Forbes – Excuse the metaphor, but it’s always been a gamble to guess when Taiwan will start up its first casino. Voters in one county said no thanks in 2009 after a developer had bought land for a gaming resort. An American casino operator keenest to develop in another county has gone quiet after voters said OK to gambling. And Taiwan’s legislature still hasn’t passed the core enabling legislation that would allow casinos anywhere. But people in government expect movement this year, allowing Taiwan to open its first casino in 2019 and start vying with Singapore, the Philippines and even Macau…

The Globe and Mail – Asian countries are lining up to steal gaming business from heavyweight Macau. The tiny enclave on China’s south coast is the world’s gambling mecca: it took $38-billion (U.S.) in gaming revenue in 2012; hotels run at 87 per cent occupancy, according to official data, a shade better than Las Vegas. Yet casino operators are already looking for the next casino capital. Japan may fit the bill. Macau’s secret is a mix of geography, permissive government and tax. Compared to the special autonomous region, the Philippines is too far away to snag high-rolling Chinese gamblers. Singapore…

iGaming Business – California-based racecourse Betfair Hollywood Park has confirmed its closure after it was announced that the venue is to be converted into a residential and retail development. According to the Associated Press news agency, the track played host to its final horseracing event on Sunday, ending 75 years of racing at the venue. The track welcomed horseracing greats such as Seabiscuit, Zenyatta and Seattle Slew during its lifetime. Jack Van Berg, a Hall of Fame Trainer that has raced in California for 41 years, blamed other cities and the state itself for the track’s demise and said he…

Northwest Herald – Just four months after the Island Lake Village Board narrowly rejected video gambling, it’s taking a second look. With all the surrounding communities allowing video gaming machines, business owners such as Jerry DeLaurentis, the owner of Sideouts Bar & Eatery and the adjoining bowling alley 3-D Bowl, have argued they’re losing business. “Video gaming is here in Illinois,” DeLaurentis said. “It’s here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. We need it in our town because we need to survive.” When the board last voted on the idea, Village President Charles Amrich cast the deciding vote, killing the ordinance….

Macau Business Daily – Gaming bosses seem confident that growth in Macau’s casino revenue will be somewhere in the middle of the range of 10 percent to 20 percent next year because mainlanders will keep coming here to gamble. The chief executive of SJM Holdings Ltd, Ambrose So Shu Fai, expects casino gross gaming revenue to expand next year even though the base for comparison this year will be high. Hong Kong’s Chinese-language Apple Daily quoted Mr So as saying many mainlanders had yet to visit Macau, so mainland money would continue to be the principal driver of gaming revenue…

Albuquerque Journal – A proposed new gambling agreement between the Navajo Nation and the state was met in the 2013 legislative session with complaints about the last-minute timing and a cascade of other questions and concerns. The proposal will be back again in 2014, and it doesn’t appear the welcome will be any warmer. But the nation says it intends to stick with what it has negotiated, at least for now. “We love our compact,” said Navajo Nation Council Delegate Lorenzo Bates. “On our side of the street, this is how we want to do business,” he said. The agreement…