Labor, Government Clash Over Macau Table Cap

The growth of Macau’s casino industry is outstripping the city’s supply of dealers, and the situation will only get worse as Cotai expands. Importing labor would be one solution,...

Published February 24, 2014

SJM Breaks Ground on Cotai

Macau casino giant SJM held a ceremonial groundbreaking last week (l.) for its megaresort on Cotai. The company, still the city’s market-share leader, is targeting a 2017 opening and...

Published February 17, 2014

Bloomberry Raises $254M. to Expand Solaire

Despite a challenging first year, Manila’s Solaire Resort & Casino will be expanding to the tune of 300 new hotel suites, a shopping mall, a showroom and a nightclub....

Published February 17, 2014

Macau Forecast To Hit $80 Billion

Still vastly underserved in terms of Chinese visitation, Macau will continue to boom as a supply driven casino market, according to an especially upbeat new report from Nomura Securities....

Published February 17, 2014

Casino Returning to Macau Racetrack

Slumping revenues have prompted the Macau Jockey Club to speed up plans to reopen a casino that closed 10 years ago at the thoroughbred track. Management is also looking...

Published February 17, 2014

Macau’s Productivity Boom Fading

The good news is that Macau’s casino workers are more experienced and efficient than ever. The bad news: casinos are no longer seeing the gains in productivity they’re used...

Published February 17, 2014

PAGCOR Faces Tough Year Ahead

As the Philippines becomes a more compelling commercial resort market the country’s state-owned casino operator is finding it more difficult to compete. PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr....

Published February 17, 2014

Hengqin a Big Hit

Hengqin Island’s first tourist attraction—a theme park with a supporting resort hotel—is less than a month old and already it’s proving a massive success. What does this mean for...

Published February 17, 2014

Islanders Oppose Philippine Gambling Plan

A card room is being proposed for the Philippine resort island of Boracay, but community groups and the Catholic Church are against it. The local government is waiting for...

Published February 17, 2014

Genting to Build IR in South Korea

As Genting announced a $2.2 billion integrated resort in South Korea’s Jeju island (l.), the government is reconsidering its rejection of Caesars Entertainment as a prospective investor in the...

Published February 10, 2014

Tourists Flood Macau for New Year’s

Nearly 1 million visitors entered Macau for the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday. It was great for the broader economy, not so good for VIP gaming, and it showed...

Published February 10, 2014

China Leads Stellar Quarter for Wynn

Wynn Resorts’ fourth quarter revenues soared 18 percent to $1.52 billion—and Macau was the reason why. The company’s Wynn Macau subsidiary saw earnings surge 32 percent on net revenue...

Published February 10, 2014

Sands China Blows Past the Market

Las Vegas Sands’ Macau subsidiary outperformed the rest of the city in the fourth quarter in almost every category on the gaming floor. VIP volume was up 26 percent,...

Published February 10, 2014

Court Tells Gambling Hotelier to Pay Up

The woman who lost Macau’s New Century Hotel over unpaid loans has been slapped with a court order. This time she’s been ordered to pay back more than $10...

Published February 10, 2014

Businesses Line Up Behind Casinos in Japan

Japanese business leaders, including Takeshi Niinami (l.), head of the convenience store chain Lawson, are spearheading the formation of a group to advocate for casinos and influence the shape...

Published February 3, 2014

Crown Still Waiting for Sri Lanka Casino OK

Sri Lanka’s government has finally approved Crown Resorts’ controversial $400 million casino hotel in the capital of Colombo—but without the casino. The Australian gaming giant says it is in...

Published February 3, 2014

Nobu Joins Melco in Manila

Robert DeNiro’s tony Nobu hospitality chain will make its Asian debut at Melco Crown’s City of Dreams Manila (DeNiro and Chef Nobu at left). The 321-room hotel will be...

Published February 3, 2014

Galaxy’s Founder Eyes Global Expansion

Hong Kong billionaire Lui Che Woo (l.) didn’t become Asia’s second-richest person by standing pat. The 84-year-old founder and chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group is determined to take the...

Published February 3, 2014

Investors Riding a Rollercoaster in Macau

Has all the current upside of Macau’s red-hot casino market been priced into the shares of its six operators? JP Morgan’s Kenneth Fong thinks so, and his view sent...

Published February 3, 2014

China Lottery Sales Hit $50 Billion

New games and new outlets helped generate an 18 percent surge in sales last year for China’s two legal lotteries. Combined revenues topped $50 billion.

Published February 3, 2014