Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2009 40 Briefs Regional Briefs On the Cards Underground illegal casinos may be on the rise in China’s southern Guangdong, province following the imposition of travel restrictions from China to Macau, reported the South ChinaMorning Post . It follows reports that a member of a local branch of the Chinese People’s Political ConsultativeConferenceinHunan was found fatally stabbed in a car park in Foshan, Guangdong— allegedly over a gambling debt. Chen Longbing was found dead in the grounds of the Huangdu Hotel, Guangzhou Daily reported. Mr Chen, 39, had been living in Foshan with his wife and three young children for nearly eight years and had run a garment factory employing about 40 people, the report said. The SCMP said another Chinese newspaper, The Southern Metropolis News , quoted an unidentified but informed source as saying that Chen had lost about 11,000 yuan (HK$12,500) at a secret casino in the hotel. Staff at the hotel denied there was a secret gambling operation there. Shanghaied All 20 defendants in Shanghai’s biggest online soccer gambling case admitted their guilt at a court last month, according to Shanghai Daily . The cash illegally staked exceeded 6.6 billion yuan (US$965 million), claimed the prosecution. The gang allegedly earned more than 1.6 million yuan in commissions on that sum between August 2006 and May 2008, via a pyramid style system of agents. The ringleaders were named as Qian Baochun, 41 and Zou Jun, 45. The men allegedly operated the gambling ring by applying for accounts at soccer gambling websites operating from Macau, Malaysia and elsewhere. They used this method to found three online casinos they named after recognised gambling brands: Sun City, Crown and Fontana. IAG would like to point out there is no suggestion whatsoever that any of those legitimate operators had any involvement in the scam. A formal verdict and sentencing against the defendants has yet to be announced. The previous record in Shanghai for money allegedly pulled in by an illegal online betting ring in was 5.25 billion yuan (US$770 million), in a case heard at Luwan District Court in March 2007. Taiwan Casino Referendum Timing A local referendum on plans to build one or more casino resorts on Taiwan’s Penghu Islands is likely to happen in April or May this year, according to the Taipei Times . It follows the vote by Taiwan’s legislative assembly last month to approve offshore casino resorts in principle. “Whenever a gaming initiative is introduced, there’s always opposition,” said Michael Treanor, chief executive of London-listed AMZ Holdings, in an interview with the newspaper. AMZ, which has been advised by former Las Vegas gaming boss Larry Woolf, has spent several years acquiring land on a coastal strip on Penghu’s main island to form a plot big enough for an integrated resort. “Oftentimes it’s misinformed people thinking that with gaming may come social evils. But that is not always the case. It has been the case in certain circumstances, but not if done right,” added Mr Treanor. His colleague Carl Burger, AMZ executive director, said: “It is our understanding that two previous referendums went through. There have also been a number of polls and in actual fact we did our own survey just over a year ago and it was well in favour of having gaming. There’s a place for the opposition because they’re the guys that keep everybody honest.” Mr Treanor added: “We think that Taiwan, which is following the Singapore model for development of integrated resorts, is approaching it in a very responsible manner, which is to make them family friendly and not make gaming the centerpiece.” The Taiwan authorities have indicated they expect casino developers involved inTaiwan to be heavily capitalised. This in theory appears to rule AMZ out as a main player. However, under current market conditions, heavy capitalisation is probably wishful thinking even for some of the world’s biggest gaming operators. “Clearly the big operators are in trouble at the moment,” stated Mr Burger. “They’re pulling back from projects and [Penghu] will probably require a multi-focus approach in terms of joint ventures. This is what you’ve seen in Singapore when joint ventures were formed for bidding and that’s probably what you’re going to see here in the current economic climate,” suggested Mr Burger. AMZ, which is listed on London’s small tomedium cap Alternative Index Market, says it has a team with experience of raising cash for projects, but stresses it will court a big name partner for Penghu. “Being realistic, it’s likely Taiwan is going to want a name brand operator for its first few casinos,” said Mr Treanor. “So for that reason, we will be in discussions with major international operators because we think the winning bidder