Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2011 48 Briefs Regional Briefs Melco Crown Entertainment’s Co-Chairman & CEO Lawrence Ho, Co-Chief Operating Officer of Gaming Ted Chan, and President of Mocha Clubs Constance Hsu. At the ceremony, Ms Hsu expresses her gratitude to the Macau government and Lawrence Ho for their support, and to all Mocha staff members for their dedication and passion. Mocha Macau Tower offers 260 slot machines and electronic table games over 2,000 square meters of floor area on the ground and second floor of Macau Tower. Mocha Macau Tower is also linked with all other Mocha Clubs through the Mocha Fortune Express Jackpot, which ranges from HK$188,888 to HK$288,888 during the promotion period. Member of illegal insurance bet syndicate jailed in Singapore A member of a syndicate that offered illegal private bets for baccarat games at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in Singapore has been sentenced to six months’ jail and fined S$60,000, according to a report from Channel NewsAsia Between March and June this year, Goh Boon Kwang offered insurance bets to gamblers in room 302 at the resort’s high-roller Paiza Club. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ruth Wong said insurance bets were common as a hedge against losing bets in certain casino table games. Such bets were legal provided they were allowed by the jurisdiction, authorised by the casino and that the appropriate tax had been levied on the bet. The bets in this case were a private arrangement where the casino and the taxman were left out of the deal and only the unauthorised organisers stood to benefit. Forty-three-year-old Goh, who used to operate a reflexology business but is now jobless, pleaded guilty to two of five charges against him. He is the second member of the syndicate to be dealt with in court for the offence. One of his accomplices, a 26-year-old known only as ‘Ricki’, an Indonesian odd-job labourer, was sentenced to four months’ jail and fined S$50,000 in July. Two other alleged accomplices have already been charged in court and their cases are still pending. They are 48-year-old Lee Chin Chuan and an alleged runner, Ang Keng Peng. DPP Wong said that Lee had a VIP membership at the casino and in March, it’s believed he decided to offer the illegal side bets to make some money. Based on court documents, Goh had spotted Lee offering the bets to players and approached him as he wanted to be Genting Malaysia to Invest US$3 Billion on Resorts World Miami Bloomberg reported Genting Malaysia Bhd plans to invest US$3 billion to develop a bayfront resort on land currently housing the Miami Herald Media Co.’s headquarters. The project, known as Resorts World Miami, will include four hotels, two residential towers and a 3.6 acre rooftop lagoon, on land it agreed to buy from Miami Herald publisher McClatchy Co. in May, the Kuala Lumpur-based company said in an exchange filing dated 15th September. A casino will be included if Florida’s legislature and governor approve, Genting Malaysia said. “Resorts World Miami will accelerate Florida’s evolution as a global destination,” Genting Malaysia Chairman Lim Kok Thay said in the statement. Genting Malaysia, which has operated Malaysia’s only gaming resort on a hilltop since 1968, is already the largest casino- operator in the UK and has been seeking opportunities to break into the US market. Its Resorts World Casino New York City development is nearing completion on the Aqueduct Racetrack. The new Miami resort will cover 30 acres of land overlooking Biscayne Bay, comprising both the Miami Herald site and adjacent Omni Center, for which Genting Malaysia today said it had acquired all outstanding mortgages. The project will also include a convention center, nightclubs and the largest ballroom in the US, it said. Genting Malaysia is 47% owned by Kuala Lumpur-based Genting Bhd., which is also the parent company of Genting Singapore Plc, which runs the Resorts World Singapore gaming resort. Mocha Clubs opens ninth Macau venue Mocha Clubs, an operator of slot clubs in Macau and a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment, held the grand opening of its ninth Macau venue at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre on 17th September. The grand opening of Mocha Macau Tower was officiated by Rendering of the planned Resorts World Miami Constance Hsu