Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming July 2014 12 Cover Story Imperial Pacific denies the charges, which it says are “entirely unfounded,” and in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said it is “seeking independent legal advice on the appropriate courses of actions to be taken”. The Lottery Commission was due to make its licensing decision on 19th June, but then declared it needed more time to evaluate the applications. The same day, Associate Judge David Wiseman granted Marianas Stars a temporary restraining order halting the award process, which he later extended. The court, however, denied the company’s request for an injunction to freeze the process indefinitely while its allegations are investigated, finding instead for Best Sunshine, which argued that its interests and those of the public would be unjustly harmed. But Marianas Stars isn’t stopping at an island court. It has taken its fight to Washington. US news Web site Politico reported late last month that parent Asia Pacific Resort & Entertainment had registered as a federal lobbyist and hired a former US senator, Alphonse D’Amato, a high-profile advocate for the legalization of Internet poker, and a former congressman, Vito Fossella, to make its case on Capitol Hill while Mr D’Amato’s Park Strategies works on federal legislation to take the Saipan gaming mess in hand. The firm’s Senior Vice President Sean King has been to the island to push for Mariana Stars’ two-casino solution. Another of the company’s consultants, former US Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs David B. Cohen, tried to testify before the Legislature during the debate on repealing and re-enacting the casino law but was not allowed to speak, according to the newspaper Marianas Variety . Mr King told Variety after that session that they would “find another way to make our case.” The controversy has led US Congresswoman Madeline Bordallo of Guam, where voters have rejected casino legalization seven times, to propose the Basta Act, federal legislation requiring the US Congress approve casinos there. “Our people are tired of the constant barrage by pro-casino outside interests. It’s time that we all say ‘basta’ [enough],” she told local reporters. “No longer will casino interests be able to use our local laws to impose their values on us.” Imperial Pacific, in the meantime, is raising the stakes, promising $10 million in cash to all locally born adults on Saipan if it wins the license. It works out to about $200 per person. The company says it will also pay $20 million to a community fund once construction of its resort is under way and $20 million a year after that once the first hotel is open. looking for an exotic holiday. “Junket players like to go on vacation too,” a source knowledgeable about gaming in Macau and beyond says. “A $250,000 player in Macau may play $50,000 when they go on to a tropical island.” Editor at Large Muhammad Cohen also blogs for Forbes on gaming throughout Asia and wrote “Hong Kong on Air,” a novel set during the 1997 handover about TV news, love betrayal, high finance and cheap lingerie. He can be contacted at mcohen@asgam.com. Dynasty, Mr Leung says, citing the synergies between Macau’s peninsula casinos and the casinos on Cotai. “The casino in Saipan will be positioned as part of the integrated resort, targeting a broader mid- to high-end market,” he says. “Whereas for Tinian, it will pursue a more up-market and exclusive gaming experience for the high-net-worth tourists and gamblers.” To facilitate travel between Saipan and Tinian, a 10-minute flight apart, Marianas Stars plans to form a joint venture with charter operator Star Marianas Air to provide low-cost service connecting the CNMI and the island of Guam about 136 miles to the south, also a US overseas territory. The deal calls for purchasing up to six 30-seat aircraft. Direct international flights to Tinian are scheduled to begin in December this year. In an “open letter” posted last month on its Web site, Marianas Stars suggests that the government award two licenses, one to each applicant, require each to build a 1,000-room resort and collect two $15 million annual license fees. “Each applicant will get half a loaf, but the CNMI will get twice the revenue for retirees, for health care, for schools, for infrastructure, for everyone,” the company wrote. Multiple casinos can be good for CNMI gaming overall, Mr Mendiola-Long agrees. “You could see two or three charter flights weekly split between two or three properties.” Some legislators also have expressed support for the idea, but Best Sunshine and Gov. Eloy Inos oppose it. In any event, either project could prove tempting for high rollers “Our people are tired of the constant barrage by pro-casino outside interests. It’s time that we all say ‘basta’ [enough].” US Congresswoman Madeline Bordallo of Guam Rival bidder Best Sunshine and Gov. Eloy Inos (left) oppose Marianas Stars’ proposal for two licenses on Saipan, one for each applicant