Inside Asian Gaming

January 2017 inside asian gaming 45 INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS casino gaming revenue of US$930 million in November, a fall of 1.5% year on year. However, the Las Vegas Strip was down a more substantial 3.5% for the same period to US$517 million. Nevada’s sportsbooks saw overall betting handle drop 10.2% to US$500 million while their take dropped a massive 55.2% to US$19.2 million. Football betting was at the heart of this fall, with a terrible 2.1% hold seeing revenue down 77.1%. Football betting handle was $316.5 million, down around 20% from 12 months earlier. Baseball betting was also down a substantial 15.4% on a 5.75% hold while parlay cards fell by a staggering 87% to US$665,000. Ironically, baseball betting surged by 1,400% to US$2.9 million on the back of a 15.6% hold with other sports rising 217% to around US$2 million. O the main gaming floor, slot machines, roulette and blackjack all produced positive results with roulette up 38.9%, blackjack 12.9% and slots 1.5%. However, baccarat didn’t help the situation, down 22.8% year on year to US$84.8 million. Russia’s first “Las Vegas” casino opens union official Steve Sweeney. Icahn has been quick to take a swipe at Sweeney’s involvement. “When a guy like Sweeney goes after someone who saved the Tropicana and 3,000 jobs when no one else would, who would invest in New Jersey?” he said. “The worst thing about New Jersey is they have Sweeney as head of the Senate. The best thing about New Jersey is they didn’t make him governor.” A spokesman for Sweeney said Icahn’s actions were, “the callous actions of a multi-billionaire who has a history of putting his own selfish quest for personal profits ahead of the rights of working people.” Sportsbooks hurt Las Vegas bottom line Nevada casinos saw revenues decline slightly in November, thanks in part to a disastrous month for the state’s sportsbooks in which their winnings fell by more than half. Figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board show statewide Russia’s Olympic city of Sochi has welcomed its first Las Vegas style resort with the launch of Sochi Casino and Resort to start the New Year. Billed as the country’s first gambling operation “in the spirit of the best casinos of Las Vegas”, Sochi Casino and Resort is a five- star complex boasting a casino, two restaurants, a cabaret theatre and convention space among other attractions. It is expected to attract around 40,000 visitors a month. Sochi was approved as Russia’s fifth special gaming zone in August, joining the Primorsky Territory, Kaliningrad Oblast, Altai Krai and Azov-City. Its purpose is largely to help pay off the huge debt the city accrued by hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics as well as offsetting revenue falls during the off-season. Sochi actually boasts a subtropical climate with temperatures hovering around the mid-to-high 20s (Celsius) between May and September. Casino gaming is also said to be among a range of topics discussed when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met shortly before Christmas. The two nations have endured a frosty relationship dating back to World War II but improving the ease of travel between Russia and Japan would benefit the burgeoning casino industries of both parties.