In the 1970s, Mr Busujima contributed to the revolution of pachinko manufacturing by inventing the immensely popular “Sankyo Fever” machine. His creation prompted a new wave of advances in pachinko design that used high-tech, stateof- the-art manufacturing equipment and techniques.

Sankyo is now one of the few listed companies in Japan’s pachinko industry. To this day, Mr Busujima’s management philosophy encourages originality among Sankyo employees and the company’s motto—“Do the impossible”—breeds innovation.

21 Putera Sampoerna

Founder, MANSION (Gibraltar) Ltd

Indonesian tycoon Putera Sampoerna has diversified his family’s business into an area he is truly passionate about—gaming. Mr Sampoerna owns MANSION, which runs an online casino, video poker, sports book and betting exchange from Gibraltar. Mansion is reputed to be one of the most financially secure online casinos in the industry.

The Sampoerna family fortune was built on some of Indonesia’s more traditional industries: namely palm oil and rubber production. Later, it expanded into tobacco, automobile and telecom interests. But Mr Sampoerna sold the family’s clove kretek cigarette business to Altria (formerly Philip Morris) for more than US$5 billion in 2005—a move that gained him a position on Forbes magazine’s Indonesian Rich List.

Since his father’s death in 1994, Mr Sampoerna has been professionalizing his empire by bringing in executives from Singapore, Taiwan, the US and Korea. He has also shown interest in luxury casinos with his purchase (and later sale) of Londonbased Les Ambassadeur casino.

Gambling appears to run in the Sampoerna blood. Mr Putera’s son Michael, who runs Sampoerna Strategic, is a professional poker player. His daughter Michelle, on the other hand, manages the family’s philanthropy, including the Sampoerna Foundation, which was established to improve public education in Indonesia, train teachers and support model schools.

22 Han Chang-Woo

Chairman and CEO, Maruhan Corp

Korean-born Han Chang-Woo made Japan his home following World War II and has seen his fortunes rise steadily in line with the pachinko industry since 1953, when he began working at his brother-in-law’s pachinko shop. Today, Mr Han’s Maruhan Corporation runs the largest chain of pachinko parlors in Japan.

As Japan prospered, pachinko thrived and Mr Han did well enough in the 1960s to move into the bowling industry. At one time he owned the nation’s largest alley. In the 1970s, Mr Han returned his focus to pachinko and rode the wave of the 1980s economic boom, which left him well-positioned to take advantage of the long slide in asset prices in the 1990s to continue growing his company and increasing his share of pachinko parlors.

Even as Japan struggled to regain its feet after the decade-long economic slowdown, Maruhan Corp. prospered. Mr Han expanded his parlors into central locations as space became available; he built multi-floor emporiums that lure customers with nosmoking sections, free parking and improved odds of winning. The cash flow from these large, successful parlors helped Maruhan add more locations and enabled the company to diversify into movie theaters, bowling alleys and a doughnut franchise.

23 Albert Yeung

Founder and Chairman, Emperor Group

A larger than life personality, Albert Yeung started with a single shop selling jewellery and watches and built a group of listed companies comprising a wide range of businesses that include property investment and development, financial services, entertainment and movies, hotel operation, publishing and printing and catering and retailing. Based in Hong Kong, with ventures in Macau, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, the Emperor Group now employs some 7,000 staff.

Whilst best known for his entertainment, media and movie interests, Mr Yeung is also a significant player in the gaming sector with sportsbetting interests and a flagship hotel/ casino in Macau— the Grand Emperor Hotel housing the Emperor Palace Casino.

Mr Yeung has skilfully utilized his media interests to cross promote his hotel/casino and has successfully applied his “showbiz” expertise to gaming. Appealing to the Asian love of gold and promoting player good luck, the lobby of the Grand Emperor features a “Golden Pathway,” with 78 gold bars, each weighing one kilogram, recessed in the floor under glass panels.

No stranger to controversy, Mr Yeung has endured allegations of corruption and organized crime links to retain his position as one of Asia’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen. He counts some powerful people as associates, including top officials in Beijing.

Born in Southern China’s Chiu Chow region, an area renowned for breeding “tough guys”, Mr Yeung collects luxury cars and proudly displays his wealth on expensive “lucky” number plates. He is also a high-profile philanthropist, supporting many mainland Chinese causes.

24 Tom Hall

President Asia Pacific, Playtech

Vice Chairman, AsianLogic

Former CEO of online gaming software giant Playtech, and the company’s longterm face in Asia, Mr Hall also recently floated high-growth Asian-focused gaming company AsianLogic in the UK, along with co-founders Chris Parker and Kan Tang.

Playtech, which recently overtook PartyGaming to become the world’s largest online gaming company, derives a significant portion of its global revenues from Asia, and its net operating margin in excess of 65% is the envy of traditional gambling operators.

AsianLogic had its origins in the online gaming space and is slowly adding land based gaming businesses. Flush with cash from the AsianLogic IPO, and as seed investors in a newly formed gaming and gaming technology fund, Mr Hall and Asianlogic are actively seeking further gaming opportunities in the region. Mr Hall recently acquired and launched the Asian Poker Tour, with a view to pursuing one of the fastest growing gaming lines in Asia.

Mr Hall has an impressive international network of contacts including gaming operators, regulators and suppliers in both the online and land-based domains. His Eurasian heritage and strong institutional backing have helped him build an impressive track record of M&A transactions and partnership deals, often successfully joining Western and Asian operators. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities in the field of interactive gaming and is a regular keynote speaker at gaming conferences and investor forums around the world. He is well positioned to benefit from increased regulation and implementation of internet gaming across Asia.

25 Jack Lam

Yin Lok Chairman, Jimei Group

One of the largest junket operators active in Macau and throughout Asia, Jack Lam’s Jimei Group also runs two casino cruise ship—the M.V. Jimei sailing out of Hong Kong, and Xiang Xue Lan, sailing between China and South Korea—and has several interests in the Philippines including Fort Ilocondia Resort & Casino and Fontana Leisure Parks, comprising several hectares of villas, water parks, hotels and, of course, a casino.

Dr Lam was born in Guangzhou, China, and moved to Hong Kong in 1979 at the age of 18. He started out as a bookkeeper at his uncle’s factory, earning a mere HK$1,000 (US$128) a month and sending most of his salary back home to help his family. He got his introduction to gaming through his uncle, who played regularly in Macau. After accompanying his uncle on several trips to Macau, Dr Lam had built up a network of contacts and started working as a junket sub-agent—a lowly position that gave him insights into building and maintaining customer relationships.

By 1981, Dr Lam started work as a small junket representative in Macau. Through diligence and a solid understanding of his clientele, he gradually emerged as a leading junket operator who is now reported to supply the bulk of VIP players to Las Vegas Sands Corp and Wynn Resorts in Macau.