For the first time in five years I will be jetting off to Macau and for the first time ever I will be attending G2E Asia.  I have been looking forward to this particular conference because the Asian gambling market is booming and buzzing, the exact opposite of the regulated US iGaming market we discussed at iGaming North America and GiGse 2015.

While its always interesting to peruse the booths on display at events like this, I’m especially excited for the iGaming Summit, a day of sessions organized by Asia Gaming Brief (AGB) and designed to address the hottest issues surrounding the iGaming market in Asia.  The other two days of sessions are more focused on the land based gambling market in Asia, in particular the health of the markets and where new opportunities lie.

In an effort to help you decide what sessions to attend, I’ve included my top five picks below.  If you’re unable to attend G2E Asia 2015, keep an eye on our daily video coverage of the event from Tuesday, May 19 through Thursday, May 21 and if you what you see, perhaps you will consider attending next year…

Chinese Tourism on the Rise: How Gaming Attracts the Masses

Bryn Kenney & Sorel Mizzi: Feeding the Beast Video

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Someone in the US Department of Justice really wants to keep Paul Phua’s private jet.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in Nevada charged the Malaysian businessman with conspiracy, a side dish to his existing charges of operating an illegal gambling business and transmission of wagering information. Phua has a May 20 court date to answer to the new charge.

Phua is the last man standing of the eight individuals arrested in July 2014 for allegedly running an illegal online sportsbook out of three luxury villas at Caesars Palace. The other accused have either seen their charges dropped or have reached settlements with the feds, as Phua’s son Darren did in March.

Phua has refused to cut a deal and has spent the last year under house arrest in Vegas while his lawyers did battle. Phua’s resolve appeared to have paid off last month when a federal judge declared the bulk of the FBI’s evidence inadmissible due to some epic Fourth Amendment trampling.

Lee Davy continues his confessions series with a look at the way poker unites people, who under normal circumstances, would never have met.

Did you exist in a caste system when you were growing up?

I know I did.

There were two categories of people: cool and uncool. My entire childhood was a battle to be at the head of the cool gang. It meant more to me than family.

Shakeeb Kazemipur has won the PokerStars.net sponsored Latin American Poker Tour Season 8 Main Event in Panama City. He defeated Olga Iermolcheva in heads up action to take the first prize of $180,112.

22-year old student, Shakeeb Kazemipur, has won the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Season 8 (LAPT8) Main Event in Panama City. Kazemipur defeated rising star Olga Iermolcheva, heads-up, to take the $180,112 first prize.

Kazemipur is only the second Canadian to pick up an LAPT Main Event win. The first was Amer Sulaiman, who picked up $172,095 for his victory in LAPT3 in Playa Conchal. According to the Hendon Mob database Kazemipur’s victory is only his second live cash.

The Sortis Hotel, in Panama City, welcomed the 422 entrants creating a total prize pool of $930,932. It was the third leg of the eighth season of the tour. There were some interesting stories contained within the mix of the final eight.

Atlantic City casinos saw gaming revenue slip in April after posting a modest year-on-year gain in March.

AC’s computations have grown increasingly slide-rule-worthy, given the closure of four casinos in 2014 and the launch of New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market, which generated $12.7m in revenue last month.

On a pure apples to apples comparison of brick-and-mortar gaming revenue, the eight surviving casinos generated $186.3m in April, down 4.1% from what those same eight earned in April 2014. Factor in contributions from online gambling and the decline shrinks to 3%. Factor in both online gambling and those shuttered four casinos and the decline rises to 15.6%.

In pure brick-and-mortar terms, the month was evenly divided between winners and losers. The Borgata retained its death grip on the number one ranking, despite falling 2.9% to $53.5m. Runner-up Harrah’s enjoyed a 17.7% gain, but was well off the pace with $29.4m.