As reported by Bloomberg: “Philippine billionaire Andrew Tan and Star Cruises Ltd. today opened their $700 million online gambling Resorts World Manila, which will double the tables in the city and may boost its internet casino revenue more than 120 percent.

“‘Our expectation is this will contribute to earnings within the first year of casino bonuses operations,’ said Kingson Sian, president of Alliance Global Group Inc., the holding company of Tan, the Philippines’ fourth-richest person. The venture will tap Star Cruises’ network of more than 2.5 million customers and will bus in people from outside Manila, he said.

“The casino’s opening in a former air force base is another step in the Philippines’ effort to tap Asia’s gambling boom as it could gain revenue from the region’s high rollers, Macquarie Group Ltd. analysts said. While growth has slowed in Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub.

“…The venture, Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., opened the first floor of a three-level casino at a complex that will include hotels and a shopping mall. Resorts World Manila may earn 21 billion pesos ($430 million) in gambling revenue next year, compared with the city’s 17 billion pesos in 2008, according to Macquarie.

“…Resorts World Manila, located in front of the capital’s new airport terminal, will draw 11.1 million visitors and raise $315 million in gambling taxes over three years, Sian said…”

When the Eastside Cannery opened a year ago today, the cracks in the economy were beginning to show casino games.

But even during the recession in internet gambling, the $250 million hotel-casino on Boulder Highway has been able to attract a loyal customer base, principal owner online casinos Bill Paulos said.

“As we mature as a property, we will certainly grow that niche,” Paulos said. “We are going to continue to flesh out what our customer wants. In times like these, we need to listen to our customers more instead of less.”

The property will have a low-key celebration for the anniversary with free cake and champagne from noon until 6 p.m. today, and from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The property will also have free slot tournaments and free shirts tonight.

The “newness” of the Eastside Cannery has lingered for customers because it is the first new hotel and casino along that stretch of Boulder Highway since Boulder Station opened in 1994. The area includes Sam’s Town and Arizona Charlie’s Boulder.

One of the biggest challenges has been to “cut through” all the promotions offered by both locals competitors and Strip operators trying to lure area residents, owners said.

The current economic atmosphere has led to a consumer’s market in the casino industry, with companies offering room, food and show specials and large discounts.

“There’s no question, it’s tough out there,” Paulos said. “Everybody’s in the same boat. Everybody’s now throwing stuff against the wall hoping something will stick. The consumer now, it’s their market. They can put a calendar on the wall and mark down every special there is at each casino and go to each one.”

The Eastside Cannery is on the Boulder Strip, the third- largest gaming sector by revenue in Nevada.

Gaming revenue in that area was down 2.84 percent for the second quarter ended June 30, and down nearly 10 percent the previous 12 months ended June 30, a report from the Gaming Control Board shows.

The occupancy rates for the 307-room hotel have been “wonderful,” Paulos said, but he added that the average daily room rate has suffered due to pressure from area properties and along the Strip.

“Our (room rates) absolutely have suffered a bit,” Paulos said. “But not nearly as much as I would have thought. We really feel really good about where we are.”

The company is privately owned by a joint venture between Paulos, co-founder William Wortman and Oaktree Capital Management.

The company continues to work on growth plans for the Eastside Cannery, and is finishing plans for a parking garage on the 27-acre site.

The Eastside Cannery features a 16-story hotel tower, a 20,000-square-foot ballroom with meeting spaces, a 450-seat bingo hall, six restaurants, and a pool, spa and sports book.

The future looks good for the Eastside Cannery’s owners, Cannery Casino Resort, Paulos said.

The company recently reduced its debt to $575 million from $860 million using proceeds from a sale of 24.5 percent of the company to Crown Ltd. Crown also paid $50 million to suspend a buyout of Cannery.

Wortman has been out of town this week exploring opportunities for the company to grow, Paulos said.

“That is because of the financial situation we’re in, Bill and I are able to devote most of our time to going out and expanding the brand,” Paulos said.

Elpidio Bustira arrived early at the Bally’s sports book Wednesday morning, happy to be back after a online casinos forced five-month hiatus.

The book’s owner, Harrah’s Entertainment, closed the book in late March to save online gambling money, sending loyal Bally’s customers, such as Bustira, next door to Paris Las Vegas.

Although he liked Paris Las Vegas’ sports book, Bustira missed the familiar faces and surroundings at Bally’s 256-seat book. He’s glad the facility is reopening in time for internet casinos football season.

“It is more alive here during football season than any other sports book,” said Bustira, a Bally’s customer since 2003 who also bets on horse racing.

The sports book is reopening two weeks before the National Football League season kicks off on Sept. 10 so Bally’s can promote the book’s return, said Frank Kunovic III, special games manager for Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

Bally’s is lining up celebrity appearances by sports figures and promotions with local vendors to bring attention to the book’s return.

Three longtime customers were at the book when it reopened at 8 a.m., Kunovic said, adding that some customers may not be aware that the book was ever closed.

Bally’s hired back five of the nine workers laid off in March; the other four found work elsewhere or moved. Four new workers were hired.

Bally’s also took the time during the closing to do some minor remodeling at the bar and a total remodeling of the VIP room overlooking the sports book.

New televisions were added in some areas, updated in others.

Although the company saved money on operations, how much was lost in revenues is hard to gauge. Harrah’s Entertainment doesn’t report its sports book winnings separately from casino revenues.

Clark County sports books, however, won $116.7 million on non-horse-racing event bets last year, control board figures show; 28.9 percent came from football bets and 32.8 percent came from basketball bets.

The sports book was closed for the majority of the baseball season, which accounted for 17.9 percent of 2008 sports books’ winnings in Clark County.

The counters were also closed during the bulk of the horse-racing season, which generated $70.9 million in winnings last year.

Bill Zimmer, vice president and casino manager of Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas, said the closing was a business decision that was right for the time.

“Keep in mind, it is an extremely slow period (for sports betting) coupled with a real tough economy,” Zimmer said. “The fact that we had Paris, we were able to continue to service our guests. So from their standpoint it was not a problem.”

An annual closing of the Bally’s sports book during the summer will not happen, he added.

“It is not something we are planning on closing every summer,” Zimmer said. “I want to make that clear.”

The online gambling weekend saw nine survivors from an original entry field of 429 in the 2009 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour main casino event commence battle in Macau.

The final table comprised Dermot Blain, Mike Kim, Daoxing ‘Boa Boa’ Chen, Darkhan Botabayev, Pontus Kers, Jicheng Su, Dbinder Singh, Brandon Demes and Stefan Hjorthall, with the last-named the first to be eliminated soon after the casino games action started.

US pro Brandon Demes went out in eighth, busted by Dermor Blain who went on to send Canadian player Dbinder Singh to the rail in seventh.

Daoxing ‘Boa Boa’ Chen was responsible for the next elimination when he sent Jicheng Su home in sixth place, and Swedish pro Pontus Kers was the first to see six-figure money, taken out in fifth place for a cool $114 464 by Darkhan Botabayev. The Swede’s ROI was particularly noteworthy – he had won entry to the tourney on a $20 re-buy satellite at PokerStars!

It looked as if the touney would go to a strongly performing Chen, until he had an expensive clash with Botabayev that set him back. Chen soon after had the satisfaction of eliminating Darkhan Botabayev in fourth place for a take-home of $166 497.

Three handed, it was Chen, Kim and Blain with Kim playing aggressively. However it was Blain who decided who would play in the heads up when he knocked Chen out of the event in a very creditable third place for $239 327.

Heads up it was Mike Kim vs. Dermot Blain, with the former holding a massive 8 to 1 lead. It looked like a foregone conclusion but Irishman Blain stood his ground and played a game of such disciplined and controlled aggression that he was able to wrest the game from his opponent. Kim went to the rail in second place for $484 999, leaving Blain to take the trophy and the main prize of $541 089.

The return to work from the summer recess of the Malta Parliament will see a renewed drive to complete debates on a new set of casino gambling regulations aimed at regulating video lottery terminals and other internet gambling arcades that have mushroomed around the island, reports the Malta Independent newspaper.

Police have recently conducted a number of illegal gambling raids on the Mediterranean island and the official opposition party says it is time for the government to quickly implement new regulations controlling the establishment of online gambling outlets, in the process clarifying the situation and raising tax revenues.

Shadow Finance Minister Charles Mangion told the the Malta Independent: “There must be no further delays in the implementation of regulations for the gambling and Video Lottery Terminals sector.

“We have been calling for the government to regulate the sector for a long time since a level playing field must be established for the operators while the authorities watch over the social interest of gamblers,” he said.

Mangion said that he believes that gamblers, even in the case of Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), must be over the age of 25, as is the norm with local casinos.

Noting the police action and subsequent court applications for the return of gambling equipment, Mangion said that the police actions were the result of the government’s mismanagement and bad administration. No such action would have been necessary had the market been regularised before gambling arcades sprang up, he remarked.

Owners of the gambing operations concerned were critical of the Malta licensing agency – the LGA – which they felt had misled them in presenting a VLT Regulations Roll-Out Plan in October 2007. Besides proposing regulations following a two-year-long consultation process with stakeholders, the plan said that by the end of 2008, all machines had to be in line with regulations and compatible with the central monitoring system that LGA was supposed to create.

One operator invested some Euro 5.5 million in new machinery and the sector had 400 employees up to the first week of August. However, LGA did not have the necessary framework set up and the government had not presented the proposals to Parliament by the end of 2008. It appeared as if everyone had forgotten the deadlines involved, now brought into sharp focus by official action.

Operators further claim that the now departed former LGA CEO, Mario Galea had told them that a general exemption applied because of the delay in legislature, however the law did not allow Galea to give such an exemption, which was only given by word of mouth.

Gambling arcade operators now await the regulations, which Finance Minister Tonio Fenech promised to present to Parliament following the summer recess.