Calling all casino operators...

A unique opportunity

This week, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on a unique opportunity currently open to accomplished casino operators in the Far East.

According to the article, North Korea’s government is considering selling the rights to operate gambling in the country’s highest building currently under construction.

The 105-storey Rugyong Hotel is still in the process of being built, despite having been under construction for 37 years.

That’s why the government is offering the right to operate gambling to any company that can come in and finally get the job the completion.

The pyramid-shaped skyscraper is “the tallest building in North Korea and the most iconic structure in Pyongyang’s skyline,” according to the article.

The hotel was originally supposed to open in 1992 but, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the lack of funding coming into North Korea left its completion at the bottom of the country’s priority list.

External construction was completed in 2011, but the inside of the hotel still needs to be finished.

One anonymous Pyongyang resident told RFA that the government has come up with its plan to open a casino inside in the hopes of attracting foreign investment.

“The authority to determine the location of the casino to be installed at the hotel and the right to operate the casino will be granted to a foreign entrepreneur who invests in the cost of internal construction,” the insider said.?

Perhaps surprisingly, upon completion, the Rugyong would not become home to North Korea’s only casino, with two others currently in operation in other hotels.

These, the article suggests, “are very profitable for the government, as they siphon away foreign currency from international tourists.”

Perhaps a global casino operator currently seeking expansion opportunities might also hope to get in on that action. Who knows.

Down with the kids

Elsewhere, The New Zealand Herald reported that “New Zealand punters now have a new way to bet after the launch of a new platform to be run by the TAB.”

The Entain-owned operator has now launched its second betting platform and agency, named ‘betcha’, which is aimed at the under-35s market, or those who wouldn’t usually bet with the TAB.

The brand is being operated entirely separately from the TAB’s flagship offerings, the Herald reports, with the major difference being the availability only of fixed odds betting, rather than tote or pari-mutuel options.

The brand may be one to watch in the future of the New Zealand market, with Entain New Zealand MD Cameron Rodger suggesting: “We wanted a softer launch but betcha will start being promoted far more in coming weeks.”

Unlike its TAB-branded big brother, betcha will have no physical retail presence in the country, and “will offer more social betting services, where punters can bet with mates or share their bets.”

What the firm didn’t mention is whether the newly launched brand has anything to do with the expected 2026 introduction of online casino licensing in the country.

If it can go beyond horse racing and sports betting and into the wide world of online casino gambling, perhaps the sky will be the limit for this newly emerging brand.

Cash not king?

Finally, and sticking with stories in the Oceania region, the Sydney Morning Herald brought us its view on the latest update in the saga concerning Star Entertainment Group.

The casino operator has found itself in hot water repeatedly in recent years, with inquiries eventually finding “the gaming industry needed reform for tolerating money laundering and doing business with organised crime.”

One result of that has been a push towards more cashless gaming, as this is thought to reduce the vulnerability of casinos to financial crime.

However, the SMH reports, Star Entertainment has now “cried poor and is unprepared to meet a legislated deadline to convert all poker machines and table games to card-only in 10 days’ time.”

According to the article, senior members of government met this week to discuss what to do about the proposed card-only policy and consider whether to increase the limit on how much cash can be used by customers in one go.

The newspaper, meanwhile, rather emphatically said it “believes further delay is unacceptable.”

After years of efforts to stamp out financial crime from the gambling sector, the article points out that inquiries into both the Star Casino and rival Crown casinos “backed cashless cards as the best way to stop money laundering.”

That’s why both Star Sydney and Crown Barangaroo have been given until 19 August to become card-only premises.

Under the rule change, customers will be able to load A$1,000 in cash per day onto their carded systems before gambling. It’s worth noting that those wishing to spend more may do so, just not in cash.

Star, in response, appears to be attempting to slow down the rollout, faced as it is with the challenge of refitting 1,500 poker machines to make them compliant.

Finally, the piece concludes, if the government gives in to pressure from the operator to push back the deadline, “another house of cards is waiting.”

“NSW pubs and clubs are currently undergoing cashless gaming trials and have ferociously fought threats to the A$95bn annually pumped through their machines. Capitulation to The Star’s demands would not bode well for how they would treat a wholesale rollout of cashless technology.”

It seems that despite what people may say, in some cases, cash just isn’t king any more.

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