Macau Battling Illicit Cash From China

Macau is warning of a crackdown on street-level payment services purporting to help visitors evade China’s strict currency controls by transferring money out of their online accounts on the...

Published November 4, 2019

Suncity to Enter Philippines

Hong Kong’s Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. announced last week that it will get into the Philippines gaming market with a deal to operate a casino resort in Manila’s Entertainment...

Published November 4, 2019

Shuttered Cambodian Casino Wants to Reopen

The owners of a Cambodian casino that was closed last summer for multiple violations have applied to build a new casino in another location. Jin Ding Casino (l.) was...

Published November 4, 2019

Singapore: Higher Entry Fees Keep Some Gamblers Away

In April, the Singapore government decreed that residents would have to pay 50 percent more to enter the two local integrated resorts, Marina Bay Sands (l.) and Resorts World...

Published November 4, 2019

Japan: MGM Recommits to Osaka

In Japan, MGM Resorts International has changed its longstanding “Osaka First” policy to “Osaka Only,” doubling down on its commitment to build an integrated resort (l.) in the city...

Published November 4, 2019

Macau Weakness Hits Sands, SJM in Q3

Las Vegas Sands and SJM Holdings in Macau have reported declines in gaming revenue of 2 percent and 3.2 percent respectively as 2019’s double-digit drop in VIP win is...

Published November 4, 2019

Donaco Plans Name Change

Asian casino operator Donaco International will ask shareholders to approve that the company name be changed to Pan Asian Leisure Ltd. The rebrand would be “a public statement that...

Published October 28, 2019

Carry On, Japan

The slow process of bringing legal integrated resorts to Japan plods on. To date, almost two-thirds of Japanese continue to oppose IRs. Some have been vocal in their protests,...

Published October 28, 2019

Macau Residents Gambling Less

A new study shows the gambling participation rate by residents of the Chinese casino hub has declined to its lowest level since 2003. With a new prohibition on gambling...

Published October 28, 2019

Troubled 13 Hotel in Macau Finds a New Investor

The owners of the 13, a struggling luxury resort on Cotai, have reached an agreement sell an existing shareholder a 40 percent interest for HK$750 million, or about US$90...

Published October 21, 2019

Macau Tax Haul from Junkets Beat Expectations

The Macau government collected MOP394.2 million (US$48.7 million) from a 5 percent tax on junket commissions in 2018, exceeding the amount forecast by 40 percent. This year isn’t expected...

Published October 21, 2019

Macau’s Casinos Will Be Off-Limits to Workers

Curbing problem gambling by employees is the goal of new rules that will prohibit most categories of workers from visiting casinos in their off-duty hours. The extended ban will...

Published October 21, 2019

Japan: Bidders Narrow to Three in Osaka

And then there were three. Wynn Resorts recently announced it’s no longer interested in bidding on an integrated resort license in Osaka, Japan (l.), but is now looking at...

Published October 21, 2019

Macau: 2019 Visitation Will Approach 40 Million

The Macau government’s tourism chief pointed to a robust Golden Week holiday and the impact of the new bridge connecting the casino hub to Zhuhai and Hong Kong in...

Published October 21, 2019

Donaco Sees Improvements Under New CEO

Australia-listed casino operator Donaco International Ltd., which operates casinos in Vietnam and Cambodia, says the company continues to right its ship after the ouster of former CEO and board...

Published October 14, 2019

More than Half of Thais Gamble

A new survey has found that more than 30 million Thais, or 57 percent of the total population, have gambled this year, despite a government ban. The data was...

Published October 14, 2019

Korean Ministry Soft on Casino Crime?

A Korean lawmaker has accused the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of being soft on illegal activities in casinos. Rep. Kim Su-min (l.) said the crimes include embezzlement,...

Published October 14, 2019

For Macau’s Casinos, a Gilt-Edged Disappointment

China’s Golden Week holiday (l.) proved anything but golden for gaming operators in the Chinese territory. Despite big visitation numbers, casino revenue was down compared with last year as...

Published October 14, 2019

Bloomberry On the Hook for $296 Million in Wrongful Termination Suit

A Singapore arbitrator has ordered Bloomberry Resorts Corp. to pay US$296 million to Global Gaming Asset Management Philippines, a unit of William Weidner’s (l.) Las Vegas-based casino investment firm,...

Published October 7, 2019

Forbes’ Richest List Includes Philippines Casino Investors

Billionaires with casino interests were well-represented on Forbes magazine’s list of the 50 richest people in the Philippines. Among them were Enrique Razon (l.), owner of Bloomberry Resorts, and...

Published October 7, 2019