Wire ASIA & OCEANIA
ACMA Blocks More Illegal Websites
Te Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is to block more illegal offshore gambling and affiliate-marketing websites.
Te Australian Communications and Media Authority has requested that Australian internet service providers block more illegal offshore gambling and affiliate-marketing websites.
Te sites include Golden Lady Casino, Casino4u, Spin Samurai, Axe Casino, Lucky Dreams Casino, Comet Room, Paradiso Room, No Deposit Friend, No Deposit Bonus Blog, Casino- On-Line, Online Casino Australian, Casino Shortlist, Australia Casino and Aus Casinos.
Te ACMA undertook investigations that found the sites to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Blocking is one of a range of enforcement options to protect Australians against illegal online gambling. Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, 375 illegal gambling websites have been blocked. Over 150 illegal services have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.
Blocking provides an opportunity to alert the public to illegal gambling services through the messaging that appears when there is an attempt to access the site.
Te ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, its unlikely to have important customer protections. Tis means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money.
In November last year, ACMA requested that Australian internet service providers (ISPs) block illegal offshore lottery websites We Love Lotto and Red Fox Lotto.
Authority member Fiona Cameron said the two websites would become the first lottery sites blocked in Australia after ACMA investigations found they offer tickets in major overseas online lotteries and are not licensed in Australia, which is prohibited under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. “We Love Lotto and Red Fox Lotto are both operating illegally in Australia, meaning there are no consumer safeguards in place for players.”
Ms Cameron said: “Blocking illegal offshore sites protects Australians from dodgy operators, where there is little or no recourse if things go wrong. Lottery services that are licensed in Australia and operating legally have important safeguards that consumers expect.”
Philippines Han Casino opens in Mid-December in Clark
HANN Philippines opened its integrated casino and resort in Clark on December 15. Hann Casino Resort is described as a ‘world-class luxury gaming space’ with 380 hotel rooms, dining, retail, a swimming pool, an executive lounge plus event venues such as a ballroom and function rooms.
Daesik Han, President and CEO of HPI, said: “Despite the disruption the pandemic caused, our vision of creating the ultimate millionaire’s playground in Clark remains the same. We are set to open the first fully integrated resort in phases, and guests can expect only the finest in hospitality and entertainment.”
At the casino’s grand opening,
over P15m worth of prizes, including a BMW X7, were given away in a “Rev Up to Lux” raffle promo. Hann Casino Resort is expected to create over 1,000 jobs when it fully opens. Its employees undergo regular swab testing and more than 90 per cent are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “With the soft opening of Hann Casino Resort, we aim to attract tourists and investors to the area to help kickstart the Philippines’ economy and revive the tourism industry,” Mr. Han added.
Hann Casino Resort features Hann Casino, Clark Marriott, Swissotel Clark, and in the future, a Mercure Hotel. HPI is a member of the Hann Group, the consortium behind the Widus Hotel & Casino and Clark Marriott.
Tailand
Tailand, one of only three ASEAN nations without legal casinos, alongside Indonesia and Brunei, will launch a feasibility study into the effects of introducing casino gaming via an integrated resort with a casino.
Te House of Representatives will charge an extraordinary committee of 60 people with the task of evaluating the benefits of a casino to boost tourism and the local economy.
Tai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha claimed in January that casinos could help the country out of COVID with Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon saying: “Look at the countries around us. Our people visit those casinos too.”
JAPAN – Casinos Austria International Japan and Nagasaki prefecture have published more details of the casino blueprint for Sasebo City at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park to be handed over for consideration by the Japanese government in April.
The plans have seen the project’s footprint increased to 320,000sq.m, with the floor area of the entire IR to cover 550,000sq.m at a cost of US$3.08bn, much more than any other project overseen by Casinos Austria. It will generate around 10,000 jobs and aims to attract 8.4 million people a year.
Casinos Austria International has said it plans to operate a three floor, 9,000sq.m casino as part of its project for an integrated resort project in Nagasaki, Japan, with 220 gaming tables and 2,200 slot machines ‘offering a gaming experience of the highest international standards.’
The casino is to be located next to the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, where Nagasaki Prefecture plans to develop an integrated casino resort with eight hotels, multiple conference and exhibition centres as well as a variety of entertainment complexes in cooperation with international and Japanese partners. Austria’s five-star Hotel Sachar has been confirmed as one of the hoteliers for the project. The latest plans include a cable car to transport guests from the Huis Ten Bosch station with Casinos Austria to spend around US$129m on infrastructure.
MACAU – Brokerage firm, Sanford C. Bernstein, has given its view on the demise of Macau’s casino junkets with the prediction that between 15 and 30 per cent of junket VIP customers will become premium mass segment players, while others will become VIP players for the casino, meaning casinos will make more money from them by cutting out the fees charged by junket operators.
Bernstein analysts Vitaly Umansky and Kelsey Zhu said: “As junket business goes away, some players may shift and we forecast that between 15 per cent to 30 per cent of junket VIP business could move to premium direct and premium mass. There will also be some negative impact on premium mass from the disappearance of junkets – we estimate between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of ultra- premium mass and five to 10 per cent of premium mass may disappear due to junket liquidity.
“However, some of the junket business will in all likelihood migrate to premium direct while some segments may see some negative impact from the disappearance of junket liquidity,” they added. “Once post-COVID recovery materializes, we expect a less volatile gaming industry with better margin potential (albeit with lower revenue).”
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P25
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