Mr Packer’s success in business is a result of his upbringing and early career. His reputedly tough father rebuked tradition and steered James away from university to “toughen up” in the Australian outback by working as a jackeroo. Later, while learning the family business, Packer was exposed to mentors who encouraged him to shun the luxuries of bachelorhood and focus his attention on business affairs.

Crown is Australia’s largest and most established casino operator, counting Crown Casino Melbourne and Burswood Casino Perth in its portfolio. Mr Packer made his maiden foray into Asia outside Australia through a joint venture with Lawrence Ho—via the recently renamed Melco Crown Entertainment. The company opened the high-end but modest-sized Crown Macau last year and is set to open the sprawling City of Dreams resort on the Cotai Strip next year.

Crown Macau generated lacklustre revenue during its first few months of operation, but after a casino floor redesign and new plan of attack, won the largest share of the lucrative Macau VIP baccarat market in the first quarter of 2008. Central to the new strategy, however, is the offering of a sharply higher commission rate to junket consolidator AMA International, and now that other operators are also raising commissions to remain competitive, Crown Macau’s gains could be eroded as quickly as they were built.

The global credit crunch could put a damper on Mr Packer’s aggressive international expansion. Mr Packer pointed to financial turbulence resulting from the crunch as the main reason for his decision last month to scrap a planned US$5 billion Crown project on the Las Vegas Strip, consisting of a 5,000-room hotel and a 324-metre tower, which would have been the highest building in the city. Crown unveiled the project last year, and had originally wanted to build a 575-metre tower, which would have been one of the highest buildings in the world, but the Federal Aviation Administration objected on the grounds that it would be an obstacle for planes landing at McCarran airport.

9 Kazuo Okada

Chairman, Aruze Corp

Vice-Chairman, Wynn Resorts

The value of powerful friends in the gaming industry cannot be understated, and Kazuo Okada has discovered that a friend in need is a friend indeed. His friendship with Wynn Resorts’ Steve Wynn has opened many doors for Mr Okada’s Tokyo-listed gaming machine supplier Azure, but it has the potential to open a much bigger door for Mr Wynn when casinos are eventually legalised in Japan.

The pair’s business relationship began in 2000 when Steve Wynn was looking for new financial backers to open Wynn Las Vegas. Mr Okada answered his call with a substantial investment that netted Aruze an almost 25% stake in Wynn Resorts. Mr Wynn and Mr Okada’s mutual interest in expanding their gaming assets and sales globally has seen them collaborate on a number of projects, including Wynn Macau. Since October 2002, Mr Okada has served as vice chairman on the Wynn Resorts board, affording him an even greater say on the company’s future direction.

A self-made billionaire in his own right, Mr Okada’s fortune is the result of Aruze’s success in Japanese pachinko and pachislot machine manufacturing. The machines are one of Japan’s most popular forms of entertainment and Aruze is the second largest manufacturer of them.

Over the years, Aruze (formerly Universal Distributing) has expanded into the production of other electronic gaming machines, amusement machines and video games. Today, Aruze holds a manufacturer licence with the Nevada Gaming Commission (thanks in no small part to his friend Steve Wynn’s vocal support) and sells its machines in Macau, the US and Australia. In the company’s 39-year history, the Okada family has managed to retain ownership of a controlling share in Aruze, assuring Mr Okada also has the final say on his company’s future.

Aruze’s 24-player baccarat machines sit on the gaming floor at Wynn Macau, and Steve Wynn honoured Mr Okada and his family by naming Wynn Resorts’ Japanese restaurants Okada. Their friendship will truly have borne fruit if Wynn Resorts and Aruze successfully gain a licence to operate a property in Japan.

10 Hajime Satomi

Chairman and CEO, SEGA Corporation & Sammy Corporation

Founder of Sammy Corporation, Japan’s largest slot and pachinko machine manufacturer, Hajime Satomi cemented his position as an Asian gaming mogul when he purchased video game maker Sega Corporation in 2004. The Sega Sammy Group is now the leading manufacturer of pachinko and pachislot machines—an enormously popular game among Japanese.

Although pachinko is not officially regarded as gambling in Japan (where casinos and slot machines are outlawed), it is widely understood that many Japanese flock to the game to indulge in what amounts to a form of quasi-gambling that generates hundreds of billions of US dollars in revenue every year.

Pachinko is played on a vertical pinballlike machine into which players inserts steel ball bearings and watch them tumble down, deflected this way and that by dozens of metal pins. When some balls disappear into “winning” holes in the playing board, new balls appear at the bottom and can be played or redeemed for gifts, since cash payouts are illegal. However, the gifts can in turn be exchanged for cash at illicit kankin (prize exchange) booths located outside the pachinko parlours.

The alliance between Sammy and Sega was a godsend for the ailing Sega Corporation, which withdrew from video game console manufacturing following the failure of its Dreamcast console. Sega’s oncedominant mascot Sonic the Hedgehog even suffered a blow to its popularity in the video game arena. Now a major force in the arcade industry, Sega is experiencing new success in software sales under Mr Satomi’s leadership. As a group, though, Sega Sammy’s greatest success is in its core pachinko manufacturing business.

In his drive to make Sega Sammy one of the largest entertainment providers in the world, Mr Satomi has created a conglomerate that owns movie and animation studios, golf courses, arcade centres and amusement parks.

11 Efraim Genuino

Chairman and CEO, PAGCOR

Although the Philippines is not widely perceived as a gambling mecca, the country has a long history of offering the widest range of legal gaming options in Asia, with regulated casinos, slot machine clubs, horse racing, bingo halls, poker rooms, sports betting, lottery, cock fighting and internet café online casinos.

On top of this broad spectrum of gaming sits the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which is effectively a government-owned and controlled organisation established to regulate all games of chance in the country. Efraim Genuino took over as Chairman and CEO in 2001 and has turned PAGCOR into one of the top three most profitable corporations in the Philippines.

There were initially objections to including an official from PAGCOR, which is technically a government body, on the Asian Gaming 50. Upon deliberation, however, our panellists decided that PAGCOR was akin to the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Japan Racing Association, with activities that go far beyond mere regulation. Therefore, it was decided Mr Genuino warrants inclusion in the rankings.

PAGCOR recently had its charter renewed by the government for another 25 years and has been focused on adjusting tax rates and other regulatory details in order to attract major gaming groups to its long-envisioned 3,000 hectare Bagong Nayon Pilipino Manila Bay Tourism City project—commonly referred to as PAGCOR City.