Inside Asian Gaming

March 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 45 Briefs Mr Craigie said many VIP gamblers from South-East Asia were now choosing to play locally, and some of Crown’s key VIP customers were spreading their time between Macau, Las Vegas, Australia and Singapore. Mr Craigie added an upgrade of facilities by Australian rival casino operator Tabcorp would also make a visit to Australia by VIP gamblers a more attractive proposition. ‘‘We know they property hop,’’Mr Craigie said. Crown also announced that it had received regulatory approval in Nevada and Pennsylvania in the Unites States to convert a preferred instrument held in Cannery Casino Resorts into equity. Upon conversion, Crown will hold a 24.5% share in Cannery. Mr Craigie said that once the conversion took place, Crown would be entitled to share in any profit distribution and a seat on Cannery’s management committee. Crown chief financial officer Ken Barton said the Cannery investment was valued in Crown’s books at US$60 million. Mr Craigie said Crown ‘‘still needs to see what happens’’ with the Cannery investment. In March 2009, Crown abandoned a US$1.8 billion deal to acquire Cannery. Crown said trading in the new calendar year had so far been pleasing, but the first seven weeks of 2011 was not comparable to the same period in 2010 due to the difference in the timing of Chinese New Year. Mr Craigie said Crown Melbourne was benefitting from capital refurbishments. However, Burswood had been affected by complex- wide renovations during the half. Crown’s revenue for the six months to 31st December, 2010 grew 0.8% to A$1.2 billion. Indian police bust four cricket betting gangs Indian police have smashed four betting syndicates and arrested nine men in New Delhi and Mumbai for running illegal gambling syndicates during the cricket World Cup, a top police official said last month. “We were acting on a tip that gambling syndicates are active during the matches and have broken up at least four gambling syndicates,” Chand told the Associated Press. Police arrested eight bookmakers taking profits on the bets and seized about 28 million rupees (US$620,000) collected by the bookies during the opening game between India and Bangladesh on 19th February. Mr Chand said the bookmakers used two sets of mobile phones to record and take bets during the match and would calculate profit and losses after the game. Indian police have launched a major crackdown on spot betting during the six-week World Cup and would be extra vigilant during forthcoming matches, he said. Spot betting is common in India and constitutes a major part of the money wagered on matches. In 2000, South African captain Hansie Cronje, and test players, Mohammad Azharuddin of India and Salim Malik of Pakistan and at least three other players from the subcontinent were either fined or banned after they were caught in a spot match-fixing scandal. The International Cricket Council last year suspended three Pakistan cricketers following allegations of spot-fixing by a British tabloid that carried out a sting operation. LVS seeks land to expand Marina Bay Sands Dow Jones Newswires reported Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) is seeking more land from the Singapore government to expand Marina Bay Sands (MBS) as capacity at the integrated resort runs out. LVS Chairman Sheldon Adelson said during a briefing at the full opening of MBS on 17th February: “We are already running out of MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) space. I’ve told the government that we need some more land to expand the MICE space because the demand that this property is going to create is rapidly bringing us to the point where we may even have to ration space.” Mr Adelson said Marina Bay Sands’ MICE facilities are currently running at 87% capacity and that“within about 12-to-18 months”the complex will be “rationing space.” The full opening ceremony of MBS coincided with the unveiling of new attractions at the resort including the world’s first ArtScience Museum and the ‘Wonder Full’ light and water spectacular. At the event, LVS Chief Operating Officer Michael Leven commented there is land available at various points around the resort’s current location that the group could potentially use to expand its business. “Demand is going to be higher than supply shortly as the entire hospitality industry is running over 80% occupancy,”Mr Leven said. Casino revenue in Singapore has exceeded almost all initial forecasts, with some analysts now estimating it reached US$6 billion in 2010. Meanwhile, the latest government figures show the city- state earned S$18.8 billion in tourism receipts in 2010, beating the government’s S$17.5 billion to S$18.5 billion forecast. Mr Adelson said the US$5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands has received 11 million visitors since it opened in April last year and expects to break even within four years of operations. Mr Adelson also said his company is “zeroing in on Spain” as a preferred market for its first potential European integrated resort, adding the gaming group may look to set up an integrated resort in India. Mohammad Amir, one of three Pakistani cricketers accused of spot match-fixing last year The ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands