Inside Asian Gaming

August 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 51 Briefs Illinois and crucially, Macau. The result in the latter case was the creation of the MGM Grand Macau casino resort (now MGM Macau). It opened in December 2007 on the Macau peninsula— the traditional heartland of the local casino industry—at a cost of US$1.25 billion. The company’s JV partner in Macau was a shrewd choice— Pansy Ho, a daughter of Macau’s former gaming monopolist, Dr Stanley Ho. The Ho family’s market insight and good political connections yielded for MGM not only a gaming sub-concession licence from Dr Ho’s operating company SJM, but also the land for the project. It was all for the bargain price of US$200 million (Melco Crown Entertainment’s Macau sub-licence from Steve Wynn cost US$900 milllion and didn’t come with any land). The Ho family connection also assisted Las Vegas-based MGM in making the cultural adjustment needed to manage Chinese gaming operations. The choice of partner was, however, also on occasion a controversial one as far as one US state—New Jersey—was concerned. But as a calculated risk, the tie-up undoubtedly paid off. After Mr Lanni’s time, the New Jersey JV with Boyd Gaming was sacrificed for the sake of the future story in a buoyant Macau market. Mr Lanni’s leadership on the Macau JV also set up the conditions that enabled his successor, Jim Murren, to launch a successful US$1.5 billion initial public offering for the flotation of the local operating unit, MGM China, on the Hong Kong stock exchange in May this year. Mr Lanni succeeded in pulling off a difficult double—creating business success while remaining personally popular in the industry. “There is virtually no one that I’ve respected more than Terry Lanni,” said MGM Resorts’ founder and largest shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian, quoted in the Review-Journal . “His integrity, professionalism and generosity were second to none. He was a valued and trusted friend and an invaluable colleague.” The bosses of the two other Las Vegas casino companies with operations in Macau also joined the many tributes to Mr Lanni. Las Vegas Sands Corp Chairman Sheldon Adelson said Mr Lanni was one of gaming’s “most important and respected” leaders. “I greatly admired his commitment to the industry and the care he showed for his extended MGM family,” Mr Adelson said. Wynn Resorts Ltd Chairman Steve Wynn called Mr Lanni a longtime business colleague, a friend, and a “lovely man, taken from us far too soon.” Bally Technologies acquires mobile gaming platform and apps provider MacroView Labs Bally Technologies, Inc. announced that it has acquired privately held MacroView Labs, a leader in mobile-application development and mobile platforms for the casino gaming industry. Terms of the agreement are not disclosed. This transaction bolsters Bally’s position as the leading supplier of games and systems solutions to the global gaming industry. The acquired assets will also enable the company to accelerate its growing mobile applications business by providing an infrastructure for rapid deployment across multiple smart-phone operating systems. MacroView Labs’ market-leading, cloud-based platform will be integrated with Bally’s slot-management systems, casino-management systems, and Elite Bonusing Suite™ to enable Bally to offer even more powerful solutions for casinos to interact with patrons on and off the casino property, 24 hours a day. “People and businesses are increasingly using mobile devices for entertainment, self-service transactions, as well as to more efficiently manage and receive information—they are always connected, and the casino gaming industry is no exception,” said John Connelly, Vice President of Business Development for Bally Technologies. “This acquisition of the leading provider of mobile solutions for casinos will help us rapidly bring new mobile solutions to market. This technology gives us a powerful cloud-based platform for rapidly deploying mobile apps to our customers, their patrons, and integrating into our own systems solutions.” MacroView Labs Chief Executive Officer Aron Ezra said, “We are excited to become a part of Bally Technologies and join a company with nearly 80 years of experience in delivering innovation to the gaming industry. Bally’s strong relationships and reputation with casinos across the globe, combined with our expertise in the mobile space and established casino partnerships, is a compelling combination.” Singaporean jailed for fixing European soccer matches in suspected online betting scam A Finnish court has sentenced a Singaporean man to two years in prison and gave nine soccer players suspended sentences after finding them guilty of match fixing. The Lapland district court said Wilson Raj Perumal paid players up to 20,000 euros per match and received up to 50,000 euros, in addition to some of the betting profits, each time the results were fixed. “Perumal’s sentence was toughened by the fact that he had planned his actions and that he has acted as a member of international organised group doing betting scams,” the court said in a statement. Perumal was part of a group that tried to fix matches played by the Rovaniemi club between June 2008 and February 2011. He also bribed seven Zambian and two Georgian players. The court said Perumal had cooperated with authorities. Finland has one of Europe’s few summer leagues, allowing gamblers to bet while the more prominent divisions are in recess. Tampere United, the champions in 2007, has been suspended indefinitely for receiving payments from a Singaporean company linked to a suspected match fixer. Wilson Raj Perumal during court hearing