{"id":18599,"date":"2016-08-01T10:05:27","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T18:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18599"},"modified":"2021-07-08T04:50:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T12:50:46","slug":"land-of-the-rising-hopes-delaware-racinos-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/land-of-the-rising-hopes-delaware-racinos-struggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Land of the Rising Hopes; Delaware racinos struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

It will take a constitutional amendment to make it happen but casinos could be back on the political agenda in Japan<\/strong>. In a promising development, he strengthened his position<\/a> \"abe\"in the Diet, apparently freeing his Liberal Democratic Party<\/strong> from its dependance on the anti-gambling Komeito Party<\/strong>, which had doomed one casino initiative after another. Given the widespread skepticism<\/a> over the efficacy of so-called “Abenomics,”<\/a> (“Even in Japan there is a limit to the number of shinkansen trains and bridges and roads to nowhere that can be built”) the prime minister needs a new engine of fiscal stimulus and expanded gambling might be it.<\/p>\n

Even without the Komeito albatross around his neck, Abe is hinting at a curtailed legalization of casinos, restricting them to Tokyo<\/strong> and Osaka<\/strong>, with each city getting one megaresort, probably opening in 2022, best-case scenario. Also, Western companies looking to get one of the few seats at the table (MGM Resorts International<\/strong> has been particularly ardent) will probably have to settle for being junior partner<\/a> to native companies Sega Sammy<\/strong> and Kazuo Okada<\/strong>‘s Universal Entertainment<\/strong>, as the pachinko industry is given the first bite at casino gaming. It’s always easy to get one’s hopes too high about Japan but this time, just maybe, Abe can pull it off, even if the political willpower has been tried in the past and found wanting.<\/p>\n