Month: November 2021

Việt Nam

Macau casino shares fall amid 11 arrests, Chau believed detained

Posted on by Admin VietNamGaming

01-10-2020 |  

Macau casino shares have plunged amid the arrests of 11 people over alleged links to cross-border gambling and money laundering, with Suncity Group Holdings Chairman Alvin Chau believed to be among those detained.

Suncity is Macau’s biggest junket operator, and its Founder Chau is widely believed to be the 47-year-old businessman that police said they were questioning on Sunday. An arrest warrant was reportedly issued for Chau on Friday by eastern Chinese city Wenzhou, for operating gambling activities in mainland China, where gambling is illegal.

MGM China shares fell by 11%, with Wynn Macau and Sands China shares falling by 9% and 6% respectively, as investors fear both the short-term and long-term consequences of the arrests. Short-term issues involve potential loss of business, while long-term worries centre around the potential hardline stance that will be taken by authorities in Macau and mainland China to ensure such a situation doesn’t occur again.

Suncity Group shares meanwhile have been suspended from trading.

“Suncity accounts for over 50% of junket revenue in Macau, which accounts for roughly 50% of gaming revenues, so Suncity accounts for 25% of gaming revenues,” said Carlos Lobo, a Macau-based gaming consultant, as reported by Reuters.

“The impact on the gambling industry is huge… But Suncity is no longer too big to fail, the system will not collapse.”

Source: GamblingInsider

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Việt Nam

Seminole Tribe appeals decision to block Florida sports betting

Posted on by Admin VietNamGaming

01-10-2020 |  

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has moved to appeal a federal judge’s decision to block its deal with the state, which would expand gambling and online sports betting throughout Florida.

US District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich found that the agreement between the state and the tribe, which allowed online betting, was in violation of a federal rule that required a person to be physically on tribal land when wagering.

The lawsuit was filed by non-Indian casino owners in Florida who challenged the approval of the agreement by the US Department of the Interior, which oversees tribal gambling operations.

Both the state and the tribe argued that since the computer servers that processed the bets were on tribal lands, bettors could wager using their phones or kiosks at racetracks and non-Indian casinos anywhere in the state – while meeting the federal standard.

Judge Friedrich, in her ruling, noted that argument is a “fiction” and added: “When a federal statute authorises activity only at specific locations, parties may not evade that limitation by ‘deeming’ their activity to occur where it, as a factual matter, does not.”

The judge recalled a 2018 state constitutional amendment that required any expansion of gambling outside of tribal lands to be approved by voters; her decision blocks the tribe from adding roulette and craps to its casinos in Florida – which may have allowed non-Indian casinos to do the same.

In a statement filed with the court, Marcellus W. Osceola, Chairman of the Tribe, said: “The tribe’s online sports betting authorised by the compact is now in operation, and is generating millions in revenue per week.

“The tribe is using these funds to pay back the development costs for its online sportsbook, make revenue-sharing payments to the state and fund important tribal programs.”

Source: GamblingInsider

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