Bloomberg – Wynn Macau Ltd. fell the most in more than two years in Hong Kong trading, leading declines among operators of China’s only legal casinos, amid concern that a crackdown on illegal money transfers will pare demand. The unit of Wynn Resorts Ltd. slumped 8.5 percent, its biggest decline since October 2011, at the close in Hong Kong trading. MGM China Holdings Ltd. (2282) dropped 8.2 percent, while Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. fell 7.6 percent. China is cracking down on the use of hand-held card-swipers within casino resorts amid concerns that tens of billions of yuan in illicit funds…

The Telegraph – Wynn Macau Ltd. reported first-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates as billionaire Steve Wynn’s casino drew more premium mass-market customers in the world’s largest gambling hub. The stock climbed. The company rose 4.1 percent to HK$31.80 (£2.436), the biggest gain since April 1, at the close in Hong Kong trading. The city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.6 percent. Wynn Macau, which is building the $4 billion Wynn Palace resort to add to its sole casino in the city, has been reallocating gambling tables to serve the so-called premium mass gamblers who bet in cash. They provide…

Reuters – Macau, the world’s casino capital, raked in 31.3 billion patacas ($3.92 billion) in gambling revenue in April thanks to strong spending by Chinese visitors keen to place their bets in the country’s only legal casino hub. Gambling revenue growth in Macau, a special administrative region like neighbouring Hong Kong, was up 10.6 percent in April, beating analyst estimates of 6-8 percent growth. A Portuguese colony until 1999, Macau earns the equivalent of Las Vegas’ annual haul in less than two months. Annual revenues reached a record $45 billion in 2013, elevating the tiny territory high above rival gaming…

Game Spot – The eSports scene continues to grow. Major League Gaming announced plans this week to build the world’s first “MLG Arena,” a 15,000-seat stadium on Hengqin Island, which is off the coast of popular gambling hot-spot Macau. MLG announced the news Thursday, in partnership with Lai Fung Holdings Limited and eSun Holdings Limited. The new MLG Arena, located in what the company is calling the “V-Zone,” is planned as the centerpiece of an $18 billion “Creative Culture City” initiative for the Hengqin Island. In addition to operating as the site of the first-ever MLG Arena, the V-Zone is…

San Francisco Gate – An actor in a plush panda suit bounds across the stage with the enthusiasm of a minor league baseball mascot, flanked by acrobats atop bamboo poles, stone-faced kung-fu fighters and over-the-top visual effects rarely seen off the Las Vegas Strip. “PANDA!” — the first Chinese-produced show to take up a long-term residency on the famous tourist corridor — also takes pains to weave in Chinese folklore and motifs, including sweeping views of an ultra-modern Beijing skyline on giant LCD screens. The loose, wordless plot needs no translation. The subtext doesn’t either: A growing, confident China wants respect, not…

Bloomberg – MGM China Holdings Ltd., the Macau casino operator, said first-quarter profit jumped by a third as mass-market gambling increased. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, increased to $257 million from $193 million a year earlier, according to a statement yesterday from MGM Resorts International (MGM), the company’s Las Vegas-based parent. That compares with the median estimate of $258.5 million from six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The numbers exclude a branding fee of $16 million this year and $13 million last year. MGM China will continue to redeploy more gaming tables to mass-market gamblers,…

Forbes – Slumped in white oversize chairs in an enormous suite at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, Australian casino billionaire James Packer and Hollywood movie director Brett Ratner are exhausted. They look like two hungover frat boys after a hard night—but these guys haven’t been partying. They’re jet-lagged after visiting Russell Crowe’s film set in South Australia, watching Chinese tennis star Li Na win the women’s Australian Open in Melbourne and toe-touching in the Philippines to open Asia’s first Nobu restaurant at a new casino resort in Manila. It sounds like a pleasure cruise from Packer’s earlier life as…

Reuters – Chinese gambling fever has crossed the East China Sea. Shares in Lippo jumped 36 percent after a consortium including the Hong Kong-listed property group won approval to build a large-scale casino in Korea. The prospect of luring punters from northern China explains the excitement. But just as in the gambling hub of Macau, investors may be pushing their luck. The news appears to have caught investors by surprise. The consortium of Lippo, Singapore’s OUE and Las Vegas casino operator Caesars had a previous application to build Korea’s first foreign-run gambling resort rejected last year. When it’s opened in…