casino news

Las Vegas Sands offered a peek on Thursday at a $US150-million Cirque du Soleil show that will open at the Venetian Macau, the casino operator's latest high-stakes bet that it can get visitors to the Asian city to do more than gamble.

The dreamy "Zaia" features dancers and acrobats depicting a story of a girl who ventures into outer space in Asia's first permanent Cirque du Soleil installation. It has an initial contract of 10 years.

Macao's six gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaires Wednesday sat face-to-face for the first time to discuss gaming market regulations in a special meeting initiated by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government.

High level representatives of the six gaming operators, including local gaming magnate Stanley Ho and Las Vegas Sands' Asian Region President Steven Weaver, attended the meeting with top government officials.

Gambling revenue at Las Vegas Sands Corp's (LVS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) second Macau casino, the Venetian Macao, is expected to recover in February after a downturn in January caused by snow storms in China and a shake-up in the region's system for bringing in big-spending gamblers, the company said on Monday.

The amount of money gambled by "mass market" customers fell to $273 million in January from $290 million in December, Stephen Weaver, vice president of the company's Asia operations, said during a webcast meeting with analysts and investors.

MACAU -- As reported by the Australia Daily Telegraph: "Uber-rich VIPs are now gambling $8 billion a month in James Packer's once problem-plagued Crown Macau casino, somewhat reviving its fortunes.

"...The turnaround is due to its lucrative arrangement with junket promoters AMA International, which is ferrying in the wealthy from nearby Hong Kong and mainland China.

"On the Crown Macau VIP tables that AMA promotes, $187 million is being wagered every day.

HONG KONG: MGM Mirage, the world's second largest casino operator, and the daughter of billionaire Stanley Ho are betting their Macau venture will grab a slice of the VIP market, which nets about two-thirds of the Chinese city's gambling revenue.

The US$1.25bil, 600-room MGM Grand Macau casino, due to open on Dec 18, would benefit from its position on the waterfront in Macau's city centre, near established VIP venues Wynn Macau, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd's StarWorld and her father's Grand Lisboa, Pansy Ho told reporters at a briefing in the southern Chinese city yesterday.

E ach new casino in Macau comes with a new round of superlatives. The Venetian, opened in August, claims to be the world's second largest building and boasts the biggest ever casino floor.

Hong Kong's Galaxy Entertainment Group, which is run by Australians, is busy shipping in sand for the world's largest rooftop beach. The wave pool, which will sit above the casino, is expected to be bigger than a football field.

James Packer's Crown Macau sells itself as the city's first ever six-star resort and the tallest building on Taipa Island.

Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. announces the 1st Asian Casino Affiliate Convention. It is scheduled for November 28-29, 2007 at the recently built Venetian Hotel & Casino in Macau, PR China.

The Casino Affiliate Convention gathers both high revenue producing super affiliates as well as some of the most astute affiliate managers at one location. The event covers affiliate marketing, online advertising and mobile opportunities to Asia for gaming affiliate webmasters and operators.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Private equity firm Permira has agreed to buy a fifth of Macau hotel and casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group <0027.HK> for nearly $840 million (420 million pounds), staking a claim in the world's largest gambling arena.

Permira said on Thursday it would pay HK$6.5 billion (412 million pounds) for a 20 percent stake in Galaxy, which plans to build the world's second-largest casino.

When the Macau government opened its gambling market to foreign investment a few years ago, it sought companies that could help transform the Chinese seaport from a seedy outpost into a top luxury resort destination where gambling is but one of many popular attractions.

The former Portuguese colony wanted to accomplish what it had taken about 40 years to achieve in Las Vegas, where at least half of the Strip's revenue is generated beyond the casino floor.

HONG KONG — Las Vegas Sands Corp. will open its second hotel in Macau next month as part of the company’s latest expansion in the southern Chinese gambling enclave, it said Friday.

The Sands Macao Hotel will be the second casino hotel opened by the chairman of Las Vegas Sands, American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who hopes to transform Macau into a top vacation spot.

The casino operator opened its massive new casino and hotel resort The Venetian last month in the former Portuguese colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1999.