Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | April 2011 4 Editorial Inside Asian Gaming is published by Must Read Publications Ltd 8J Ed. Comercial Si Toi 619 Avenida da Praia Grande Macau Tel: (853) 2832 9980 For subscription enquiries, please email [email protected] For advertising enquiries, please email [email protected] or call: (853) 6680 9419 www.asgam.com Inside Asian Gaming is an official media partner of: http://www.gamingstandards.com Publisher Kareem Jalal Director João Costeira Varela Editor Michael Grimes Business Development Manager José Ho Contributors Desmond Lam, Steve Karoul I. Nelson Rose, Richard Marcus James Rutherford James J. Hodl William R. Eadington Graphic Designer Brenda Chao Photography Ike Michael Grimes We crave your feedback. Please email your comments [email protected] Ball Bearings Recent events in Japan are a reminder that investment markets are not the most powerful forces known to humanity. They just seem like they are—until something calamitous happens. The Land of the Rising Sun—until recently such an attractive target for casino investors—is now a nuclear fallout shrouded land of the rising Yen. But a few moments of rational analysis must surely lead to the conclusion that the case for casino legalisation in Japan has actually grown stronger rather than weaker because of the economic damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami. An interesting question is to what extent the appetite of foreign investors to be involved in any casino projects has been diminished or killed off by recent events. An equally interesting question is how far if at all the appetite of Japan’s politicians to tackle the casino issue has been sharpened by the crisis. As we report in our cover story ‘AYen for Change’ this month, there are some powerful vested interests in Japan in support of the status quo—i.e. doing very little in terms of gaming reform. The history of legally regulated casino gaming indicates that three key interest groups need to be won over before the industry can colonise new markets—politicians, law enforcement and the public. In Japan, the first two of these three seem ambivalent toward casinos to put it mildly. Some Japanese politicians get funding from pachinko , while the police actually take a cut of pachinko ball sales according to sources in Japan spoken to by Inside Asian Gaming . So lobbying for casinos in Japan is a bit like asking the police in 1920s Chicago to support an end to Prohibition and welcome back legal alcohol sales to that city’s stores. Until the protected status of pachinko is ended, casinos will never have a level playing field on which to compete. The Investor’s Friend Stan Mortensen was the first and so far only soccer player to score a hat-trick (three goals) in an English FA Cup Final. Yet that match, held way back in 1953, subsequently became known as ‘The Matthews Final’ because of the technical wizardry of Stanley Matthews, a star winger on the same team. There may be times when Sheldon Adelson feels he can identify with Mr Mortensen. Mr Adelson almost single-handedly opened up the high-margin mass gaming market in Macau with Sands Macao and The Venetian Macao. But guess who gets called the“investor’s friend” by a leading financial publication and listed as one of the world’s greatest CEOs, even though his contribution so far in Macau is mainly via the low-margin VIP business? Yes, you’ve guessed it—Steve Wynn. The difference between the two men may be smaller than we think. You don’t get to be successful first in Las Vegas gaming and then in Macau gaming by being anybody’s fool. Perhaps all that really separates them—aside from the small matter of investment strategy—is that Mr Adelson sometimes gives the impression he doesn’t care if he’s liked. Mr Wynn gives the impression that he does—if only because it can be good for business. If Mr Adelson ever feels typecast as the‘hard man’of casino gaming—like an actor who’s been playing the same role in a soap opera season after season—it might be worth him bearing in mind that it’s never too late to show the market the other facets of his personality. It might even be good for business.