Inside Asian Gaming

43 August 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING REGIONAL BRIEFS by European investigators, returned to Singapore and set up their own investigation and surveillance,” Singapore-based journalist and author Neil Humphreys told The Independent . Ron Noble, secretary-general of Interpol, termed the arrests “an important step in cracking down on an international match- fixing syndicate,” adding, “No person should doubt Singapore’s commitment to fighting match-fixing.” But Humphreys added a note of caution. “This is a promising beginning, but the end is still nowhere in sight. The match-fixing hydra remains. A big ugly head appears to have been chopped off, but only one.” Fewer Locals Visiting Singapore’s Casinos Singapore’s limits on domestic gambling appear to be working, according to the Casino Regulatory Authority’s latest annual report. Statistics contained in the document and cited by The Straits Times show that only 7.7% of residents made more than one visit to the city-state’s two casinos in the past three years, although the CRA did not give a further breakdown on the number of times this segment actually visited the casinos. Significantly, the agency said that the vast majority of the remaining 92.3% of the population did not visit the casinos at all. The total number of visits to the casinos by Singaporeans and permanent residents has also dropped in a sign that the “novelty factor” could be wearing off, said CRA Chairman Richard Magnus in his foreword to the report. Singaporeans and permanent residents averaged 17,000 casino visits last year, the report said. The average was 20,000 visits when the resorts opened in 2010. The CRA also attributed the drop in the number of visits to the effectiveness of its safeguards in deterring vulnerable individuals from engaging in problem gambling. Reforms Hit Macau Low-Roller Tours China’s crackdown on shady travel promoters could cause the number of tour groups visiting Macau to decline by 50% starting this month. The projection was made by Max Lau, head of the Macau Travel Agency Association, who told the English-language Macau Daily Times that “Prices of tourist groups will increase according to the new law,” which took effect 1st October. “Tourists will gradually find that what they paid in the past was not the real cost of the trip,”he said. The law, which was decreed by the China National Tourism Administration, prohibits the country’s domestic travel agencies from “organizing tourism activities and luring tourists with unreasonably low prices, which is estimated to cause the previously under-market package rate to surge instantly”. Among the practices specifically targeted are so-called “zero- fare” tours, which charge very low prices or promote themselves as free but pressure their customers to buy retail goods from shops affiliated with tour agents and guides who earn commissions on the sales. Accordingly, the law says agents cannot “designate specific shopping places, or provide tourism services that require additional payment”. The ban is expected to affect mostly day-trippers at the low end of the visitor mix. LT Game, Entertainment Gaming Asia Partner Up Entertainment Gaming Asia and Macau-based LT Game have concluded an agreement calling for LT to supply its popular electronic table games to Entertainment Gaming’s Dreamworld Pailin casino in Cambodia. The deal also gives Entertainment Gaming Asia exclusive rights to market and sell LT products to certain casinos and machine gaming venues for a limited time in EGA’s coremarkets of Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines—six months initially in Cambodia and Vietnam, one year in the Philippines—and renewable subject to the achievement of sales targets. “With the ability to fully leverage our relationships and existing infrastructure in both Indochina and the Philippines, this agreement provides the opportunity for incremental revenue, which should directly impact the bottom line,”said Clarence Chung, chairman and chief executive of the US-listed operator and supplier (Nasdaq: ETG). LT Chairman Jay Chun called it a “natural fit” with his company’s own expansion efforts. “We look forward to building on the success we have experienced in Macau in these new markets,” he said. LT Game is the principal subsidiary of a Hong Kong-listed entity called Paradise Entertainment (HKSE: 1180). Dreamworld Pailin, which opened in 2012 near the border with Thailand, from where it derives most of its players, will receive LT live-dealer electronic baccarat and roulette setups totaling 30 seats. Dreamworld will keep 85% of their net win, LT, 15%. The installation is expected to be operational within a month. The agreement will run for five years. Dreamworld Pailin