Inside Asian Gaming

48 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2013 INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS Olympics Target Betting in War on Corruption The battle against corruption in sports is widening in the wake of a call by the International Olympic Committee for establishment of a global system for monitoring betting patterns. An IOC working group on gambling and sports wants an “Olympic movement monitoring system” similar to the one used at last year’s London Games to be made available to international sports federations to use during their championships. “Irregular and illegal betting attacks the very foundations of sport, and our efforts to combat the threat require the commitment of a number of important partners, specifically governments,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said at a meeting of the group in Lausanne, Switzerland, last month that was attended by a mix of government representatives, sports organizations and betting operators. In addition to a central global monitoring system, the core of the committee’s proposals include effective whistle-blower systems for the confidential reporting of suspicious activities to sports bodies, and more legislation from governments targeting irregular and illegal sports betting The IOC’s own program of stringent monitoring of betting patterns implemented at Beijing in 2008 and later at the Vancouver and London games appears to have been successful to date in keeping Olympic competition clean. SkyCity, NZ Strike Deal on Convention Center The New Zealand government has concluded an agreement with SkyCity Entertainment Group to trade construction of a convention center in Auckland for an extended casino license and more slot machines. In return for the US$330million facility, which is expected to open in 2017 as a centerpiece of government’s economic revitalization plans, SkyCity’s flagship casino will be allowed an extra 230 machine games and more gaming tables. Its casino license, which was due to expire in 2021, will also be extended to 2048. The agreement now moves to Parliament for final approval. Boosters of the convention center say the deal is a windfall for New Zealand’s most populous city and for the country. Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says it will attract an extra 33,000 conference delegates to Auckland annually, allowing the city to compete with Australia and Asia for business travel. “It delivers a major piece of tourism infrastructure for New Zealand that will boost jobs and tourism and drive long-term economic growth, without requiring funding from taxpayers,” SkyCity Chief Executive Nigel Morrison said. But the agreement, the subject of more than a year of negotiations, is not without controversy. Opposition Labour Party leader David Shearer has criticized the government for not putting the project out for bid, blasting it as a “backroom deal” for which problem gamblers and society at large will bear the ultimate cost. US Visa Waiver Sought for Hong Kong Two lawmakers from the US state of Nevada have introduced a bill in Congress to allow more visitors from Hong Kong to enter the United States without needing a visa. Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican whose district includes Reno, and Rep. Steven Horsford, a Democrat whose district includes several counties bordering Las Vegas on the north, want to address the fact that by law Hong Kong cannot be added to the US visa waiver program because it is not a sovereign nation. Their bill would create an exception for the territory, which is governed as an autonomous special administrative region of China. The goal, Mr Amodei told the Las Vegas Review-Journal , is “fixing a technicality that places an unnecessary impediment between two of the world’s greatest economies—Hong Kong and the United States.” Hong Kong is home to the fourth-highest percentage of millionaire households in the world and an important source not only of moneyed tourists but of potential high rollers for Nevada casinos, Las Vegas’ especially, which have become increasingly dependent post-recession on high-stakes baccarat play, most of it by Chinese gamblers. Visas were granted for 129,000 visits to the United States from Hong Kong in 2011, a number that could double in the first year after visa requirements are relaxed, said a spokeswoman for the US Travel Association cited by the Review-Journal . The US grants visa waivers to citizens of 37 countries, mostly from Western Europe and other friendly nations such as Japan and Australia. The waiver allows visitors to travel in the United States for up to 90 days. Caesars Taking WSOP Online Caesars Entertainment Group is mapping plans to take the celebrated World Series of Poker into Nevada’s new real-money Internet poker market. The casino giant began promoting the site to players at the start of the WSOP in Las Vegas on 29th May. “We anticipate our arrival to be sometime this summer,” Seth Palansky, a spokesman for Caesars Interactive, told Reuters . This year’s tournament runs from 29th May through 15th July and will be televised in part on US cable sports network ESPN. Last year, the tournament drew more than 230,000 entries. The Caesars site will operate using technology provided by 888 Holdings. The two companies already operate World Series of Poker sites in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Nevada became the first US state to offer legal real-money gambling online with the 30th April launch of Station Casinos’ UltimatePoker.com. Participation is restricted by law to Nevada residents or visitors in-state. Delaware expects to be the second state SkyCity Auckland