It’s Viva BrisVegas as Queensland unveils plans for up to three new mega casinos in a bid to rake in high-rolling Asian players. Premier Campbell Newman has called for expressions of interest for a second Brisbane casino as part of a redevelopment of the government precinct. He says Macau’s gambling houses and Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands casino wowed him on a recent tour of Asia. Mr Newman is convinced that building a mega resort style-casino, and potentially another two in other parts of the state, is the best way to compete with other destinations fighting for Asian players. “Our…

International Business Times – The glitzy casinos of Macau, a gambler’s paradise just off mainland China, saw a surge in gambling revenue over the week-long Chinese national holiday from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 known as Golden Week, according to a Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) research note. Daily gross gambling revenues for the first six days of October were up 30 percent from the year before. In total, gamblers spent about 10.6 billion Macau patacas ($1.32 billion) in one week. On a daily basis, that’s 85 percent higher than daily revenues during the first nine months of the year. Revenue is…

When New York voters go to the polls next month, they will be asked about a gambling referendum. Specifically, if the state constitution should be amended to permit up to seven casinos. Despite heavy news coverage about the plan, a voter still might ask: “Doesn’t New York already have casinos?” Yes, it does. New York has more than a dozen racetrack casinos or Indian casinos. Gambling has been here for some time. Because of that, we support the gambling referendum and a constitutional amendment. We believe the positive impact on economic development outweighs any concern over any potential increase in…

Card Player – One of the leaders of the firm that saw its subsidiary offer the first fully legal real-money online poker game in the United States has decided to step down. Station Casinos Executive Vice President Kevin Kelley reportedly resigned last month. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Kelly was an executive at Station Casinos for a decade prior to leaving in 2003. He had stints with Hard Rock Las Vegas and Las Vegas Sands Corp. before returning to Stations in 2008. In April of this year, Ultimate Poker, an offshoot of Station Casinos, launched real-money online poker in…

Macau Business Daily – Loss-making Macau junket investor Amax Holdings Ltd says its attempt to operate a casino in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is back on the negotiating table. Amax said in a filing on September 19 “the parties could not compromise on finalising the terms of a formal sale and purchase agreement”. Now Amax says in a Hong Kong filing yesterday the proposal is “subject to further negotiation” and the deadline for talks has been extended until November 30 “or such other date as may be agreed”. In August an external auditor said in the firm’s annual…

Bloomberg – Australia’s Queensland state may issue as many as three new casino licenses as it seeks to spur tourism with integrated resorts modeled after Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. The state will welcome applications for redevelopment of a riverfront site in central Brisbane that includes an existing casino operated by Echo Entertainment Group Ltd. (EGP), and consider allowing two more licenses elsewhere in the state, Premier Campbell Newman said today in an e-mailed statement. The move challenges Echo, which has three of Queensland’s four current licenses and accounted for 97 percent of casino spending in the…