We’re still a long way from requests for proposals for Japanese megaresorts but one source is already tapping Las Vegas Sands as a finalist. (Hardly a radical prediction, it’s true.) The tip comes from Morningstar Investment Management Asia 
analyst Chelsey Tam, by way of Asia Gaming Brief. In a case of them that has gets, Sands’ existing portfolio of resorts is cited as a contributory factor. One might add that Japan‘s government is looking to Singapore as a role model and Sands is not only the top performer in that market, its Marina Bay Sands is expected to be the template for what the Japanese government wants to see in the RFPs. Return on investment is also anticipated to be as healthy as Singapore’s, if not better … an unbelievable 20% on $10 billion invested. That’s despite a middle-of-the-road estimate of the Japanese market: $19 billion in gross gaming revenues, plus another $6 billion from amenities. (Some of these projections for Japan are so giddy it leaves one wondering if an epidemic of coke snorting has broken out in the investment community.)
While Boyd Gaming has been circumspect about Japan, Tam identifies it as a frontrunner, along with Crown Resorts, Genting Singapore, Galaxy Entertainment Group , and Melco Resorts & Entertainment. Galaxy also made some news on the home front, where Deputy Chairman Francis Lui called for several changes in public policy, including lifting the (relatively recent) ban on proxy 
betting, or at least softening it. Lui also suggested removing the border between Macao and Hengqin Island, so that visitors to the latter’s theme park and other family attractions could flow back and forth between Hengqin and Cotai. Sports betting and e-sports betting (not be confused) were also ideas he had for Macao, ones that could give revenues a jolt. The Lui family is standing by its position that Macao hasn’t fully recovered yet but that doesn’t mean it isn’t bullish on the market.
* Although it got its fingers burnt on GameCo machines, Caesars Entertainment hasn’t given up on skill-based slots. By way of Macao comes news that Space Invaders-based SBS machines will go into Caesars’ Atlantic City casinos this week, part of a larger, phased rollout of the game. One of the innovations is a feature that allows players to buy a bonus round rather than having to earn it through regular play. It also has the advantage of being a single-player game, bypassing the multi-player requirement that has been the downfall of earlier SBS games. Said Scientific Games exec Derik Mooberry, “Our development team worked diligently to ensure that our first skill-based game featured authentic Space Invaders game play, complete with its familiar alien symbols and correlative music, and we are certain that players are going to be captivated with this compelling new game.”
* It’s harder and harder to feel safe when you go to a casino. (Autoplay video)
