The Star Casino hosts Renae Ayris - Miss Universe Sydney, Australia - 22nd June 2012

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Our take on things...

Echo Entertainment is apparently more about entertainment than gambling these days, casino tie in or not, and tonight its party time at The Star. This is most assuredly worth taking a gamble on. There's a strong chance that by the time you stop parting you would have had an absolute blast.

They have hosted countless international acts and acted as home to the Hollywood and Las Vegas stars where they come down under to Sin City Sydney.

Seems a nature that the new Miss Universe Australia, Renae Ayris, and friends should be in the celebrity mix to show their faces on a Friday night at The Star.

They continue to push the celebrity card, and then there's the nightclubs, bars, slots, games and The Darling - the 5 star hotel. It's all there for the taking. Work hard and play and party harder.

Promo...

News on Miss Universe Australia...

Danver and photography lover from Perth has been crowned Miss Universe Australia.

Renae Ayris has been voted the nation's most beautiful woman and presented with a $30,000 Temelli Jewellery crown at a black tie event in Melbourne (9th June 2012).

She narrowly edged out Melbourne woman Mary Vitinaros, who was named runner-up.

The night saw some of Australia's most beautiful women take to the stage in swimwear and evening gowns before judges declared a winner.

Melbourne's hopes of a local winner were buoyed when two of the final five included Melbourne woman Mary Vitinaros and Victorian Julia Perrott-Clarke.

Ms Perrott-Clarke won the crowd over after facing a controversial question from former news presenter Naomi Robson about her views on gay marriage.

"I believe that everyone should have equal rights whether it be marriage or any other factor," she responded.

"Everyone has their own opinion and if it doesn't infringe on anyone else's rights then I think it's a great thing."

Shouting her final reply she ended by saying.

"If they are in love, then they should celebrate that love and if that means marriage, then they should get married because it's amazing."

The response saw her named 4th runner-up.

Strutting their stuff in evening gowns in front of a crowd in the hundreds in the Melbourne Sofitel's Grand Ballroom the finalists wowed the room.

The panel responsible for naming the winner included actress and model Annalise Braakensiek, actor Vince Collosimo and fashion designer Wayne Cooper.

The West Australian girl will now represent Australia at the international Miss Universe competition.

Thirty-three national finalists battled it out for the title, with the winner to go on to compete in the international Miss Universe pageant in December.


More news...

Everything is a blur - Miss Universe...

When Miss Universe Australia 2012 Renae Ayris received her tiara at Melbourne's Sofitel on Friday night she had the added thrill of accepting the title from her friend - 2011 Miss Universe Australia Scherri-Lee Biggs.

Ms Ayris said it was watching Scherri's experience as Australia's Miss Universe that inspired her to enter the pageant this year.

"I've always watched but last year I followed it really closely because Scherri was in it, she's actually a friend of mine," Ms Ayris said.

"I was so excited for her to hand me over the crown."

Dressed in a navy and silver cocktail dress by Perth designer Ruth Tarvydas, the 21-year-old blonde looked bright and fresh on Saturday despite having not slept a wink the night before.

The life-altering announcement still hadn't sunk in when she fronted the media for her first official press call as Miss Universe Australia.

"I'm so overwhelmed still, everything is just a blur from last night," Ms Ayris gushed.
"I'm going to wake up one morning and say,"Wow I'm Miss Universe Australia'."

The Miss Universe competition was the model's first time in a beauty pageant, but she has taken a shot at fame before.

She is an avid dancer who auditioned for a role in Baz Luhrmann's Academy Award-winning film Moulin Rouge!.

"I got down to the very last cut but I was too young," she said.

Being crowned Miss Universe Australia will open up other avenues to Ms Ayris.

As part of her duties she will be acting as the charity ambassador for Operation Smile, a children's medical charity dedicated to improving the lives of children in developing countries born with facial deformities.

Another official responsibility will be to represent Australia in the international Miss Universe pageant in December.

"I'll try my best to do Australia proud," Ms Ayris said.

There have been two Miss Universe title-holders from Australia, with Kerry-Ann Wells claiming the title in 1972 and Jennifer Hawkins in 2004.

Wrap Up...

The Star's tag line is 'There will be stories', and its a sure bet Star will keep living up to that if tonight was any indication. A casino matched with Miss Universe Australia, a media pack with snappers all trying to get the models attention, so you can just imagine.

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Packer's stake in the Sydney pie - 17th June 2012

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Crown Limited Crown Casino Echo Entertainment The Star Australian Casinos Casinos James Packer

They are the so-called whales, fabulously rich gamblers jetted into town to be pampered by their eager hosts. Often demanding, sometimes quirky and superstitious, they attract the very best and attentive service, and enjoy the trappings of the high life, often gratis: six-star luxury accommodation, fine dining, live shows, top-brand shopping.

They can win or drop millions of dollars at gaming tables on a single visit. Wagers of several hundred thousand dollars are not uncommon. Occasionally, as much as $1 million is bet on a hand of cards. Baccarat is a favourite game.

Predominantly ethnic Chinese, their money also buys discretion and exclusivity. Little is ever revealed by casino operators about their identity or their gambling habits, but in a single year, at Melbourne's Crown casino alone, these VIP punters turn over an extraordinary $30 billion - around $600 million a week.

''It's simply another world,'' says an insider, still agog after a decade's involvement in the industry.

It's a world, too, that is fast expanding, as China's exploding wealth and the rising prosperity of nations such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, spawn a new and vast generation of high rollers.

That reality, and the intensifying competition for their business, lies at the centre of a stoush over control of the Star casino, one that has several elements, commercial and political, and which is flavoured by a hint of hoary Melbourne-Sydney rivalry. At its core is James Packer's ambition to retain his dominance over VIP gambling in Australia by having a key say in Sydney's newly rejuvenated casino business.

The Packer-controlled Crown group enjoys 75 per cent of the nearly $1 billion of annual casino revenue generated by high rollers in Australia through its internationally acclaimed Yarra River complex and its Burswood casino, in Perth.

But the once dowdy northern cousin, the Star, tarted up with a $900 million facelift, is aiming more aggressively at the same VIP market, a threat magnified by Sydney's standing as Australia's gateway for international tourism.

Packer's response has been fierce and multi-pronged, with Crown taking a 10 per cent stake in the Star's owner, Echo Entertainment, and applying to the regulator to be allowed to move to the takeover threshold of 20 per cent.

Simultaneously, the Packer camp has waged a public relations war against Echo over the latter's lacklustre recent performance to the point of forcing out its chairman, John Story, while pushing for its own boardroom appointee, the former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett.

Packer's pitch has been for a united Australian front in the quest to wrest bigger numbers of the region's high rollers, and he has wowed tourism chiefs, and the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, with a proposal for a 35-storey luxury hotel at Barangaroo.

Apart from a potential public backlash, the snag is that Packer wants the hotel to include exclusive gaming salons for high rollers. But the Star holds the state's only casino licence and would need to agree to a hybrid arrangement that split its facilities between its current site and Barangaroo.

O'Farrell, unimpressed by the recent sexual harassment scandal at the Star, has appeared to revel a little in the Star's discomfort by publicly praising Packer as a ''shrewd and successful businessman'', while acknowledging that the Crown push ''is starting to look like a political campaign''. While Packer's ultimate objective is clear - gaining the Star's licence - he faces stern resistance from an Echo board that accuses him of seeking control of the company on the cheap, by denying a premium to its shareholders.

They appear to be daring him to launch a full takeover bid, something that could be in the offing once Packer offloads his remaining media interests. The sale of those, which indirectly include a 25 per cent stake in Foxtel, could raise close to $1 billion.

The longer game plan could be his positioning for Crown's own casino licence in NSW when the Star's exclusivity expires in 2019.

''Everyone concedes that Crown has been the key venue for high rollers in Australia,'' says a close Echo observer. ''They've worked hard and put a lot of effort into that market.

''But the upside for Star is enormous. Sure, you could tackle that market through some joint venture or tie-up with Crown, so in that sense Packer is absolutely right. But Star doesn't need Packer to do that.''

As for Packer's push for new blood in the Echo boardroom, he adds: ''Why on earth would you agree to put a competitor on your board?''

Echo is confident that it can offer a similarly impressive high roller experience as Crown's by coupling the Star with Echo's Queensland casinos, the soon-to-be upgraded Jupiter sites on the Gold Coast and in Townsville, as well as the Treasury in Brisbane.

''The truth is,'' suggests one stockmarket analyst, ''Packer might need Star more than Star needs Packer.''

But that's if the Star gets it right. There are plenty who see Crown's management expertise as vital in finally raising the Star to the high roller firmament. And they offer as evidence the Star's recent admission that the collapse of a Macau-based junket operator (businesses that scoop up high rollers and deliver them to casinos throughout Asia) had cost it $7 million in forward commissions and potentially another $23 million in unrecoverable high roller debts.

Echo, which has portrayed the losses as teething problems, unveiled on Friday details of a $450 million capital raising that will be used to strengthen its balance sheet and lend weight to its high roller push. But the announcement was accompanied by a downgrade in its profit outlook, further fodder for its critics.

The Packer camp argues that its agitation is on behalf of all Echo shareholders, who now include the Singapore casino group Genting, which has built a 4.9 per cent stake, along with Macquarie Bank, whose similarly sized holding on behalf of various investment funds would appear to be a punt on profitable future resolution. Standing steadfast, too, has been Perpetual Investments, with 8 per cent, which has backed Echo's board in rebuffing the Packer demands.

No one would dare suggest that the prevailing obstacles are insurmountable for the Packer camp, which has assembled an impressive roll call of political heavyweights. They include the former federal government minister Mark Arbib and former ALP national secretary Karl Bittar, as well as the former Liberal senator and federal communications minister Helen Coonan, a Crown director. Networking is also the name of the high roller game across Asia, and Packer's interests in Macau in partnership with Hong Kong-based tycoon Lawrence Ho provides a handy conduit for introducing more high rollers to his plush Australian salons. Their business is becoming increasingly vital as growth in the domestic gaming market tails off. While local punters contribute more in terms of profits, the high roller market (despite its skinny margins and greater risk) is growing more strongly, demonstrated by Crown's figures. In the latest corporate reporting period, revenues from local gaming in Melbourne grew by 5 per cent while those from its VIP program were 34 per cent stronger, albeit from a lower base.

Tourism chiefs recognise the potential should this trend be replicated in Sydney, drawing ever greater numbers of big spenders willingly pumping money into the local economy. The boss of the Tourism & Transport Forum, John Lee, sees the Bangararoo development as upping the ante in Sydney's claim for higher tourist numbers, just as Singapore's so-called ''integrated resorts'' have pulled a flood of new visitors to the city-state. He says the Packer plan has merit and would add to the harbour precinct's ''tourism offering''. But intensifying competition for VIP punters has not just triggered a casino ''arms race'' in Australia, but one that is region-wide.

At its epicentre is Macau, the only city in a country of more than 1 billion people permitted to run casinos and the site of several billion-dollar developments.

Having already eclipsed Las Vegas, the territory's 30 casinos are expected to rake in revenues of more than $US40 billion in 2012 (about 10 times the gaming revenues of Australia's 13 casinos), of which high rollers can be expected to account for 70 per cent.

Singapore is fast establishing itself, too, as a key high-roller destination. The 31 VIP salons of the $5 billion Marina Bay Sands, for example, already draw 60 per cent of that complex's gaming revenues.

The widespread assumption is that - notwithstanding the Chinese economy's recent slowing - the premium gambling pie has years of expansion ahead, and the chairman of Marina Bay's Las Vegas parent company, the US billionaire Sheldon Adelson, identifies a growing new class of gambler.

''We are constantly surprised at who they are, the number of people, how they come out of the woodwork and how many there are in the world,'' he recently told Singapore's Straits Times. ''There was a time, 10, 15 years ago, that people thought that in the entire world, there were as few as 150 VIP players. We sometimes get that in a few days, a week or two weeks. So the word plateau, in terms of Asia, is not in our vocabulary.''

But the breadth of competition is likely to demand more creative ways for luring gamblers farther south than Singapore, a fact that could affect the sort of inducements offered to ''whales'' by local operators, such as the extent of ''loss rebates'', where casinos cover a portion of a high roller's losses.

Packer's remedy of a united front also calls for better support from governments to maintain tax and other advantages, which could be extended to faster visa and customs clearances for high rollers to match the efficiency of Singapore.

The Star's ''fate'', meanwhile, may not be determined for some time, with no guarantee that a takeover bid will materialise to unlock the stalemate.

But some ponder a deal that would see some of Crown's interests in Macau passed to Genting, providing Packer with the financial muscle to swallow Echo. At the moment, its link to the Ho Group demands exclusivity in Asia and, as one analyst noted: ''Who would want to rock that boat?''

But another gaming expert based overseas thinks otherwise, wondering if Packer might, in fact, prefer to be the big fish in the smaller pond. "If I was Packer, and if I had the option of cornering the Australian market or keeping a 30 per cent stake in one of six operators in Macau, I'd probably corner the Australian market. It's as simple as that." (Fairfax Media)

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Inside Asia Gaming

IAG ANNOUNCES 67 JUDGES NOW CONFIRMED FOR 2023 IAG ACADEMY IR AWARDS

Manila, 2 August 2023 – Inside Asian Gaming is pleased to announce there are now 67 judges confirmed to lend their expertise on the Judging Panel for the upcoming 2023 IAG Academy IR Awards.

The Awards are to be held at The Ballroom at Hilton Manila, Newport World Resorts, on the evening of Wednesday 13 September, and consist of 20 Awards categories plus a special induction ceremony as part of the IAG Academy Hall of Honor, which will including Rising Stars, Industry Icons and a special Outstanding CEO Award.

For more information on the Awards, please visit iagacad.com and navigate to the “IR AWARDS” menu.

 

The 67 judges comprise some of the most experienced minds in the business representing a variety of sectors including operators, suppliers, lawyers, consultants, media and more. The full list of confirmed judges so far is as follows:

Andrew W Scott, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Inside Asian Gaming (Judging Panel Chairman)

Sérgio de Almeida Correia, Lawyer, Private Notary, ACS Macau Lawyers

Sandy Amida, Senior Director of Operations – Table Games, Newport World Resorts

Dennis Andreaci, Senior Vice President – Casino, Hann Casino Resort

Ben Blaschke, Managing Editor, Inside Asian Gaming

Thomas Borman, SVP Electronic Games, Galaxy Macau

Harmen Brenninkmeijer, Managing Partner, NYCE International Ltd

Andy Caras-Altas, CEO, TraffGen Global

Jerry Chan, SVP Electronic Gaming & Special Projects, Okada Manila

Tony Chan, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Asia Pioneer Entertainment

Greg Chase, Head of XM Pros Community & Experience Management (XM) Catalyst, XM Institute

Michael Cheers, Sales Director – Asia, IGT

Nelson Cheung, Systems Sales Manager – Asia, IGT

Charles Choy, Co-Chairman, Macau Beer Co

Jay Chun, Chairman, Paradise Entertainment Limited

Carlo Climaco, Vice President Operations, Premium Leisure Corp

Carlos Eduardo Coelho, Partner, MdME

Rui Cunha, Founding Partner, C&C Lawyers

Rui Pedro Cunha, Director & General Manager, C&C Lawyers

Jeffrey Evora, President and Chief Operating Officer, Winford Manila Resort and Casino

Ashley Fong, Product Planning and Strategy Manager, Aristocrat

Maulin Gandhi, President, Tangam Systems

Fredric Gushin, Managing Director, Spectrum Gaming Group

Trevor Hammond, SVP Gaming and Integrated Resort Operations, NUSTAR

Michael Hu, President – Asia Pacific, Interblock Asia Pacific Pty Ltd

Dennis Hudson, Senior Director VP Table Games, Newport World Resorts

Ian Hughes, CEO, GLI Australia

Peter Jenkins, Group Executive External Affairs, Star Entertainment Group

Michael Johansen, President, Resorts World at Sea

Sudhir Kalé, Founder and Principal, GamePlan Consultants

Andy Kobel, Senior Vice President – Gaming, Sands China Limited

Herris Kocibelli, Managing Director, HWK Trading Co Ltd

Joji Kokuryo, Managing Director, Bay City Ventures Ltd

Lorraine Koo, Corporate Chief Operating Officer, Dowinn Group

Michael Krispli, Vice President, EGM Operations, NUSTAR

Keijiro Kan, President, Angel Macau Ltd

Liviano Lacchia, Senior Vice President HR Business Partner, Galaxy Entertainment Group

Matthew Lai, Vice President, International Business Leader, Everi Holdings Inc

Desmond Lam, College Master and Professor, University of Macau

Manida Lau, Vice President, Business Solutions & Premium Marketing Operations, Okada Manila

Andy Lee, Deputy COO, StarWorld Hotel and Casino

Olivia Lee, Director of Business Development, Mega Fortris Group of Companies

António Lobo Vilela, Gaming Lawyer, Macau

Walter Mactal, Chief Legal and Admin Officer, Newport World Resorts

Jonathan Mazurek, Assistant SVP, Galaxy Entertainment Group

Jeff Mann, Managing Director, MegaSportsWorld

Shaun McCamley, Founder & Managing Partner, Euro Pacific Asia Consulting Ltd

Greg Meares, Vice President of Engineering and Facilities, MGM China

Scott Messinger, Vice President of Brand Marketing, Benchmark Solutions

Niall Murray, Chairman, Murray International (Macau) Co. Ltd.

Jamie Nettleton, Partner, Addisons

Wendy Ni, Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Okada Manila

Rui Pinto Proença, Managing Partner, MdME

Lloyd Robson, General Manager – Asia, Aristocrat

Chris Rogers, Founder and CEO, East2West Solutions

Trevor Ross, Sales Director – Asia, Light and Wonder

Robert Scott, Vice President – Hotel Operations, Okada Manila

Charles Seo, Senior Director, Product Management – APAC, IGT

Tim Shepherd, Director, Fortuna Investments

Angel Sueiro, Chief Operating Officer, PH Resorts Group

Chen Si, Chief Operating Officer, Inspire Entertainment Resort

Alan Teo, COO, Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc

Raymond Voon, Senior Vice President – Customer Services, Galaxy Entertainment Group

Ian Wood, Business Development Manager, Synectics Systems (Asia) Ltd

Raymond Yap, Corporate Director – International Premium Market Development, Galaxy Entertainment Group

Betty Zhao, Chief Operating Officer, LT Game

Michael Zhu, EVP, Apple Brook Colorado LLC

About Inside Asian Gaming

Inside Asian Gaming is Asia’s leading B2B digital and print media brand for the gaming, resort and entertainment industry. It has the highest website traffic, social media following, digital newsletter distribution and print magazine distribution of any such brand.

Founded in 2005, IAG has a broad business editorial focus on the Asian gaming and integrated resort industry. It is widely distributed to industry executives throughout Macau and the rest of Asia in two formats: a monthly English and traditional Chinese fully bilingual digital and print magazine and a daily English language e-newsletter titled IAG Breakfast Briefing, delivered at 8am Macau time in English and 11am in traditional Chinese each weekday. IAG also publishes special magazine editions for G2E Asia each May and the Asian Gaming Power 50 each November.

IAG produces all original content. As well as almost always being the first media outlet to publish breaking industry news, the deep domain knowledge our journalists have accumulated from as far back as the 1980s allows IAG to offer highly insightful opinion pieces and analysis of industry news. We do not aggregate media content or copy from other media outlets. Conversely, IAG is often the original source (sometimes credited, more often not!) of many stories published around the world covering the Asian IR and gaming industry.

In January 2019, Inside Asian Gaming launched IAG Japan to cover the then-burgeoning Integrated Resort industry in Japan. For just over three years from January 2019 to January 2022, at the height of international interest in operating a Japanese integrated resort, IAG Japan had two formats: a monthly Japanese and English fully bilingual digital magazine and a daily Japanese language e-newsletter titled IAG Daily Briefing. International industry interest in operating in Japan has since waned considerably, so after the January 2022 issue of IAG Japan was released we discontinued the Japanese language version of the monthly magazine, but we still issue our Japanese language IAG Daily Briefing when major Japan-related news breaks.

Since 2008 IAG has been renowned for publishing “The Asian Gaming Power 50”. Anxiously awaited each year, The Asian Gaming Power 50 is an annual ranking of the 50 most influential and prominent Asian gaming industry leaders and executives. The Asian Gaming Power 50 is celebrated each November with IAG organizing a glamorous Black Tie Gala Dinner in a Macau Integrated Resort ballroom. The gala dinner ballroom location rotates annually amongst Macau’s six Integrated Resort concessionaires, although it was held at City of Dreams Manila in 2022 due to the pandemic.

IAG produces Macau After Dark and Manila After Dark (both known as “MAD”), a series of casual industry networking social event held in both Macau and Manila every quarter. MAD brings together key industry decision-makers, including operators, suppliers and other industry executives.

IAG launched the IAG Academy – then known as the Integrated Resorts Academy Asia (IRAA) – in November 2021, as its educational arm. It was rebranded as the IAG Academy in July 2023. In the months and years ahead, the IAG Academy will be delivering educational services for the APAC Integrated Resort industry both through its website with online learning and by producing live in-person educational and thought leadership events, with the goal of advancing professionalism within the industry. The IAG Academy will also play a role in recognizing the contributions of those people who make up our industry.

IAG is the Lead Media and Production Partner for G2E Asia, including G2E Asia Special Edition: Singapore, G2E Asia @ the Philippines and the G2E Asia Online Conferences. This role includes managing the entire conference at G2E Asia events.

We also publish G2E Asia Daily, the daily newspaper of G2E Asia, and co-organize the G2E Asia Awards with Reed Exhibitions.

IAG is the Lead Media Partner for the MGS Entertainment Show, held each November in Macau. We also publish MGS Daily, the daily newspaper of the MGS Entertainment Show.

IAG is the Asian Lead Media Partner for ICE London. We publish The Daily Download, the official daily digital record of ICE Asia.

In addition to being the Lead Media Partner for various major industry trade shows throughout Asia, IAG is an official media partner of dozens of leisure and gaming industry events held across every continent of the world.

IAG attends numerous industry trade shows and international conferences and seminars across Asia and throughout the world, including ICE in London in February, G2E Asia in Macau in May, G2E Asia Special Edition: Singapore, AGE in Sydney in August, G2E in Las Vegas in October, MGS in Macau in November and various developing shows covering the Japanese IR industry in Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka. Our Vice Chairman and CEO Andrew W Scott and our Managing Editor Ben Blaschke variously chair, moderate and speak at such conferences and seminars.

IAG has produced a range of industry conferences and seminars such as the Cambodia International Gaming Conference on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Cambodia, sessions for the G2E Asia conference and the MGS Entertainment Show conference, and the highly acclaimed “Strategy and Leadership for Personal and Business Success” seminar series.

IAG Consulting is IAG’s consulting business unit, which offers consulting and revenue support services for businesses exploring or operating in the Asian gaming and Integrated Resort industry. IAG Consulting also produces tailor-made training and education programs (and has been commissioned by Philippines regulator PAGCOR to do so) and organizes events on behalf of our clients, such as product launches, seminars and social events.