internationalcasinoreview Genting exploring Vietnamese opportunities News ASIA & OCEANIA


Canberra reiterates call for lift on pokie ban


slotusin AUSTRALIA


Casino Canberra has once again asked the ACT Govern- ment to allow it to operate slots with a renewed call for 200 poker machines saying it could mean AU$14m in extra cash for the government over the first year.


The submission high- lighted that the casino would be willing to pay a $10m one- off licence fee revenue to the government and would also contribute 30 per cent in tax,


Nepal gets tough over local play and royalties


The oldest casino sector in South Asia hangs in the balance following a series of allegations against its operators. The political message is clear, flout the laws and we’ll close you down.


which would deliver an annual revenue stream of about $4m to the ACT Government. Marketing director Peter Cursley claims the territory should stop being ‘hung up’ on pokie numbers.


Cursley said the casino


Genting Malaysia has confirmed it has been collaborating with a partner to explore opportunities in Vietnam. Speculation has been building that Genting group and Vina Capital have obtained approval from the government of Vietnam for a US$4bn casino resort project in Hoi An city. However, Genting Malaysia said pending the outcome of collaborative activities and the execution of the final agreements, it will make the necessary announcements in due course. It did confirm that the exploration was part of its business strategy and it will continue to evaluate opportunities to expand in the leisure, hospitality and entertainment sector.


could even use machine licences held by the govern- ment in surplus. “The bottom line is we want 200 machines and we’re prepared to pay. We don’t care where they come from.” Introducing the 200 slots would mean the casino would have to employ 20 new staff which would contribute about $60,000 in payroll tax to the government’s coffers each year. However, gaming and racing minister Andrew Barr has said he would rather


scrap the surplus licences from circulation in a bid to prevent problem gambling Canberra has more poker machines per head of popula- tion than any other Australian state or territory, although the number playing poker machines has dropped from 38.1per cent in 2001 to 30.2 per cent in 2009.


Casino Canberra has never been able to operate slots since opening 20 years ago and remains the only casino in Australia not to operate them.


Sky City wants


‘legal teeth’ to stop barred players entering


sinnpity NEW ZEALAND


New Zealand’s SkyCity Casino has said that its gaming floor has been too busy to stop every single banned customer every single time from entering and wants the government to give it ‘legal teeth’ to keep them out.


The claim hinges on a


case presented before the Department of Internal Affairs, concerning a cus- tomer who had asked to be excluded in 2004 but then entered the casino last August and won $60,000. SkyCity paid the winner but said it was planning to lobby the government to ‘remove any doubt’ on the rules of re-entry into casinos. The Department of Inter-


halfempty NEPAL


Half of Nepal’s casino indus- try, the oldest in South Asia, is on the verge of being closed down for alleged tax evasion and for letting locals gamble. Following reports of dodging tax payments, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the legislature par- liament has told the govern- ment to recover the revenue from the casinos run in five- star hotels throughout the country within a month or close them down. The government still has to


recover Rs 193.59m (E2.04m) from five casinos: Casino Anna, Casino Royal, Casino Shangrilla, Casino Nepal and Casino Fulbari. It has recov- ered Rs 77.4m from other venues after a huge crack- down. With the five star hotels in which the casinos are located issued licences to operate the casinos, there is still some confusion over who is liable to pay tax if the casinos refuse although finance min- ister Surendra Pandey the hotels would be liable. The casino industry is also


being charged with a blatant violation of the law that is meant to keep local Nepalis


off the gaming floor. PAC secretary Som Bahadur Thapa, said: “The casinos have not been fol- lowing the law of the land and have been entertaining the Nepalis.” The PAC committee laid


blamed for the current prob- lems at the door of the Min- istry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, the body that issues the licence, claiming its stance in monitoring the casinos was laxidazical. The ministry has also been blamed for not monitoring whether the 475 hotels that it licenses are following the regulations laid out.


“Casinos’ licences have


been renewed repeatedly without proper regulation,” PAC observed, directing the ministry not to issue new licences without framing the rules.


Nepal has 10 casinos; Casino Royale located in the Hotel & Yeti, Casino Venus located in the Hotel Malla, Casino Rad located in the Hotel Radisson,


Casino


Grande located in the Hotel Pokhara Grande, Fulbari Casino located in the Hotel Fulbari, Casino Nepal located in the Hotel Soaltee, Casino Anna located in the Hotel De’l Annapurna, Casino


Everest located in the Hotel Everest, Casino Tara located in the Hotel Hyatt and Casino Shangrila located in the Hotel Shangrila.


The ministry also recently issued licences to operate mini-casinos at Hotel Vaishali in Thamel, Hotel Ratna in Biratnagar, Hotel Grande in Pokhara and Hotel Sneha in Nepalgunj.


The parliamentary com- mittee has also directed the government to allow the launch of online/internet or electronic gambling only after formulating proper laws and regulations to regu- late them.


Star City fined for serving player 42 drinks


glassfull AUSTRALIA


Australia’s Star City Casino has been fined after serving one customer 42 alcoholic drinks over a 17-hour period whilst he was playing poker on New Year’s Day 2009. Although the original fine


was $AU10,000, the Casino Liquor and Gaming Control Authority has since lessened the fine due to the casino’s previously exemplary


record in dealing with drunken customers. Apparently, it was not until 7am when the poker player had to vacate his seat following the closure of the card table that the casino realised the state of their player


Bar waitress Helen Mikhael-Ghanime explained: “He didn’t appear to be steady on his feet. He was dozing off at the table and the manager had to help


20 February 2011 • asia&oceanianews


him collect his chips so he could cash them in.” Mikhael-Ghanime lost her


job for her part in the inci- dent. The operator blamed a


lack of communication between bar staff, security staff and managers, for the problem although it also suggested that the nature of


poker itself was partly to blame. According to a document


leaked by the Star City Casino to the Casino Liquor and Gaming Control Author- ity:“The nature of poker is that players tend to be very controlled in their facial expressions and body move- ments. This level of control means that many of the visible signs that a person is affected by alcohol may be minimized.”


nal Affairs ruled that SkyCity had no grounds to withhold paying the jackpot despite its winner, 28-year-old Sothea Sinn, banning himself and his girlfriend from the casino in 2004.


Sinn, who said he thought the ban had expired, was taken into a room with a SkyCity guard when he tried to collect his winnings. SkyCity’s lawyer, Peter


Treacy, said the casino needed improved legislation to provide it with ‘legal teeth’ to strengthen its efforts to keep barred players out. “Our policies, we believe, are still absolutely right. The whole thrust of them is to protect those few people who shouldn’t be there from them- selves,” he said. “What’s dis- appointing is that the department now doesn’t seem to share our view of what the consequences of re- entry and breach of condi- tions should be.” Skycity’s spokeswoman Connie Sprague added: “There are lots of people on our gaming floor, and as strin- gent as our surveillance and our technology can be, it’s not possible for us to detect or stop every single person who has been excluded from entering the casino.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98