Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming August 2014 42 $101 Billion in Handle: New Record for Hong Kong Racing The Hong Kong Jockey Club reported record handle of HK$101.83 billion (US$13 billion) for the 2013-14 season, an 8.5% increase year on year. The “most remarkable and notable season in our 130-year history” is how the club’s chief executive described the nine months of racing that concluded 6th July and saw attendance exceed 2 million for the second consecutive year and was the first to feature co-mingled wagering in the United States. Hong Kong pools are the largest in the world. “Along with the outstanding achievements of our top horses at home and overseas, and the huge success of the 35th Asian Racing Conference here, we have seen the status of the sport in Hong Kong rise to a new height,” said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. “I think it is not by luck,” he added. “We had a very clear strategy that we had to invest, that we had to understand our customers better, and with this strategy and the significant investment we have made, we have been able to achieve this remarkable result.” A crowd of almost 35,000 turned out at Sha Tin to witness the season finale. Total attendance on closing day, including Happy Valley Racecourse, was 38,680. Their combined handle of HK$1.77 billion was the highest single-day turnover in 17 years. “Without doubt this has been the greatest season in the history of Hong Kong racing, both domestically and internationally,” said Executive Director Bill Nader. “For a little place we pack a big punch and I think the whole world understands that now.” The 2014-15 season begins 14th September. Paradise Raises US$281M. in Share Sale South Korea’s largest operator of foreigners-only casinos has raised 285.8 billion won (US$281.2 million) in a sale of treasury shares. Paradise Co., which operates five casinos in Seoul, Incheon and the resort island of Jeju, offered 7.5 million shares at 38,100 won each, a 4% discount to closing prices at the time of the sale, according to Reuters . Some 50 local and foreign institutional investors participated, a spokeswoman for the company said. The proceeds are earmarked for operations, the company said, but could also be partly used to fund acquisitions. Publicly traded Paradise (KS: 034230) is on the leading edge of a government-backed push to attract investment in resort-scale casinos to help boost the economy through increased tourism. The company is partnering with Japanese pachinko giant Sega Sammy Holdings on a mixed-use resort with gaming to open in phases at a special economic zone near the main international airport at Incheon. The first phase is scheduled to open in 2016. A consortium led by Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment is also developing a resort casino in the zone. Jeju, in the far south of the country, also is generating interest and will host a resort planned by Genting Singapore and Chinese partners. The South Korean market consists currently of 17 casinos generating around US$2.7 billion in combined annual gaming revenue. Kangwon Land in the far northeast of the country, the only domestic operator allowed by law, accounts for about half. The rest is split among 16 casinos restricted to foreign passport holders—most of them Chinese and Japanese—and 90% of the trade is controlled by Paradise and Grand Korea Leisure. The latter, also listed (KS: 114090) and partly owned by the government, runs three casinos in Seoul and Busan. REGIONAL BRIEFS Hong Kong’s Sha Tin Racecourse A woman hands out brochures for a gambling ship in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Police: Triads Infiltrating Hong Kong Casino Ships Hong Kong police are stepping up an investigation into triad infiltration of casino cruise ships plying the territory’s waters. A report in the South China Morning Post said police raided more than 30 locations last month and arrested eight suspected triad members and later boarded two vessels to conduct inquiries. No arrests were made during the boardings, the Post said. The eight suspects detained in the first raids were released on bail. Investigations are continuing, police said, prompted by concerns that a turf war between rival gangs competing for mainland gamblers could erupt in violence. Some seven casino ships pick up passengers with shuttle ferries at piers in Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom railway station, where factions of various triad societies work specified territories, offering free overnight passage to gamblers who buy large sums of discounted gambling chips. The groups operate much like Macau