NUTSHELL
The first venture from Caesars Global Life, the non-gam- ing affiliate of Caesars Entertainment, was announced last month in the region the company most wants to court. The 1,000-room non-casino Caesars Palace will be built on Hainan Island off China’s southern coast, and will cost $470 million. The development is a part- nership between Caesars and Guoxin Longmu Bay Investment Holding Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Chinese investment and development company Jiangsu Guoxin Investment Group Limited. Caesars Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman said it will be the first of many non-gaming Caesars properties. The 90-year-old magnate of the Macau gaming industry, Stanley Ho, exited quietly from the company he founded, SJM, last month. Ho sold his remaining 0.09 percent participa- tion in the company to his fourth wife, Angela Leong, who is the managing director of SJM. The value of Ho’s last shares was $9.8 million. When Riviera Holdings Inc. emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year, the plan was to redevelop the historic Las Vegas property owned by the company, so its one other asset was dis- posable. Last month, Monarch Casinos and Resort Inc. stepped forward to purchase the Riviera Black Hawk, one of the larger casinos in that historic Colorado town. Monarch owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Hotel in Reno.
Tropicana Las Vegas last month terminated
its management agreement with Nikki Beach because the nightclub and café did not meet revenue bench- marks after four months of operation. According to a statement issued by the Trop, Nikki Beach did not fulfill “its contractual obligation to achieve a targeted ‘net income’ for the clubs.” A counter-statement from Nikki Beach Director of Operations Michael Penrod said the break was “a reaction to Nikki Beach serving Tropicana with a notice of default under the operating agreement.” With more than 800 new foreign work- ers, the August employment report in Macau shows more non-Macau residents getting jobs in the SAR. In August, there were 88,740 foreign workers in Macau, an increase of more than 1,600 from July. While most of the workers are employed in hotels (16,504), others are domestic workers (16,041) or are employed by restaurants (9,268). Nearly 10,000 foreign workers
November 9-11: South American Gaming Expo and Congress (SAGSE), Costa Salguero Convention Center, Buenos Aires. Produced by Monografie. For more information, visit
www.monografie.com.
November 10-11: Effective Direct Marketing: The Shortest Route to Improved Profitability, UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, Las Vegas. Produced by CDC Gaming Seminars and the Fine Point Group. For more information, visit
www.cdcgamingseminars.com.
are employed in the construction trades. Macau’s Monetary Authority says in its latest report that the increase in foreign workers is because of the super- hot economy. The first phase of the first casino ever built in New York City, Resorts World New York, opened on October 28 at Aqueduct Racetrack. By the end of the year, adjoining ameni- ties including new restaurants, buffets and event space will also be open to the public. Owned by the Malaysian gaming company Genting, Resorts World will offer 2,280 video lottery terminals and 205 electronic table games including baccarat, roulette and craps. The New York-themed facility will include a six-story parking garage, a high-roller lounge, and outside, the 70,000-square-foot Festival Commons, which will host concerts and other gath- erings. The National Indian Gaming Commission recently approved Full House Resorts, Inc.’s three- year management agreement with the Pueblo of Pojoaque to operate the Pueblo’s Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort, and Cities of Gold and sports bar casino facilities in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Full House will receive a base fee of $100,000 per month plus a success fee based on achieving certain financial targets. The contract began September 23. U.K.-based gaming consultant H2 Gambling
Capital has released a study showing the mobile gaming sector is in for a sustained period of growth, and that usage patterns over the next few years will change as some mobile devices gain popularity. The study predicts that the mobile gaming market in Europe will grow at 19.3 percent a year, and will be worth €5.4 billion by 2015. The market is valued at €2.22 billion currently. The owners of the Golden Gate Hotel Casino in Downtown Las Vegas have bought the 640-room Fitzgeralds Hotel Casino, a part of the Fremont Street Experience. Fitzgeralds was formerly owned and operated by the late Don Barden of Detroit, the first African American to own a Las Vegas casino. A probate court judge approved the sale by Barden estate trustees to Derek Stevens, majority owner of the Golden Gate, and his brother Greg Stevens.
CALENDAR
December 5-6: Digital Gaming & Lottery Policy Summit, Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, Virginia. Produced by BolaVerde Media Group and EventMD. For more information, visit
www.bvmediagroup.com/Events/D GLPSummit.aspx.
December 5-8: 38th Annual Symposium on Racing & Gaming, Westin La Paloma Resort, Tucson, Arizona. Produced by the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program. For more information, visit
ag.arizona.edu/rtip/symposium.
January 24-26: ICE Totally Gaming, Earl’s Court, London. Produced by Clarion Gaming. For more information, visit
www.totallygaming.com/ ice-2012.
February 27-29: World Game Protection Conference, M Resort, Las Vegas. Produced by World Game Protection, Inc. For more information, visit
www.worldgameprotection.com.
THEY SAID IT... g“We are confident to see the Philippine market
—Belle Corp. Vice Chairman Willy Ocier, whose firm is one of four casino resort franchise holders for the Philippines’ PAGCOR Entertainment City; Ocier told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he expects the current $1 billion market to at least double within five years
” e“Those opposed to gaming claim gaming increas- s social ills. However, there is no evidence of
increased social ills in communities where casinos are built. In fact, many communities report less dependence on welfare programs due to the jobs.
—Andy Abboud, Las Vegas Sands Corp., in an op-ed piece in the Orlando Sentinal on the prospect of com- mercial casinos in South Florida; he also says casinos do not increase crime, cannibalize local business, or result in a less “family friendly” environment
c“Connectivity is very important for any
—Macau-born Chung Po Yang, co-founder of DHL International, speaking to the Macau Daily Times about the benefits to Macau and the region of the bridge that will link the SAR to Hong Kong and Zhuhai
” b“Like land homesteaders and gold stake claimers
—Seneca Nation President Odawi Porter, testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs last month, criticizing a bill that would legalize online gaming that he says would give too much power to commercial casino companies and shut out tribes
”
City. But if you want to experience the world, come to Vegas.
—Emily Whitaker, a Las Vegas tourist who once resided in New Jersey, responding to Governor Chris Christie’s comment that going to Las Vegas in the summer was just “stupid”
” f“You used to go to a pool for free and now you pay or it. They’re not just refreshing what they have but
devising new ways of capturing the patron’s wallet, that potential for 24-hour spending.
—Jacob Oberman, director of gaming research and analysis, CB Richard Ellis, on new ways to spend in U.S. casinos
”
www.ggbmagazine.com • November 2011 13 “If you want to experience Jersey, go to Atlantic efore them, these Nevada and New Jersey moguls
see Indian gaming as a competitive threat, and are determined to shove Indian gaming away from the table or, at best, deal Indian gaming a short hand.
ommunity, so physical connectivity between
people with the same language and culture, that is very important. When you get things closer together all three entities will benefit.
”
row to as much as $2 billion to $5 billion in size in the next five years.
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