Las Vegas Review Journal – Anytime the investment community gets downwind of a potential hiccup in the Macau gaming market, a slash-and-burn mentality sets in. The victims are often MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. The Las Vegas-based companies have subsidiaries listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and those stock prices usually take a beating. Sometimes, the companies’ share prices on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq suffer collateral damage. In April, skittish investors worried about deteriorating liquidity in the high-end wagering credit market. A month earlier, it was fear that gamblers would…

Card Player – The Crown casino in Australia is going after a high roller for allegedly stiffing the house on a massive gambling debt of $6.8 million, according to the Herald Sun. The casino said that a 13-day gambling binge left the high roller, Zhao Li, with the debt, but that he neglected or refused to pay it despite “repeated requests” by Crown. According to Crown, back in October they granted him $13 million in credit. Crown Resorts, which is owned by billionaire James Packer, might want some of that money back as it looks to invest in properties in…

KTRH – The Texas Legislature doesn’t meet this year, but that hasn’t stopped the growing pressure on state lawmakers for legalized casino gambling in Texas.  Advocates are pushing lawmakers to approve a public vote on whether to allow casino-style gaming in the Lone Star State, arguing it would be a huge boost to the state’s economy, tax base, and overall competitiveness.  Detractors argue that the state’s economy is just fine as it is, and that legalized gambling would bring a new set of “costs” related to higher crime and societal problems associated with gaming. Among the biggest advocates of legalized…

Gambling 911 – Paddy Power, the United Kingdom’s third largest bookmaker, suffered two of its worst weekends in football on record this year.  The company’s stock has dropped 4% and CEO Patrick Kennedy has announced his departure in 2015.  Kennedy has been CEO of Paddy Power since 2006 with the betting firm enjoying huge success throughout much of his tenure. Paddy Power, to its credit, has enjoyed a strong growth in sales during the first four months of this year.  But two weekends in particular – January 11-13th and March 22nd-23rd of this year- managed to cause significant enough damage…

Reuters – Moves towards legalising casinos in Japan have reignited a debate over the legal status of pachinko, with a potential new tax mooted for a $200 billion gaming industry that has existed for decades on the fringes of the law. Pachinko, a slot-cum-pinball form of gambling, is a national obsession, with one in six Japanese playing the game, though that number is declining as younger generations prefer to play games on their mobile phones. With past links to organized crime, pachinko is not classified as gambling, which is illegal in Japan. Instead it’s treated as an amusement activity like…

Cards Chat – For many years, industry analysts pointed to California as being the gateway state for online poker to become legalized. After all, if the most populous state could pull it off, many believe that would lead to a domino effect for other states to get on board. But California’s Native American tribes who operate a monopoly for casinos have long opposed legalizing online gaming and online poker. Now, in a reversal of that long-held stance, the seven most influential tribes’ leaders have testified that they are ready to make it happen, assuming certain stipulations be met. For many…