ASIA & OCEANIA
Penghu Overwhelmingly Rejects Casinos Around 80 per cent of voters on the Taiwanese island cast their ballot against
introducing gambling to archipelago, putting an end to a decade-long project to establish a Macau-style gaming stronghold predominately targeting the Japanese
Residents of Taiwan’s Penghu have casts their votes for a second time to ensure gaming does not establish itself on the island
TAIWAN LEGISLATION
AUSTRALIA – Star Entertainment Group has been granted a new casino licence by the Queensland Government for its planned integrated resort at Queens Wharf Brisbane. The $2bn entertainment precinct will boast more than 1,100 rooms across five hotels, a bridge to Southbank named the Neville Bonner Bridge and the renovation of the Treasury building into a Ritz-Carlton by 2024.
Star Entertainment, who operates Sydney’s Star, Jupiters on the Gold Coast and Treasury Casino in Brisbane, has partnered with Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises to form Destination Brisbane Consortium who will oversee the project.
The granting of the licence means Destination Brisbane Consortium must pay a fee of $213m to the Queensland Government by October 27 with Star’s share coming in at $77m.
A Star Entertainment spokeswoman revealed that the consortium was still piecing together the detailed design for the project. “Much of the QWB project detail, including payment values and timings, remains commercial-in-confidence,” State Development Minister Anthony Lynham said.
MACAU – As momentum continues to build for NOVOMATIC throughout the Asia-Pacific region, a range of products will be brought to MGS – Macau Gaming Show – to showcase the company’s growing commitment to the region on booth AP25. Taking place at the Venetian Macau on the Cotai Strip on November 15-17, MGS is an opportunity for NOVOMATIC and its local partners to show Asian operators its depth and breadth of gaming products.
Supported by NOVOMATIC’s principle distributor in the region, Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies and its local subsidiaries, an open- plan booth provides the setting to present a variety of products. The line-up starts with three banks of the new GAMINATOR Scorpion featuring three game compendiums, including the Macau mix; NOVO LINE Interactive Edition 1. The successor to the original GAMINATOR, this new cabinet is set to take the gaming industry by storm, bringing the latest and greatest NOVOMATIC content to life in HD.
Presented for the very first time in Asia is the NOVOSTAR V.I.P. Royal that makes a standout impression on any casino floor with its huge 65” upright curve screen. Returning to Macau following its popularity at G2E Asia earlier this year is the V.I.P. Lounge, an ideal solution for casinos to introduce V.I.P. slot gaming with a smaller footprint. Also on show will be the DOMINATOR Curve as well as electronic roulette terminals that are spreading like wildfire throughout Asian markets
P28 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
Residents of Taiwan’s Penghu have once again rejected a proposal to build casinos in the archipelago county popular with tourists.
In a referendum held on October 15, around 80 per cent of the votes were against introducing gambling, with about 33,000 people out of 83,400 eligible voters casting ballots.
Te lobbying groups on the two sides of the issue made their case for what economic development was best for the community. One hour into counting, the Alliance against Legalisation of Gambling declared victory.
“Despite all odds, voters ... have used their wisdom and sense to safeguard the sustainable development of Penghu,” said Ho Tsung-hsun, executive director of the alliance. Ho was referring to the timing of the referendum, which was held five days after Taiwan’s National Day holiday when most residents had returned to the main island for work.
He also said the pro-side had tried to mislead voters into believing that casinos would boost
SIS strikes content and fixed-odds deal with Mauritius Turf Club
Mauritius
SIS has agreed an exclusive three-year deal with the Mauritius Turf Club to distribute racing pictures, data, and fixed-odds prices to UK retail betting shops and online operators for the first time.
Te deal will see the SIS service broadcast eight races a day for 37 weekend fixtures, with an average of nine runner races for each of the Saturday and Sunday morning races. Te content also includes fixed- odds provision through SIS Trading Services.
Te new Mauritius rights deal complements SIS’ leading content portfolio, which already includes exclusive racing from the UK, the best racing from Ireland and France
Penghu’s static economic growth. Te final tally was 26,592 against and 6,210 in support. Te previous referendum held in 2009, saw 56 per cent against and 44 per cent in support.
Chen Meng, convener of the pro-casino Alliance Promoting Internationalisation of Penghu, called the vote unfair, pointing to opposition by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and her government of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party voiced before the referendum was held. “With the president using her influence to oppose it, a serious voting defeat was already expected,” he said. . Te vote comes seven years after a similar referendum rejected casinos with 56 per cent of Penghu residents voting no despite strong support from the county government.
Tis time round the proposal saw little support from President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Lin Chuan of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) both of whom have said casinos are not the only way of developing tourism in Penghu. Not all members of the party were happy with that stance though.
as well as key international tracks further afield such as Meydan and Jebel Ali Racecourse. Launched in January, SIS Trading Services is a bespoke trading department for UK and international customers that provides comprehensive pricing on UK, Irish, and International racing as well as BAGS greyhound racing from the company’s state of the art London offices.
Te comprehensive Mauritius pricing provided by SIS Trading Services includes a suite of data triggers that allows easy automation of trader alerts, in addition to ante-post and starting prices through to in- play updates.
Paul Witten, Commercial Director at SIS, said: “We’re delighted to have secured top quality racing from Mauritius for the next three years, which is the ideal product for operators looking to give their customers additional content during busy periods.”
Taiwan
Guanhuasoft Gaming, a Taiwanese developer and manufacturer of casual casino games and 3D animation products distributed worldwide, has been bought by CMK Gaming International. Pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement, GuanHua now owns and controls a total of 90 per cent of all of CMKI’s issued and outstanding shares upon the completion of this tax free transaction. In connection with this transaction, CMKI has recently completed a 100 for 1 forward stock split.
GuanHua is a successful developer and manufacturer of casual casino games with revenue in excess of US$6m for its last fiscal year. It had developed approximately 30 proprietary new games by 2014 and creates at least four additional games per year, many of which are distributed worldwide.
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