{"id":14085,"date":"2014-07-14T12:16:35","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T20:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=14085"},"modified":"2014-07-14T12:35:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-14T20:35:39","slug":"japan-land-of-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/japan-land-of-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan, land of opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GaryLoveman_big\"<\/a>\u201cI think it\u2019s a less likely fit for us, because it\u2019s not clear what the complementary set of skills would be in their case,\u201d said Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> CEO Gary Loveman<\/strong> of gray-market pachinko parlors. That being the case, he might be leaning toward getting into, say, Osaka<\/strong> by teaming with a theme-park operator<\/a>. There he will find Universal Studios<\/strong> Japan<\/strong> and Dutch firm<\/a> Huis Ten Bosch<\/strong>, both of whom are looking for a partner. Huis Ten Bosch is happy to stay out of casino operation itself and is seeking a lessee. That sounds as though it would suit Caesars to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"japan_flag_01-300x300\"<\/a>However, The Japan Times<\/em> reports that MGM Resorts International<\/strong> and Galaxy Entertainment Group<\/strong> are the frontrunners for Osaka. Since Caesars has sworn off the Tokyo<\/strong> market but as many as 12 casinos could be legalized by 2025<\/a>, it’s not an Osaka-or-nothing proposition. In any event, Huis Ten Bosch seems to be the more coveted player in this market. Local officials take pleasure in dissing Universal.\u00a0\u201cUSJ has no experience at all in the casino sector,\u201d says one, while another adds,\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t have a relationship based on trust with USJ\u2019s management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of location, Japan<\/strong>‘s $187 billion pachinko industry wants a piece of the casino action<\/a>, which it sees not only as a path to legitimacy but a way to stem a 20-year decline in pachinko play. To that end, it’s also offering to trade a 1% tax for legally sanctioned status — ending the need for players to cash in their merchandise “winnings” for hard currency at third-party sites.<\/p>\n

Some pachinko companies would make logical partners for U.S. gaming firms — Konami<\/strong>, for instance, which has a major base of operations right here in Las Vegas<\/strong>. Unlike equipment makers like Konami and Sammy Sega<\/strong>, pachinko operators like Maruham<\/strong> and Dynam<\/strong> are lesser-known quantities. With a combination of self- and government-imposed payout curbs dampening their pachinko action, casinos look like a solid bet.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/a>* Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> is getting sued (again) by a former business associate. In this case it’s Taiwanese businessman Marshall Hao<\/strong>‘s American Asian<\/strong> company, which is piling a Las Vegas\u00a0legal action onto two in Macao<\/strong>. Hao is accusing Sands of the misappropriation of intellectual property — the contents of its application for a Macao casinos. In a characteristically peppery response, Sands wrote the media,\u00a0\u201cUsing a different lawyer every time, AAEC (Asian American) has repeatedly filed lawsuits trying to take credit for that which they didn\u2019t do.\u201d May the most tenacious litigant win.<\/p>\n

Up in smoke<\/strong>. \u00a0Forgive me if I lose you on this one. The\u00a0Nevada Gaming Control Board<\/strong>\u00a0has approved\u00a0Las Vegas’ Crab Corner<\/strong>\u00a0for a slot route. But the designated operator,\u00a0Nevada Gaming Partners<\/strong>, has been nixed. NGP hasn’t done anything wrong — but the wife of the owner possesses an 8% share of a medicinal marijuana distributorship. And since the NGCB observes federal law as to the (il)legality of marijuana, even being one step removed from the business isn’t good enough. So, unless\u00a0Sarah Familian<\/strong>\u00a0divests herself from\u00a0GB Sciences Nevada<\/strong>, her husband’s company doesn’t look like it’s going to get any new gaming licenses.<\/p>\n

\"Gibber\"<\/a>Ludicrously, the\u00a0Nevada Gaming Commission<\/strong>\u00a0can barely\u00a0muster a quorum on the issue because three of its five members represent marijuana growers and distributors. This is the belated outcome of then-Gov.\u00a0Jim Gibbons<\/strong>‘ (R) boneheaded decision to\u00a0pack the Commission with nothing but attorneys<\/a>, which in this case has generated nothing but conflicts of interest.\u00a0As for NGP, its future looks grim unless Mrs. Omilian sells out of the tea-growing business. With\u00a0JETT Gaming<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Troy Herbst<\/strong>\u00a0and tavern owner\u00a0Barry Moore<\/strong>\u00a0both dabbling in the wacky-tebaccy business, we’ve not heard the last of this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think it\u2019s a less likely fit for us, because it\u2019s not clear what the complementary set of skills would be in their case,\u201d said Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman of gray-market pachinko parlors. That being the case, he might … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,171,62,11,25,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14085"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14087,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14085\/revisions\/14087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}