Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming October 2016 26 Feature In Focus Lucky Dragon, the Vegas Strip’s first new casino since 2010, targets Asians living in North America. By Muhammad Cohen is also a reminder that these coveted players frequently carry a lot of baggage. For example, visitors from mainland China face challenges such as obtaining visas to enter the US, getting enough money to enjoy their stay despite transfer limits and, more recently, running afoul of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign. Visitors from other Asian countries often carry similar baggage. A boutique resort with 202 rooms including 26 suites, Lucky Dragon thinks it has found a way to get the best players without the baggage. Instead of targeting Chinese players from Asia, Lucky Dragon is focusing on Asian players in North America, starting with the estimated 200,000 Asians living in the greater Las Vegas area. From there, the focus broadens to regional Asian populations with particular attention to immigrant clusters, such as Daly City south of San Francisco, southern California’s San Gabriel Valley and Vancouver’s Richmond district – areas where residents may use their native Asian language more often than English. Chinese New Year decorations and Asian restaurants have become ubiquitous in modern Las Vegas, but that’s not enough for these customers, Lucky Dragon Chief Operating Officer David Jacoby suggests. “Outside of service provided to Asian whales, there are very few attempts to provide culturally authentic service for Asian visitors,” he says. Closer to home he best player in the world right now is the Chinese gambler,” developer Andrew Fonfa told Las Vegas Weekly – and his Lucky Dragon will be the first Las Vegas casino designed from the ground up for that player. A partnership between Mr Fonfa and former Las Vegas Sands President and Chief Operating Officer William Weidner due to open 3 December, Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino “ T