 |
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Gambling |
rffrydr
Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 16932
Location: Sunny California
|
 Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:05 pm Post subject: Gambling |
 |
|
Why wasn't this an original post? Guilt??
This IS buisness:
| Quote: | It has none of the glitter of a Las Vegas casino, but LiRishun is happy with the dingy gaming hall wherehe spends hours each day in the front line of China's gambling counter-revolution.
"This is good entertainment," said Mr Li, as he searched for trends in the winning numbers flashing up every five minutes on the Happy Pool hall's overhead television screens. "It offers a kind of hope. If you don't buy, you can't win."
Mr Li, an unemployed maker of traditional enamel pots, is playing keno, abingo-like game reputedly invented 2,000 years ago. Like all forms of gambling, it was banned after the 1949 Communist revolution.
Keno's return is part of a cautious re-embrace of gambling by a government keen to provide alternatives to the flourishing underground bookmakers and to find new sources of revenue.
While gambling is still officially illegal, Beijing has in recent years allowed sports and welfare lottery systems to introduce gaming products, including instant bingo games, betting on football and slot machine-style video games with cash prizes.
All the main types of gambling except casino table games are available in a legitimate form in China, says Wang Xuehong of Beijing University's centre for lottery studies.
Even taboos against games such as poker and mahjong are eroding. The Communist Youth League recently invested in an online poker company, though officials insist players will not be able to cash in virtual chips.
Entrepreneurs see huge potential for expanding the two-decade-old lottery systems, which raked in Rmb82bn (Pounds 5.4bn) in 2006 but are dwarfed by underground gambling sales estimated at more than Rmb700bn. Foreign companies are seeking to break into the market by supplying equipment or by earning commissions from lottery systems they supply.
Ladbrokes was an adviser for GreatGate Sports & Entertainment, which runs Happy Pool halls. The UK betting chain joined the Hong Kong-listed AGTech Holdings recently to provide new electronic games for the sports lottery.
Chinese gaming remains a risky business, however. Regulatory transparency is limited and local and central authorities tussle for influence over lotteries.
One Happy Pool manager says the company's 100 outlets are seen as an experiment by officials. The gaming halls' future depends on how government policy develops. Beijing, he says, sees well-managed commercial gaming as a way to preserve national interest and social stability. "I'm optimistic about the prospects."
For the moment, however, underground bookies seem to have the upper hand.
Ms Wang, of the lottery studies centre, says legitimate gaming is hedged by often "ridiculous" limitations, including arbitrary rules on how lottery numbers should be drawn.
Illegal betting operations offer better products and innovative services such as home delivery of winnings. "One thing (we need to do) is to make our games more attractive and enjoyable," she said.
Happy Pool's keno game gives back only 50 to 55 per cent of sales to players in the form of winnings, compared with 80 per cent or so in western markets. At least 35 per cent is supposed to go into sport or welfare funds.
Deep misgivings remain, however, about the spread of legal gambling. Even Ms Wang, a supporter of liberalised gaming, says the Chinese can be particularly vulnerable to gambling's allure. Enthusiasm for betting has rebounded "like a stretched string" after the long ban.
Tales abound of hooked punters losing large sums. But Mr Li has little time for those who condemn gambling as a socially corrosive vice. He wants to see more games and bigger winnings. "You don't have to play if you don't want to," he said.
Source Citation: "China has flutter on gambling.(WORLD NEWS)." The Financial Times (June 2, 2007): |
And more:
http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=china+punt+gambling&y=5&aje=true&x=19&id=070312001010[/quote]
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| Author |
Gambling Replies |
HenryTo
Site Admin
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 11735
Location: Los Angeles, California
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rffrydr
Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 16932
Location: Sunny California
|
| Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Keeping it in the family, Stanley Ho's new grandson--and he's fat:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43189298
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rffrydr
Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 16932
Location: Sunny California
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 12:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Proves once again you can throw "per-capita" calculations out the window--but still:
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rffrydr
Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 16932
Location: Sunny California
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Singapore's two new casinos set to outstrip the Strip in two easy years--despite basement entrances and penalty entries:
http://www.economist.com/node/18231454?story_id=18231454
| Quote: | | Thanks to low taxes—roughly 17% compared with Macau’s 39%—Singapore’s casinos are fabulously profitable. Mr Fischer reckons that RWS will earn $2 billion this year, enough to pay back the costs of building the entire 47-hectare site in little more than two years. Between April and November last year the two resorts paid S$420m in taxes. This year the island’s economy is expected to grow by 6-7%, of which the resorts will account for a quarter. Singapore can’t believe its luck |
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rffrydr
Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 16932
Location: Sunny California
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:20 am Post subject: |
|
|
One of many redemption stories china's been behind. The "other RIO":
I think it's safe to say that chinese demand "saved Vegas"--both directly and indirectly. The free-spending tourists (esp in "counter-cyclical" holidays like Xmas) and the dividends that come in from Macau. No doubt there was chinese component to this debt rally last fall and no doubt Kerkorian can now die with a small wry smile--he has been reborn!
| Quote: |
Casino companies in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch gaming index have $5.56 billion maturing through 2013 and $15.74 billion due through 2015, Bloomberg data show.
“Prices have increased significantly while operating results have generally been just OK,” said Henry Pizzutello, chief investment officer in Greenwich, Connecticut, at Centaur Performance Group LLC, which has about $175 million in assets under management and owns MGM debt. “The risk-reward is less attractive now.” |
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/bond-investors-bet-on-black-as-harrah-s-leads-casino-rally-credit-markets.html
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rffrydr
Moderator
Joined: 30 Oct 2005
Posts: 16932
Location: Sunny California
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 1:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
The business of America is business; the business of china is....?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/20eb4ca6-d861-11de-b63a-00144feabdc0.html
Poor western banks with nothing to do.... Poorer chinese banks who, as bookrunner, became snared in their own game. For every trade a contract...now that's reform!
Like it or not, guys, this is IN our markets.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Please log in to view without the ad banners |
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Statistics
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
