Inside Asian Gaming

September 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 53 prospered in the post-World War II era, pachinko also thrived, and Mr Han did well enough in the ’60s to diversify into bowling alleys, driving ranges for golfers, amusement facilities, cinemas and other leisure-related businesses. In the 1970s, he returned his focus to pachinko and rode the wave of the country’s ’80s economic boom, which left him well-positioned to take advantage of the long slide that followed, when he continued to build the company by exploiting the decline in asset prices to increase Maruhan’s market share. While Japan still struggles to regain its economic legs, Maruhan Corp. prospers. Mr Han, now 82, has expanded his reach into more centralized locations. He’s built multi-story emporiums that lure customers with innovations that include non-smoking sections, free parkingand improvedodds.The cashflowfromthese large, successful outlets has helped transform Maruhan into the conglomerate it is today. The company’s Maruhan Japan Bank subsidiary has been expanding in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Until this year, Maruhan held a minority interest in Macau’s Ponte 16 casino. The revenue the company generates in Japan suggests an enormous untapped demand for purer forms of gambling. The advent of legal casinos would not necessarily sound the death knell for pachinko, however. If anything, the game is so ingrained in the national psyche, it’s likely not only to endure alongside any future Japanese casinos, it may even influence their design. Japan’s primary speculative pastime is pachinko, a form of quasi-gambling played on pinball-style machines that generates about US$36 billion annually in revenue. More than 4,000 companies manage some 12,300 pachinko parlors across the country, and by far the biggest earner among them is Maruhan Corp., which in the 12 months ended 31st March generated the equivalent of $21.5 billion in sales, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%, across 286 venues. The estimated $3.4 billion fortune of Maruhan’s self-made founder, Korean-born Han Chang-woo, landed him in eighth place this year on Forbes ’“Japan’s 50 Richest”list, emblematic of an industry which owing to its disrepute among Japan’s commercial elite is dominated by ethnic Koreans, especially on the operations side. Maruhan was set up in 1953 and incorporated in 1957. As Japan The Asian Gaming 50 – 2013 Poker pro, entrepreneur, marketeer, Winfred Yu has been a force in putting poker on the map in the world’s largest gambling market. The Hong Kong native is founder and president of Kings Consulting, the company that partnered with junket giant Suncity Group to bring to Macau perhaps its best- known poker venue, Poker King Club, located at StarWorld Hotel & Casino, home of the “Big Game,” where whales normally found at the city’s high-stakes baccarat tables vie with the elite of the sport for pots in the tens of millions. Poker King Club is fitted with all the comforts and services a high roller would expect. But the genius of the concept as Mr Yu has set it up is that it’s open to all. Average 47 Winfred Yu President Kings Consulting second quarter, impacting profitability of that division in Q1, but with a near-term order pipeline of approximately $2 million, supplying chips could prove the company’s most reliable ongoing earner. Mr Chung took over as CEO of EGT in October 2008. He has a strong background in management and finance, most recently as an investment banker at Lazard and a vice president of Pacific Century Group. He and his company have been on a steep learning curve, running table games and operating self-owned venues. So far, the path to diversification has been a tough one, but the lessons they’re learning on the way could prove vital to their continued survival if EGT’s agreement with NagaWorld comes to an end in the next couple of years. players will find limits they can afford and the only regular sit-and-go tournaments in town. They also enjoy a casino-style rewards program that’s unique in the business, where as members they can accumulate points good for gifts and services such as ferry tickets, hotel rooms, food and beverage vouchers and branded merchandise. It’s a model Mr Yu and Suncity believe has legs throughout the region. It’s designed along the lines of a sports book. Poker King Club manages, staffs and promotes the room in exchange for a fee, which is great for StarWorld and great for local players, who get a shot at a game they can afford in a world-class venue, and with the likes of Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Sam Trickett, Gus Hansen and John Juanda checking in from time to time, a chance to see the best on the planet in action. But its biggest selling point is Mr Yu himself. A fixture on the global tournament circuit, he’s the second-winningest player in HongKonghistory. On the all-timemoney list he’s in the top 1%. It’s the kind of credibility that has secured for Poker King Club official host status on the Asian Poker Tour and delivered last year’s HK$2 million buy-in Macau High Stakes Challenge. Sponsored by another big-time junket, Neptune Group, the tournament offered a breathtaking prize pool of more than HK$300 million and paid out a first prize in excess of $50 million, the largest for a single day of poker ever. 48 Han Chang-woo Chairman and CEO Maruhan Group