Global Casino BOOM

Here’s three articles to read about Taiwan’s Penghu Island. Little by little this seems to be making progress. This could be the next Asian shoe to drop.

- Liu calls for casino gambling legalization

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan called yesterday for legalizing casino gambling on Taiwan’s offshore islands, in what some considered to be the first concrete step towards building gambling facilities on islands outside the Taiwan proper

- Taiwan to assess potential gambling industry

The government will release an assessment report by December on whether to develop the gambling industry in Taiwan, and the project is assessed as feasible, priority will most likely be given to the outlying islands to open this type of business, the country’s top economic planner said yesterday.

- Taiwan considers opening gambling business

The government will release an assessment report by December on whether to develop the gambling industry in Taiwan, and if it is assessed as feasible, priority will most likely be given to the outlying islands to open this type of business, the country’s top economic planner said yesterday.

Chen Tain-jy, chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said that the outlying island county of Penghu, with a view to boosting its economy, has long demanded the legalization of the gambling industry and has been seeking permission to develop gambling as a business there.

This post is about a planned multi-billion Las Vegas Strip mega-resort, so it could only be about one thing.  You guessed it - delayed.

Kansas Speedway and The Cordish Company’s (Kansas Entertainment LLC) proposed 1.5 million
square-foot, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will include a 300-room luxury hotel;
a state-of-the-art casino with 3,000 slot machines and 140 gaming tables;
275,000 square-feet of destination retail, dining and entertainment
including a live music venue; first-class resort amenities; and extensive
meeting and convention facilities. With a development cost over $700
million, with no public incentives associated with this project, the Hard
Rock Hotel & Casino will provide the community with an economic benefit of
$4.86 billion over 20 years.

As part of their proposal, Kansas Speedway announced International
Speedway Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select Market: ISCA; OTC Bulletin
Board: ISCB) (”ISC”) will petition NASCAR for a second NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series date for the track if Kansas Speedway and The Cordish Company are
awarded the casino management contract for Wyandotte County (Kan.).  Read more »

That makes sense I guess.  If you’re going to have a casino on the beach, you might as well make it beach themed.  Or even better, “beach house” themed.

In this , Pinnacle Entertainment discussed their plans for their yet unnamed $1.5 to $2.0 billion Atlantic City resort casino that has been on hold since February because of the, yep you guessed it, credit crisis.  Read more »

Harrah’s has announced that they will be slowing down the construction of their Margaritaville casino in Biloxi due to tightening credit markets and an economic slowdown.   Here is the webcam for Margaritaville casino in Biloxi in case you want to see how the construction is (slowly) going.

Most recent news from August 9th:  Read more »

Interesting article about Penghu Island and its quest to be the newest Asian casino destination:

For many residents on Taiwan proper, Penghu is a haven from the stress of work and city life. But while the outlying islands are currently famed for squid fishing, snorkeling, coral reefs, spectacular basalt columns and tranquil villages, they may one day be better known for casinos.

Over the past two decades, Penghu, an island county located in the center of the Taiwan Strait, has assiduously lobbied the central government and the Legislature for the legalization of the gambling industry.

Consisting of 90 islets and with a population of 90,000, Penghu fears marginalization and has pinned its economic hopes on attracting visitors with games of skill and chance.  Read more »

I apologize for not having written anything in the past two weeks.  I really blame it on two things:

1) Not a lot of new announcements.  I do have a list of things that Ive been keeping track of and I’ll get around to posting them probably this weekend, so stay tuned.  But overall, nothing too exciting so dont get your hopes up.

2) The gaming industry has just gotten downright depressing lately.  Im losing track of all the projects that are being canceled, dismantled, delayed, etc.  It seems like we are truly witnessing a Global Casino BUST (I dare someone to register that domain name).  Ive lost my enthusiasm for all the great things being planned, built and discussed aroud the world.  I know things go in cycles, so hopefully we’re near the trough of this global slowdown and things will pick up again.  Sooner or later the credit markets will open up, projects will get financed, companies and governments will get greedy all over again and start planning new mega casino resorts, and the cycle will repeat

Thanks for your patience.  Maybe a few kind words of encouragement will get me out of this funk.

Here is an article about non-gaming hotels being built in Atlantic City.  The article talks in some detail about the Chelsea Hotel which Ive mentioned before.  Read more »

Check out my ManilaBayCasinos.com blog for the details.

Its been a few months since Vietnam’s Ho Tram Strip news really broke and grabbed everyone’s attention. The gaming world has changed quite a bit since then, as you can all see by the plunge in stock prices of all the big Macau and Las Vegas casino companies.

When I came across this article I was hoping it wouldnt be a generic account of what the Ho Tram Strip’s plans are, and thankfully it wasnt. I was glad to see that it was an interview and that the reporter started the piece with the most pressing question on my mind:

When asked how he managed to get an investment certificate to build the US$4.2-billion Asian Coast Development Ltd. casino and beach resort complex in Communist Vietnam — one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in Asia — Michael Aymong smiles and says: “Simple. You just have to want to try.”

I would’ve like to have heard an answer that was a bit more definitive, but in today’s credit markets, that is probably the most honest and realistic answer.

One other quote that was mentioned in the article is the developer’s vision for the Ho Tram Strip: Read more »

Full Press Release 

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an aricle about plans for a really big, exciting renovation at the old Sahara casino.  I wrote about it at my Vegas blog, Daily Dose of Vegas, so click on it to check out the details and see what Ive got to say.

Just wanted to bring to your attention the groundbreaking casino floor layout at the upcoming Cosmopolitan Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.  I wrote about it on my new blog DailyDoseofVegas.com if you’re interested.

Infrastructural works for Universal Studios Singapore will start in earnest today with the award of a S$705 million contract by Resorts World at Sentosa to a subsidiary of one of China’s biggest construction conglomerates, the China Metallurgical Corporation (MCC) Group.

hina Jingye Engineering Corporation Limited (Singapore Branch) will take on the general building works of Universal Studios Singapore, which include structural buildings, facades, walkways and an amphitheatre.
Universal Studios Singapore’s 24 attractions, designed and prefabricated by renowned theme- park ride manufacturers worldwide, will also be installed under the coordination of China Jingye.  Read more »

It doesnt matter where you are, if you want to build a casino I can guarantee you one thing - opposition, and lots of it.  Penghu Island is no different as we see in this article.  Oh yeah, and the opposition will be very skeptical too:  Read more »