Inside Asian Gaming

66 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2013 REGIONAL BRIEFS Gambling Debts Collectable, Singapore Court Says Marina Bay Sands has won what could be a precedent-setting victory over a gambler in Singapore’s first casino debt collection case. A report in The Straits Times says the High Court ruling means the megaresort can recover S$240,000 (US$188,200) extended as credit to a player who challenged the 3-year-old debt as unrecoverable, claiming he was not a “premium player” under the law and that MBS had violated regulations in giving him credit. Judge Lai Siu Chiu disagreed and ordered 33-year-old Lester Ong Boon Lin to pay back the money, plus interest at 12% a year going back to August 2010. He is also liable for MBS’ legal costs, which the court will determine later. Singapore’s stringent rules on the extension of credit require that players deposit at least $100,000 with the casino to be considered eligible to draw markers as “premium players”. Written agreements are required spelling out conditions such as credit limit and interest rates, and all dealings must be recorded for official inspection, including chip amounts issued on credit and when the loan or loans are repaid. Goa’s Fortunes Rise on Falling Rupee A depreciating rupee is motivating wealthy Indians to pursue their entertainments closer to home, and Goa’s casino operators say they’re reaping the benefits. “Most of our clients are from north India,” one executive told the English-language Times of India . “With the depreciating rupee, travelling abroad is expensive, and it’s cheaper to fly to Goa for gambling.” To take advantage of the situation, the casinos reportedly are working through agents in Delhi to pre-arrange large cash transfers to their properties. In all, it’s a considerable plus for the tiny state on the country’s Arabian Sea coast. Tourists historically have provided the bulk of the trade on a mix of gambling boats in the Mandovi River and some 12 casinos in resort hotels in and around the capital of Panaji. But competition from Singapore and Macau has taken a toll, operators say, while Sri Lanka and Nepal more recently have emerged as cheaper alternatives. A slowing economy and other factors such as a ban on mining also have hurt, they say. In part it’s the reason why the number of riverboats has fallen in recent years from six to three. Yet, as one executive told the Times , “The serious players who are high-spenders never stopped coming.” The actual state of the market is difficult to assess. Officially, the industry is turning over a combined 900-1,000 crore per year, or roughly US$145 million-$165 million. But sources cited by the Times say the real numbers are much higher. If taxes and fees are any indication, the casinos in total paid the equivalent of $43.6 million to the state in the 2012-2013 financial year, according to the legislature’s tally. Growing with China’s Booming Lotteries AGTech Holdings has boosted its share of China’s massive lottery market with a winning bid to supply betting terminals to the Guizhou Sports Lottery Administration Centre. The contract will be fulfilled by a Beijing subsidiary and covers approximately 75% of the terminals included in the tender, lifting AGTech’s share of the Guizhou market above 65%. AGTech (HKSE: 8279) claims to supply half of China’s installed base of 130,000 sports betting terminals, a market reach that extends to 80% of the country’s provinces and municipalities. The company also partners with UK betting giant Ladbrokes through Asia Gaming Technologies Limited to provide China’s only approved virtual fixed- odds sports betting game. Gambling is illegal in China but the government vigorously promotes its Sports and Welfare lotteries, which are the second- largest in the world after the United States and fund an array of social services, and in the case of the Sports Lottery, public fitness programs and training for the country’s Olympic athletes. They’re immensely popular, too, with sales up 20% last year to a combined 245 billion yuan (US$40 billion) following a record 2011 during which sales increased 33% to a record 221 billion yuan ($35.5 billion). AGTech derives most of its revenue—HK$97.2 million (US$12.5 million) in the first half of 2013—from the technologies and services it provides to the China Sports Lottery. This includes game software, systems, hardware and marketing services in addition to its betting kiosks. Net income from operations amounted to HK$1.4 million in the first half. However, the company reported a $52.7 million loss as a result of its adoption of Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards governing the payment of share options to investors, directors, officers and other eligible employees. Marina Bay Sands Casino Royale Goa