Inside Asian Gaming

September 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 41 Regulation profitable.That’s why they won’t let you have one. Iowa legalized low-limit riverboat casinos with the idea of being the only“Las Vegas”between Nevada and New Jersey, living primarily off the Chicago market. It would have worked, if only Illinois would have cooperated and had not authorized high-limit casinos. Iowa had to raise its limits, although some of the boats did sail south. 12) Legalization gives legislators and regulators the chance to be social engineers. Cruising was designed to protect gamblers from themselves. No one thought what it meant to lock a compulsive gambler in a casino for four hours. 13) Experiments sometimes work, and sometimes fail. 14) Conventional wisdom should be followed, and ignored. The Atlantis went bust in Atlantic, in part for having a three- story casino with large windows. On the other hand, before the Sands opened in Macau,“everyone” said Chinese gamblers hate slot machines.And“everyone”said the Mirage would never work,because casinos in Las Vegas had to have doors opening on the sidewalk. As the G2Es, especially the G2E Asia, have shown, slot machines do not always have to be video screens with three symbols down and five across. 15) Be prepared for inevitable problems: Slot machines malfunctioning, players claiming they have won when they have not, minors trying to sneak in, disruptive drunks. 16) And for potential scandals that are not your fault: Patrons leaving children in cars, reporters catching politicians making enormous bets. 17) And for the law changing: Smoking bans, government requiring more reporting of cash transactions. All this leads to the most important rule: 18) Understand and accept that casinos are not like other businesses.They are not adult Disneylands®. Amusement parks do not have to worry about restrictions on their rights to advertise, whether their contracts are enforceable, and how to collect debts from patrons. They aren’t normally faced by opposition from churches, or accused of ruining families. No one suggests outlawing all bars because of drunk drivers. Hire themost experiencedpersonnel you can find,fromanywhere in the world. Security and day-to-day operations are most important in the short run. But you also need to retain the best outside experts in fields like marketing and law, or you won’t have any long run. © Copyright 2008. Gambling and the Law is a registered trademark of Professor I Nelson Rose. Professor I Nelson Rose is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on gambling law and teaches International Gaming Law at the University of Macau every June. His latest books, “Internet Gaming Law” and “Gaming Law: Cases And Materials”, are available through his website: www.gamblingandthelaw.com The two gaming capitals of the world have a lot to learn from, and teach, each other