Philippine-listed casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. bagged two parcels of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) land where integrated resort Solaire Resort and Casino has been standing.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bloomberry announced that it won the bidding for the 16-hectare lot after pitching PHP37.33 billion ($714 million) for the twin properties within PAGCOR Entertainment City.

Sureste Properties Inc. (SPI), a wholly-owned unit of Bloomberry, accepted the notice of award from PAGCOR after the latest bidding. Bloomberry said SPI has plans to complete the transaction, sign the Deed of Absolute Sale and pay the balance of the purchase price within 45 days.

PAGCOR has been wanting to privatize two Entertainment City lots with a combined area of 160,359 square meters (1.73 million square feet) since in 2017. The starting bidding price for the twin lots is PHP37.23 billion (US$726.6 million), to be paid in cash.

International credit watcher Fitch Ratings has capped Japan’s annual gaming revenues at $6 billion as the government formally presented a bill that would pave the way for the opening of casinos in the country.

Fitch’s outlook was below the consensus of other financial analysts, which were generally above the $10 billion mark.

The credit ratings agency’s pessimism was fueled by the developments in Japan’s Integrated Resorts (IR) Bill, which was forwarded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito on Friday to the members of the Diet.

In a nutshell, the IR bill would mandate the government to set an upper limit on casino floor space. The coalition party also agreed on 30 percent tax on casino revenue, an entry fee of JPY6,000 (US$55.92) for residents of Japan and an initial cap of three casino sites nationwide.

International credit watcher Fitch Ratings has capped Japan’s annual gaming revenues at $6 billion as the government formally presented a bill that would pave the way for the opening of casinos in the country.

Fitch’s outlook was below the consensus of other financial analysts, which were generally above the $10 billion mark.

The credit ratings agency’s pessimism was fueled by the developments in Japan’s Integrated Resorts (IR) Bill, which was forwarded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito on Friday to the members of the Diet.

In a nutshell, the IR bill would mandate the government to set an upper limit on casino floor space. The coalition party also agreed on 30 percent tax on casino revenue, an entry fee of JPY6,000 (US$55.92) for residents of Japan and an initial cap of three casino sites nationwide.

In this week’s poker news round-up, we remind you that China plans to ban online poker; the World Series of Poker gives you $15m reasons to compete in the new tri-state online poker network and much more.

With plenty of poker organisations hoping China will be the home of the next big poker boom, it came as a shock to learn that lawmakers promised to ban all play money poker apps on June 1.

To circumvent the law (gambling is illegal in China) people were using play money poker sites to set up real money games using play money in exchange for fiat currency transactions away from the tables. The move has been dubbed the ‘Chinese Black Friday’.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) is owned by the Chinese gaming company Ourgame International and has run live tournaments in China in the past. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently entered into a long-term relationship with the Chinese giant, Tencent, and had a play money app in circulation within Chinese borders. Tencent has removed the WSOP game from app stores.

In this week’s Gambling Marketing Musing, Lee Davy catches up with partypoker’s latest Twitch recruit, Monika Zukowicz, to talk about her personal branding.

In the past 12-months, partypoker has woken from a long lie-in to contest the leadership of online poker. They have achieved many brilliant things, putting the players at the forefront of their thoughts with millions in guarantees honoured both online and live.

But there was one vital area I felt they were falling short.

Twitch is the most immersive fan-engaged arena for the online poker community. PokerStars and 888Poker have a dominant presence in this forum, but partypoker was lacking, until now.

The Jeju Shinhwa casino, located at Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea, opened towards the end of February. While it only had a little over a month to go until the end of the quarter, its earnings report showed some impressive numbers. Since opening on February 25, the company’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) was about $82.8 million.

VIP gambling delivered around $2 billion to the casino’s rolling chip turnover. Total non-gaming revenue reached $40.7 million. Jeju began offering some non-gaming elements in April 2017, including the project’s Somerset Jeju Shinhwa World, a 344-unit condominium complex.

Casino operator Landing International said that this first phase shows the casino’s potential, but that the company is working on methods to increase sales and marketing efforts. Some of these methods include “cooperation agreements with various travel agencies and online travel agencies in various key markets including mainland China, the Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan regions, Japan and Southeast Asia to leverage on their respective network to promote and market the resort to their customers,” according to the casino operator’s filing.

In addition to the gaming options, the resort also offers around 1,400 hotel guest rooms, split between Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort, Jeju Shinhwa World Marriott Resort and Somerset Jeju Shinhwa World. There is also a convention center, a Korean pop music (K-pop) zone, “YG Republique,” a theme park and a shopping center.

The first stage of Hoi An Development Ltd’s casino resort project in Hoiana, Vietnam, is scheduled to be open in 2019. The initial plans call for three hotels, a casino, a golf course and food and beverage outlets to be offered at that time, part of the overall $4 billion being invested into the project. So to help things run smoothly, Hoi An has tapped veteran gaming executive Steve Wolstenholme to be the company’s chief operating officer (COO).

In a statement, Hoi An CEO Richard Lam said described Wolstenholme as an experienced executive who has “strong background in pre-opening large scale projects” and “a proven leader with an extensive knowledge of gaming and hospitality across many markets.” In his position as COO, Lam said Wolstensholme “will play a critical role” in Hoi An’s success.

Wolstenholme, who hails from the UK, is a highly experienced international gaming executive. He previously served as the COO, president and managing director for Okada Manila and as the COO for Galaxy Macau. He has worked in the casino industry since the early 1980s, getting his start as a croupier in Brighton, England. Following the UK, he left for the Bahamas to work at the Atlantis Casino and Resort (previously known as Paradise Island Casino), where he worked his way up to Gaming Manager and Salon Privé Manager. Wolstenholme holds an Executive MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

The Hoiana project is a joint venture between Suncity Group, VinaCapital Group out of Vietnam and a subsidiary of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd out of Hong Kong. Brokerage firm Union Gaming Asia assesses the project extremely high, stating that it could generate VIP gaming volumes of “Macau flagship levels.”

Australian-listed casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd. has been slapped with a AUD300,000 (US$226,608) fine over charges of tampering certain electronic gaming machines on the casino floor.

On Friday, The Guardian reported that the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) found Crown Resorts guilty of violating the Gambling Regulation Act of 2003 when the casino operator “adjusted” its gaming machines.

The fine was considered to be the heftiest punishment imposed on the Australian operator, which insisted during the span of the investigation that it had done nothing wrong. VCGLR, however, ruled that the Melbourne-based company needed to secure permission from them before it could alter gambling machines.

“Crown’s failure to obtain approval means it has contravened the Gambling Regulation Act 2003,” the VCGLR said, according to the news outlet. “This is the largest fine the commission has issued to Crown and reflects the seriousness with which it considers the matter.”

India’s Raj Kundra loves poker. So much so, in fact, that his company, Viaan Industries, is responsible for the Match Indian Poker League (MIPL), which was launched in 2017 following a deal with the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP). Now, Kundra wants to go big, and is launching an online version of the game that he hopes will go international.

The app developed by Viaan Industries, called the Online Team Poker League (OTPL), was designed so that it could be promoted around the globe. Kundra has already created alliances with Israel, the U.S. and the UK, and is said to be working on several other partnerships. The current goal is to have OTPL ready for players sometime in July, both in India and internationally.

The OTPL will have a total of 30 teams with an annual prize pool of Rs 5 crore, or about $747,000, according to a Money Control report. The teams will have six players each, with all six players assigned to separate online tables. Games will be held twice a month, with action lasting for about six hours each time. Once the clock runs out, the chips are counted for all players on the team to provide a team total. A monthly leaderboard is maintained, and the leaders at the end of the month will be awarded prizes.

From January to November, there would be a tournament held once per month. The team that tops the leaderboard at the end of the tournament year will have the opportunity to represent team India in the World OTPL.

Americans want individual states to control legal sports betting, not the federal government, according to a new poll.

On Thursday, the latest Seton Hall Sports Poll revealed that 62% of respondents believe state governments should be overseeing legal sports betting activity if the Supreme Court overturns the longtime federal betting ban, compared to just 27% who want federal oversight.

The poll, which was conducted this week with 736 randomly selected adults, found that 55% of respondents favor legalized betting versus just 35% who are opposed. The numbers match a Washington Post-University of Massachusetts Lowell poll last September that found 55% support and 33% opposition.

Far more men (63%) than women (47%) in the new Seton Hall poll looked favorably upon legal wagering, and support was also highly dependent on age, with 68% support among those aged 18-29 years compared to just 37% of those aged 60 or over. Those who failed to finish high school were also far more likely to support (71%) legal wagering than those with post-graduate degrees (39%).