Want China Times – After years of smooth sailing, casino-related stocks on the Hong Kong market have finally seen their wild party coming to an end, with the eight major casino stocks seeing their market value nosedive by HK$191.5 billion (US$24.7 billion) this year as of May 12, reports Guangzhou’s 21st Century Business Herald. What triggered the crash was concerted action between China’s central government and the Macao government in cracking down on underground gambling of Chinese mainlanders at Macao casinos. High rollers from mainland China account for two thirds of the region’s gambling income, and Macau has become a…

The Japan Times – Japan’s government is considering legalizing gambling in Japan, one of the world’s last untapped markets for gambling. Two billionaire casino operators are pushing to open casino resorts and turn Japan into the third-largest center for gambling after the United States and Macau. Gambling will bring problems. The examples of the U.S. and the United Kingdom should be sufficient to show that legalized gambling exacerbates problems. The evidence gathered from those two countries over the last several decades of removing prohibitions on gambling shows huge increases in gambling addiction, crime, personal debt and mental health issues, while…

A University of California, Berkeley law school graduate was sentenced to probation on Monday for beheading an exotic bird at the Flamingo is Las Vegas back in 2012. Justin Teixeira received the four years of probation after completing a prison boot camp program that consisted of 190 days of counseling, educational and physical training programs, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. His sentence also includes 16 hours a month of unpaid work at an animal shelter. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the felony last year for decapitating a 14-year-old helmeted guinea fowl at the Flamingo’s Wildlife Habitat. Thanks to his deal, the…

CNN – While Japan’s economy continues to falter, lawmakers are betting big that the casino industry can swoop in and lift it out of the doldrums. Gambling is currently illegal in Japan, though many play pachinko, a quintessentially Japanese game often likened to pinball. While cash prizes are forbidden, many pachinko parlors work on a gray economy where prizes are exchanged — off-premises — for hard currency. This week, a major conference focusing on the future of the industry opened in Tokyo. It comes at a time when key legislation is being pushed through Japan’s parliament that could pave the…

Providence Journal – The  owners of the private Twin River casino are seeking legislative permission to give up to $75,000 in “interest-free, unsecured credit” on state-sponsored gambling. The bill was introduced last Thursday by new House Finance Chairman Raymond Gallison, D-Bristol.  It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, but came to light on the same day the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on a  second, tangential bill to protect unlucky gamblers from having a Rhode Island place a lien on their property  for an unpaid gambling debt. The preamble to the bill allowing Twin River to…

Deutsche Bank agreed on Thursday to sell Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas, which is one of the town’s most expensive resorts. The property will be sold to the Blackstone Group for about $1.73 billion in cash. The deal will finally end a long and painful foray by Deutsche Bank into the casino business, after it foreclosed on the resort’s developer, Bruce Eichner, in January 2008. It was one of many, as banks moved to take over troubled gambling properties at the onset of the financial crisis. Since then, the firm has tried to make the best of its new property,…

Las Vegas Sun – They’re buying into Las Vegas like never before. They’re pumping cash into major resort projects and big stage productions on the Strip and they’re purchasing single-family homes in quiet neighborhoods. Who are they? Chinese investors. And they’re propelling Las Vegas’ recovery from the recession. They are quietly helping to bankroll the $415-million SLS Las Vegas, a nightclub-themed resort set to replace the Rat Pack stomping grounds of the Sahara and shake up the struggling north end of the Strip. A quarter of the investment came from foreign bank accounts, mostly in China. Money from China is…

Bloomberg – Japanese lawmakers supporting a bill to legalize casinos said it would be tough to pass the law by next month, a sign that the opportunity to link approval with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo is diminishing. “Passing the casino bill in the current session of parliament will be tough,” Sakihito Ozawa, a lower house member, said today at a forum in Tokyo. Japan’s parliament, or Diet, meets until June 22 and the bill must be sent to the upper house at least 20 days before the session ends, he said. The country’s ruling party and business leaders including…