeet of casino floor and 168 rooms.An all day restaurant, specialtyrestaurant and pastry shop will sitalongside a gym, pool, and spa witheight treatment rooms. The finishedarticle will be equipped for confer-ences in the grand ballroom or foursmall function rooms, which areserved by parking for up to 250 cars.

Daman, which occupies the coun-trys western coast, is one of onlythree Indian locations that currently

permit live gaming. Its proximity toMumbai and Gujarat make it an obvi-ous target for development. Damanis near Mumbai, so we expect a goodnumber of people coming to ourhotel, said Jaydev Mody.

Goa and Sikkim also permit casi-nos within their borders and Deltingroup have announced that propos-als for a casino in Sikkim are at a veryearly stage. Deltins plans extendbeyond the bounds of India intoNepal and beyond, as Modyexplains: We have already acquiredproperty for the casino resort in SriLanka and the company is exploring

the emerging Sri Lankan gamingmarket, which is poised for rapidgrowth.

Indians make up 28 per cent of thevisitors to Sri Lanka, with groupssuch as James Packers CrownResorts looking to establish a flour-ishing casino market in the country.

Reflecting on the forthcomingDelting Hotel, Mody affirmed that,our primary focus has always beenon providing premium experiences,as we stand for luxury and glamourat each of our properties and theDeltin brand is an accurate reflec-tion of that.

CASINO RESORT

Deltin Group unveils plans forcasino resort in DamanIndias first integrated casino company, Deltin Group, are planning to launch their firstresort in the city of Daman. And what an ambitious plan it is.

INDIA

Viewed as a u-turn on the govern-ments previously staunchopposition to native gambling,the move to allow Vietnamese accessto casinos has come as a surprise tomany both inside and outside thecountry.

Initially, only a certain subset ofVietnamese will be allowed to gamblein their home country and only in a par-ticular casino, which has yet to be con-structed. The unfinished structure,planned for the Van Don EconomicZone, is one of many casinos on Viet-namese soil that have to date been cre-ated solely for the use of visitingforeigners.

The Chinese, in particular, are a keysource of revenue for the existing Viet-namesse casinos. Meanwhile, thoselocals who do wish to gamble headacross the border to locations to likeMacau, Hong Kong, or Cambodia. Thelatter is a particular concern for gov-

ernment officials, as there are numer-ous reports of kidnappings and otheroffences being committed againstVietnamese citizens who travel acrossthe border to gamble.

The announcement was made byNguyen Thi Kim Ngan during a meet-ing of the Standing Committee to dis-cuss a bill on betting and gambling. Hercomments were particularly surpris-ing following a decision by the samegovernment just a month previous toincrease the fines levied against casi-nos which allow entry to locals. Opera-tors who allow Vietnamese nationalsto gamble can be fined up to VND200m($9,500).

Ngan stated that the government islooking to curb the amount of localcurrency leaving the country to belevied elsewhere. Some within thecountry have also speculated that thePolitburo may be motivated by thepotential for increased revenue fromgambling taxes if the gambling moneyspent by their citizens is wageredinside the countrys borders.

ACCESS

Vietnamese permitted to gamble on home soil

The Politburo of communistVietnam have causedshockwaves by allowinglocals to access casinosfor the first time.

VIETMAN



Asia & Oceania

ARISTOCRAT BOOST: COMPANY POSTS 17PC RISE IN GROUP PROFITS THANKS TO BETTERQUALITY GAMES AND PRODUCTS SUSTAINING ROBUST OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE.

Jamie Odell

53News

Resort developer Las VegasSands (LVS) and BeckhamVentures have announced apartnership which will see one ofthe worlds most iconic sportsstars, David Beckham, join forceswith LVSs powerful integratedresort properties in Macau andSingapore.

The partnership will be basedaround the development of dining,retail and leisure concepts atSands China properties in Macau

and Marina Bay Sands in Singa-pore.

We have billions of dollarsinvested in our own global,iconic brands and we clearlyunderstand the importance ofgrowing and sustaining thosebrands over time, said MichaelLeven, president and chief oper-ating officer of Las Vegas SandsCorporation. The odds areextremely high that a partnershipwith David Beckham will help usfurther those efforts and provideDavid with the same benefit.

David Beckham was equally

enthused: The Sands team hascreated amazing resorts in Singa-pore and Macau. The scale,vision and calibre in all that theydo is impressive. I am veryexcited to be working with themto develop a range of new busi-ness ideas in a part of the worldthat I love spending time in and isfull of optimism and growth.

Edward Tracy, president andchief executive officer of SandsChina, said: In Macau, SandsChina has worked to not onlytransform the tourism industryby providing a diverse set of

entertainment offerings, but alsoby seeking out active engage-ment with renowned brands andproviding a unique experience tothe people in and around thisarea of the world when they visitCotai Strip Resorts Macau.

David Beckhams well-known personal values and hisendeavours in both businessdevelopment and communityoutreach make a perfect matchfor our two brands to cometogether in a way which is sureto positively impact the Asianmarket.

PARTNERSHIP

LVS scores David Beckham partnership

It has been revealed in anofficial statement thatmedia and retail tycoonTony Fung has expressed hisintent to purchase ReefCasino Trust.

Fungs desire to enter theAustralian casino market haslong been known, after he sub-mitted plans for a A$4.2bnresort in the city of Cairns,Queensland. That proposal

remains before the Australiangovernment, but may becomeredundant if he completes thepurchase of Reef, who cur-rently operate the only casinoin Cairns.

An offer of A$4.2bn has been

made to the casino trust, whichplaced a 53 per cent premiumon the closing stock price at thetime of the announcement. Inresponse to the news, ReefCasinos stock rose 40.5 percent in a single day.

The groups largest stake-holders, Casinos Austria andthe Accor Group, have indi-cated that they are happy forthe sale to proceed, althoughthe deal is contingent uponReef first purchasing CasinoCanberra.

Gambling participa-tion among Tas-manian residentshas fallen to its lowest ebbsince 2005, as revealed bythe Tasmanian GamblingCommissions annualreport. As part of a study onthe social and economicimpact of gambling, theCommission indicated thatparticipation in all forms ofgambling had fallen 65.2per cent during 2011.Analysing figures from the2011-12 financial year alsorevealed that player expen-

diture fell A$5m when com-pared with the previous 12months.

Federal Group, whooperate the two licensedcasinos on the Tasmanianmainland, blamed theintroduction of more than60 complex new casinorules for millions in lostprofit. Poker machines suf-fered in particular, seeing a14 per cent drop in takingsover the previous year. Dur-ing 2011-12 the islandstwo casinos lost A$13 mil-lion in revenue from pokies.Sports betting was the onlygambling activity to seeincreased participation.

ACQUISITION

Tony Fung buying his way into Australia

SINGAPORE

AUSTRALIA

PERFORMANCE

Gambling revenues falldramatically in Tasmania

AUSTRALIA

James Packers Crown Resortsintends to construct a $400mresort and casino complex in thecentre of Colombo. It is hoped that aprime location in the capitals Eco-nomic District, close to neighbouringIndias burgeoning economy, willresult in high yields from gamblingtourism, just as Macau has benefittedfrom Chinese visitors. Packer haslearnt this lesson well: he is one of theprimary investors in Macau and hasbenefited massively from the regionscasino boom.

But, things are not going assmoothly as initially hoped. On thepositive side, Crowns plans havealready been approved once by the SriLankan cabinet. But, and here comesthe bad news, investment and promo-tion minister Lakshman Yapa Abey-wardena has since argued that theproposal would need to be re-evalu-ated in light of changes to tax pay-ments.

Having made alterations to the orig-inal proposal, the government thenclaimed that Packers plans wouldreceive another viewing beforeNovember 21. That date has nowpassed and Abeywardena has con-firmed that it may well also miss the

deadline for this years session.He told Reuters that pressures from

this years annual budget had super-seded concerns about the proposedresort. However, reports have sug-gested that opposition politicians hadsought to delay the process after argu-ing earlier that Packer was receivingtax breaks not afforded to Sri Lankanentrepreneurs. Leaders from the Bud-dhist faith, the countrys primary reli-gion, had also voiced concerns that theresort could be detrimental to the cul-ture of Sri Lanka.

This hold up is the latest in a series ofdelays that began when Packer wasforced to alter his original construc-tion plans. The casino is being con-structed under the aegis of LakeLeisure Holdings, a joint venture com-pany comprised of Crown and theirlocal partners, RankEntertainmentHoldings.

Representatives from Rank seemedunmoved about the delay, explainingthat the plans may well be approved inJanuary or February 2014, whichwould not provide any impediment tothe overall construction project.

A Crown spokesman was equallysanguine about any stalling on the partof Sri Lanka officials, confirming thatdiscussions were ongoing and that hiscompany had anticipated delayscaused by the yearly budget debate.

CASINO COMPLEX

Packer endures moredelays in Sri Lanka

Australian casino mogul James Packer facesfurther legislative delays as his planned SriLankan resort hits another governmental hitch.

AUSTRALIA


www.spielo.com

SPIELO brings the best gaming products to players around the world through millions of hours of expertise across all segments and channels.

From land-based tointeractive, we are Bringing Gaming to Life!

2013 GTECH. All rights reserved. All trademarks and logos noted hereinare trademarks owned by, or licensed to GTECH Corporation.

TAfrica & Middle EastNews

he Western Cape provin-cial minister (MEC) incharge of finance, eco-nomic development andtourism, Alan Winde, hassaid he wants to see bidsopened for a second casinoin Cape Town.

The zonal exclusivityenjoyed by Sun Interna-tionals GrandWest locatedin Goodwood, a suburbabout 10km from the citycentre, expired in 2010after ten years. Evenbefore it expired, specula-tion about the future wasbuilding - although the dif-ficult economic conditionsdampened any radicalambitions.

The provincial govern-ment has stated its aim butthere are several hoops tojump through first.

In November Windesaid: At this stage no leg-islative changes have beenmade, Provincial treasuryis currently in the processof updating economicinformation and studies,which will inform the nextstep. We recognise thatcasinos can generate jobsbut we have to take several

factors in account beforewe make a responsible andinformed decision. We willkeep the public updated.

His department has beenconsulting both theprovinces operators,which together run fivecasino resorts, overwhether to move ahead onwhat could be a lucrativedevelopment. It is due toreport by February, how-ever, in early December,Winde had alreadychanged his tone some-what outlining a potentialsolution that would keepall the stakeholders happy.

He said: No casinolicence lapses. Those thathave got their licenceskeep them. The decisionwe need to take is, do weleave the geographic spaceand allow no casino tomove, or would we allowone to move. And if weallowed it, would it be ben-eficial for us from a taxa-tion point of view if itmoved to the city? I believethe answer is yes.

So far the fashionableV&A Waterfront and theCape Town Stadium, both

situated at Green Pointhave been suggested aspossible locations. There iscertainly high interest foroperators in relocating toan almost guaranteedprime position within thecity.

Marcel von Aulock CEOof Tsogo Sun, which oper-ates three casinos in theprovince, said in his com-panys first half results that

it would bid for the licence ifit came up in order to com-pete with Sun Interna-tionals GrandWest Casino.

In addition toGrandWest, Sun Interna-tional also operates theGolden Valley Casino inWorcester, as well as thefive-star Table Bay Hotel onthe V&A Waterfront.

Suns Michael Farr,speaking to the Cape Argus,said: We have had no indi-cation from provincial gov-ernment that changes topolicy have taken effect andthus we are not aware thatany bidding process for therelation to the licence in theWestern Cape has beeninitiated.

In its interim resultsissued in September, Sunsaid: The potential to bidfor the relocationremains an opportunity forthe group, although therecent increase in provin-cial taxes in the WesternCape has made this a lessattractive opportunity thanbefore.

Alan Winde MEC, f inanceminister

The likelihood ofthe WesternCape provincialgovernmentapproving alicence relocationfrom one of thecountrysidecasinos to theCape Town isincreasing. AsHugh Sorrillreports, we couldsee bids withinthe year.

LICENCE RELOCATION

A new casino on thecards in Cape Town?

ANALYSIS

Whatever happens,the essentialduopoly enjoyed bySun International andTsogo Sun in WesternCape looks set tocontinue as a brand newsixth casino operatinglicence appears to be outof the question. A newlicence would almostcertainly dilute themarket, which neitheroperator would want ofcourse. Any new casino inCape Town would put thesqueeze on GrandWest -that cannot be avoided.As far as Sun isconcerned, therefore, thebest outcome for themwould be to relocate theGolden Valley licence,probably to the Table BayHotel. Tsogo Sun isobviously keen to win andit may well have the betterchance: a strongargument in its favour isthat it is better to havecompeting operatorsserving South Africaslargest tourist city.


SOUTH AFRICA

The V&A Waterfrontand the Cape Town

Stadium, both possiblelocations for a second

Cape Town casino

CR134-p16-17-Africa_Coinslot NEW 12/16/13 3:45 PM Page 1


YXYXYXY

SUN INTERNATIONAL: SUN SAID IT PLANS TO INVEST A FURTHER AMOUNT OF $60M TO BUILDOUT AND FULLY DEVELOP THE MULTIPLE SPACES AT ITS EXCLUSIVE PANAVIERA IN PANAMA.

Sun sets sightson SouthAmerica

25

ISRAEL / SOUTH AFRICA

Hotel and gaming groupTsogo Sun delivered year-on-year growth in bothhotel and casino revenues for thesix months ended September 30.

The group reported adjustedheadline earnings per share of81.3 cents, up 20 per cent on theprior six months and nine per centgrowth in earnings before inter-est, tax, depreciation, amortisa-tion and property rentals,long-term incentives and excep-tional items (Ebitdar) to R2.0bn(E0.14bn).

CEO Marcel von Aulock said:The group has delivered a solidperformance. Although the paceof growth slowed in the secondquarter, the group is highly cashgenerative and excellent progresswas made on our growth strategywith R1.3bn (E0.09bn) investedinto expanding and upgradingexisting assets and acquiringother strategic interests during

the period. These results reflect the

growth potential of the groupshould the consumer and corpo-rate sectors of the local economycontinue to improve. There isvolatility in the monthly results,which creates a degree of uncer-tainty around the sustainability ofthe growth, but we continue topursue opportunities to expandour business.

Total income for the six monthsgrew nine per cent to R5.2bn(E0.37bn), driven by a six per centincrease in gaming win, a 17 percent increase in hotel revenue anda 21 per cent growth in food andbeverage revenue.

Revenue for the gaming divi-sion increased by seven per centto R4 billion (E0.29bn), and Ebit-dar improved six per cent to R1.6bn (E0.11bn) at a margin of 39.8per cent, 0.4pp below the priorperiod. With the exception of

Golden Horse and Mykonos, allgaming operations reportedgrowth in revenues and Ebitdar.

Looking ahead, the potential torebid for the relocation of one ofthe smaller casinos in the WesternCape to the Cape Metropoleremains an opportunity for thegroup, although the recentincrease in provincial taxes in theWestern Cape has made this a lessattractive opportunity thanbefore, it stated. The MpumulangaGaming Board has re-initiated therequest for proposals for thefourth licence in the province fol-lowing the withdrawal of an ear-lier bidding process, although thegroup has not decided whether itwill re-bid at this stage.

The group continues to explorea variety of projects, including theexpansion of the Suncoast casino,as well as a number of potentialacquisitions that are at variousstages.

PERFORMANCE

Tsogo Sun continues to pursueexpansion opportunitiesTsogo Sun delivered arobust first half performancesupported by acquisitivegrowth, despite the pace ofgrowth being slower in thesecond quarter.

The inaugural Big AfricaSummit took place at theIndaba Hotel in Johannes-burg, South Africa, on Novem-ber 4-6, establishing itself as akey meeting point for onlineand land-based gaming profes-sionals.

At the event, delegates dis-cussed the latest changes ingaming technology, how thesechanges will impact the gamingindustry and how technologycan improve operations,increase revenue and controlcosts in African casino opera-tions.

The keynote opening pres-entation was delivered byThemba Ngobese, CEO of theCasino Association of SouthAfrica (CASA), who offered areview of the South Africangambling industry and its regu-lation.

Ngobese said: CASA mem-bers have to date invested inexcess of ZAR30bn (E2.1bn) ininfrastructure, leading to thedevelopment of work classentertainment destinationsincorporating more than 7,800hotel rooms, convention cen-tres, tourist attractions, themeparks, sports facilities andrestaurants.

Also at the conference, NikkiForster, head of Pricewater-houseCoopers hospitality andgaming division in SouthAfrica, discussed the secondedition of the groups GamblingOutlook report that waslaunched in November.According to Forster, casinogambling accounts for 79 percent of the industry, generatingrevenues of ZAR16.4bn(E1.1bn) last year, followed by

sports betting (12 per cent ofrevenues), limited payoutmachines (seven per cent) andbingo (two per cent).

Forster noted that gamblingis a major source of revenue forthe South African government,generating ZAR2.1bn (E147m)in gambling taxes and levies.Gross gambling revenueincreased by 13.4 per cent in2012 to ZAR20.9bn (E1.5bn)and it is forecasted that it willincrease to ZAR29.8bn(E2.1bn) in 2017. Forster wasconfident that online gamblingwill be legalised in the next fiveyears.

Andrew Crone, IT portfolioand quality manager at SunInternational, addressed arange of questions surroundingthe future growth of SouthAfricas casino industry at theBig Africa Summit. Gamingcompanies need to link IT strat-egy to the business strategy andstart driving the innovationcurve, he said.

Stuart Wing, chief operatingofficer from Sun International,added: The focus is shifting towhat the customer wants.Transactions and loyalty pro-grammes will become seam-less between casino loyaltyclubs and the online environ-ment. Gaming machines andtable games will be playedaway from the device or tableon tablet-style devices, therebyreducing costs and expandingdistribution points within thecasino. Social gaming willbecome an integral part of acompanies offering. Games ofskill will be commercialisedand become part of the totalgaming offering.

The second edition of the BigAfrica Summit is scheduled totake place on October 6-8, 2014.

Politics leaders from Israelmet up with Nevada Gover-nor Brian Sandovalrecently, as they look to intro-duce gambling to the country.

According to David Siegel(pictured), the Jewish nationsConsul General, politicians inIsrael are reviewing the possiblebenefits of land-based gaming.

Sandovals visited Israel with50 business leaders in October,with the goal of diversifyingNevadas economy. Focuses ofthe trade mission included high-tech industries, the drone air-

craft market and water conser-vation.

Talking with Israeli leaders,Sandoval introduced gaming tothe discussion. Among the menSandoval spoke with were Presi-dent Shimon Peres and Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Siegel said the talks were only inthe beginning stages.

According to reports, a townin the heart of the Negev Desertis currently being eyed as thepotential home for casino devel-opment.

I think its an area of interest,Siegel said. Its not in the tangi-ble phase yet, but its somethingthat were looking at.

Siegel said Israel could useNevadas knowledge of how tobuild cities in the desert as theNegev accounts for 60 per centof Israels land mass but holdsonly eight per cent of the coun-trys population.

CONFERENCES

DEVELOPMENTS

Israeli officials mull casino in the desert

Africa gamingsummit addresseskey industry issues

SOUTH AFRICA

ISRAEL

SOUTH AFRICA

CR134-p16-17-Africa_Coinslot NEW 12/16/13 3:48 PM Page 2

www.gaming.konami.com

Born from fun.

Set your floor ablaze.Take cover as fire-breathing dragons blaze the way to

pearls of riches with KONAMIs red-hot, 4-level, linked

progressive Dragons Victory. In this mystery game,

featuring KP3s high-definition video graphics, players

enhance the adventure by unlocking medallion-

transforming pearls. Radiating with bonus progressive

prizes, Dragons Victory will ignite high levels of fun

and profit. Its too hot not to handle.

gaming.konami.com www.gaming.konami.comg mi .konami.com www.gaming.konami.comwww.gaming.konami.com


N

North AmericaNews

ew Jersey became the thirdand largest US state tolaunch legal, regulated fullonline gambling on Novem-ber 25. In the first week,which was devoted mainlyto testing, more than 37,000people had signed up to playthe full range of casinogames from their internetdevices.

Governor Chris Christie,who has pushed the meas-ure forward, said: Thatspretty good in a week. Imnot worried.

Six of the 12 Atlantic Citycasinos and their softwarepartners have fired up theirsites: Borgata, Trump TajMahal, Trump Plaza, Tropi-cana, Ballys Atlantic Cityand Caesars Atlantic City.The Golden Nugget wasexpected to join them inearly December. Only twovenues have no online

licence - Atlantic Club,which is in bankruptcy pro-ceedings, and Revel, whichcame out of bankruptcy ear-lier this year and is still look-ing at strategic optionsincluding a possible sale.

The first figures will bemade public in January,however, the state expectsa minimum of $250m(E184m) in annual grossgaming revenues and possi-bly even $500m (E368m) inthe first year. New Jerseywith 8.8m inhabitants ismore than three timeslarger than Nevada andalmost ten times larger thanDelaware, the other twostates permitting onlinegambling. Only peoplewithin the state boundariesare legally allowed to gam-ble: the geolocation tech-nology was adjusted in thefirst week to allow greater

accuracy for players at theborders, to within just a fewmetres.

At least eight other statesare looking at similar legis-lation including Pennsylva-nia. As the law currentlystands, however, the 1961Wire Act forbids gamblingacross state borders, so the-oretically neighbouringstates permitting onlinegambling should pose nothreat.

Nevertheless, theexpected revenues are stilla long way behind thosegenerated on the live gam-ing floors: AC brought ingaming revenues of justover $3bn in 2012, downeight per cent on 2011 and isexpected to fall by about thesame amount in 2013. GovChristie believes onlinegaming revenues could beas high as $1bn (E737m) by

next July, but many analystsbelieve his projections to bewildly optimistic.

Hope and wishful think-ing are one thing but there isa real new market to beopened in the state. JoeLupo, SVP of operations atBorgata, said: Online gam-ing will enable us to reachmany new customers whomay or may not have con-sidered visiting AtlanticCity in the past.

Extending rewards pro-grammes to online playerswill help bring people toexperience the live gamingfloor and that new cus-tomers will come to enjoymore of what is on offer.

Tom Pohlman, generalmanager of the GoldenNugget, said: Customerswill continue to come toAtlantic City for the addedsocial benefits of live gam-

ing, restaurants, spas andentertainment. Online gam-ing will only provide a gam-ing experience; it will offergambling to people whoarent able to get away dur-ing the week to gamble, orthose who might like totrace to Atlantic City onweekends.

ONLINE GAMBLING

Online gambling goes livein NJ - but will it save AC?The first week oflive internetgambling wentpretty smoothlybut how muchimpact, eitherpositive ornegative, it willhave on AtlanticCity is yet to beseen. If it is tostem the declineof the resort, ithas a lot of workto do, as HughSorrill reports.

UNITED STATES

Borgata is one ofthe seven resorts inAtlantic City up andrunning with anonline presence

CR134-p20-22-NAmerica_Coinslot NEW 12/17/13 1:55 PM Page 1

YXYXYXY

GOLDEN NUGGET: CUSTOMERS WILL CONTINUE TO COME TO ATLANTIC CITY FOR THE ADDEDSOCIAL BENEFITS OF LIVE GAMING, RESTAURANTS, SPAS, AND ENTERTAINMENT.

Atlantic City:What doesthe futurehold?

COLORADO / LOUISIANA / NEVADA / NEW JERSEY / PENNSYLVANIA

ANALYSIS

Its hard to be positive about thefuture of Atlantic City, butlegalising online gambling andtying the licences to the land-basedcasinos is good news. It helps toensure compliance but thepotential for cross-marketing to amuch wider demographic ofessentially local players could alsohelp to boost the fortunes of theland-based industry. Despite thatstatement of the obvious, AtlanticCity Alliance, the body tasked withmarketing the resort to the widerworld, does not appear to havemade any special effort tocapitalise on the possibilities: thatwould be a mistake. Operatorsthemselves will make use of theirown marketing and rewardsprogrammes or online satellitetournaments in poker or slots tomigrate players across but theycould do with the support.

Gaming revenues at the 12Atlantic City casinos in thenine months to the end ofSeptember were $2.19bn(E1.61bn) down 9.5 per cent onthe same period in 2012, the NewJersey Division of GamingEnforcement has announced.

Total revenues includingrooms, F&B, entertainment andthird party business sales weredown 7.2 per cent to $3.37bn(E2.48bn). In the third quarter,total revenues were down 6.4 percent to $1.2bn (E884.6m).

Revel showed the mostgrowth in total revenues in thenine-month period up 25.4 percent, however its prior compari-son period was considerablyshorter as it opened only in April2012. Atlantic Club is the onlyother venue to have seen growthin the period, up 9.6 per cent -allowing it to shorten its operat-ing losses considerably. Borgata,by some distance the biggestearner of the 12, was essentiallyflat. Trump Plaza at the bottom ofthe pile in terms of revenues alsosaw the greatest fall in total rev-enues, falling 27.8 in the ninemonths, to just $85.5m (E63m).

REVENUES

Atlantic City:Declining hopes ofsurvival?

New JerseyGovernor ChrisChristie happy withthe start of onlinegambling

UNITED STATES

USROUNDUP

ANevada judge has further delayed thedemolition of the Harmon Tower in LasVegas (pictured) to allow the companybehind its insurance policy to provide anupdate on its investigation of CityCenters$394m (E286m) claim that the hotel is a totalloss. The Harmon was once slated to be the48-storey centrepiece of the $8.5bn (E6.2bn)CityCenter complex, which opened inDecember 2009. However, developers toppedoff the tower at 26 storeys after inspectorsdiscovered flaws in the steel reinforcementsrunning through its concrete structure. ClarkCounty District Court Judge ElizabethGonzalez has now delayed approving ademolition plan to give insurance group FMGlobal a chance to send her a letter with theupdate. If she does not receive a letter,Gonzalez said, she would determine ifCityCenter owners MGM Resorts Internationaland Dubai World can proceed with dismantlingthe Harmon floor by floor. According to areport from Bloomberg news agency,meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands Corporation(LVS), the casino group controlled by Sheldon

Adelson, is seeking $3.25bn (E2.4bn) of loansto pay off an existing credit pact. Citing asource close to the situation, Bloomberg saidthe financing would purportedly consist of a$2.5bn term loan (E1.8bn) and a $750m(E544m) revolving credit line. The borrowingsubsidiary, Las Vegas Sands LLC, has about$3.2bn (E2.3bn) of first-lien loans, a portion ofwhich matures as soon as May 2014,according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Across the border, Century Casinos hosted agroundbreaking ceremony for the CenturyDowns Racetrack and Casino project andprovided an update on its plans for thedevelopment in Calgary, Canada. TheColorado-based operator said it hascompleted due diligence on the project, whichwill be the only horse racetrack in the Calgaryarea, featuring 550 gaming machines and anoff-track betting area. Litigation that wasbrought by a third party against UnitedHorsemen of Alberta (UHA) has been settled,allowing the project to move forward. Theupdated budget for the construction andopening of the racetrack and racingentertainment centre and racetrack isestimated at C$24m (E16.7m).

Nevada gaming revenues were down 2.6 per centin October, when compared to the previousyear. The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that

the states non-restricted gaming licensees reporteda total gaming win of $954.3m (E693.8m) for themonth of October 2013. This amounts to a 2.58 percent decrease compared to October 2012, whenlicensees reported a gaming win of $979.6m (E712.2).For the fiscal year July 1, 2013 through October 31,2013, gaming win has increased 1.52 per cent.

The monthly decline came despite double-digitincreases in winnings from baccarat and sportsbookwagers, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with thecontrol board.

Casinos only won $16.1m (E11.7m) on roulette inOctober, down 68.3 per cent from last Octobersrecord monthly win.

Nevada sportsbooks won $30.3m (E22.0m), anincrease of $23.6m (E17.2m) over October 2012.Gamblers wagered $342.7m (E249.2m) on footballalone, the highest amount ever, Lawton said. Bac-carat, a high-roller game favoUred by Asian players,also had a good month. Casinos won $151.2m(E110m) on baccarat action, up $21.7m (E15.8)

The report showed that the state in November col-lected $60.9m in casino taxes, up 11.8 per cent, basedon the October revenues.

REVENUES

Nevada gamingrevenues downbut trends stillpositive


CR134-p20-22-NAmerica_Coinslot NEW 12/17/13 1:55 PM Page 2


North America

G2E 2013: NEARLY 16,250 ATTENDEES FILLED THE HALLS OF THE SANDS EXPO CENTER IN LASVEGAS IN SEPTEMBER FOR A G2E EVENT WHICH SAW A 3PC INCREASE IN VISITOR LEVELS.

G2E 2013

63News

Century Casinos, theC o l o r a d o - b a s e dgaming operator, hasannounced that its wholly-owned subsidiary CenturyResorts International willoperate three additionalcasinos on cruise shipsunder its exclusive casinoconcession agreement withWindstar Cruises.

Century already oper-ates the casinos onboardWindstar Cruises existingfleet of award-winning lux-ury sailing yachts carryingfrom 148 to 310 guests and

known for their intimateexperience and unique voy-ages to some of the worldsbest small ports and hiddenharbours.

In April 2014, Windstarwill launch the first of threenewly acquired all suitecruise vessels, the 212-pas-senger Star Pride, with thecasino operated by CenturyCasinos. The other two ves-sels are planned to startoperation in the secondquarter of 2015.

Last month Century Casi-nos reported a 54 per centincrease in third-quarteroperating revenues to$28.8m (E21.3m). Net earn-

ings for the three months toSeptember 30 were $1.1m(E812,000), down 10 percent on the prior-yearperiod.

We posted solid resultsin the third quarter, eventhough both our Coloradooperations and our casinoin Calgary were signifi-cantly impacted by severefloods in their feeder mar-kets, said the company.

In other news, the com-panys 66 per cent-ownedsubsidiary Casinos Poland,successfully launched asecond casino in Warsaw onNovember 8. Century Casi-nos is currently operating

nine casinos under the Casi-nos Poland brand in mostmajor cities across the east-ern European country.

The group relocated itssecond casino licence inPolands capital Warsaw,from an unfavourable loca-tion to the Marriott buildingin order to improve its offerin Polands main gamingmarket.

The entrance to the newvenue is next to Warsawsprincipal train station and apopular shopping mall, pro-viding for substantialpedestrian traffic directlyin front of the new casinolocation.

CRUISE SHIPS

Century Casinos tooperate three additionalcruise ship casinos

UNITED STATES

The final piece ofGolden NuggetsTexas casino projecthas fallen into place a

Date post:	29-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	gb-media-corporation
View:	265 times
Download:	4 times

Cr134 digital

Documents