|
Casino
news and poker down under heating up, by Greg
Tingle - 28th July 2008
Australian
Gaming mogul, James Packer, became a new father
today with the birth of his daughter, Indigo.
Packer's ex, Jodhi Meares, has found Scientology
at the same time, following her woes with Foxtel
and 'Top Model'.
Media Man Australia is seeing
continued growth in the online casino business
(as opposed to the bricks and mortar) casino business.
Virgin Casino and PKR Casino continue to impress.
Packer ops out of a second casino
deal, this time in the Philippines, following
his exit of Macau. Lawrence Ho saw challenges
early in the peace, and now Ho's got family challenges
as an ongoing distraction to the running of his
gaming empire. You can bet Packer's looking for
his Aussie Millions of Crown Casino in Melbourne,
Australia, to turn a dollar. Speaking of Millions,
Australian media and advertising tycoon, John
Singleton, is travelling along nicely with his
Magic Millions (horse racing).
Online gaming mainstays, Lasseters,
Bwin, 888.com and GoldenPalace stay in the race,
however many media analysts and gaming insiders
are of the opinion that PKR.com and Virgin Games
have more credibility and usability, and in short
are more trusted and reliable than many in the
gaming and online casino business.
Gaming convention, Australasian
Gaming Expo, a 3-day affair, kicks off Sydney
Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour,
Sydney, Australia on the 24th August.
Donald
Trump, property developer kingpin, is looking
to offload some of his hotel and casino interests
abroad, and is locked in to speak in Australia
at the first time in Australia this November with
his Think Like A Billionaire Seminars to be held
in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Not Perth
however, which has more millionaires and billionaires
per capita than anywhere else in Australia and
by the way, James Packer just happens to have
Burswood Casino running at a profit in the wild
west. If only he can achieve this offshore, unless
he's tossed that aside, with his new found status
are Australia's 3rd richest individual (down one
place from a few months back).
Media
Man Australia recently attended the Climate Change
Summit and was inspired to get up a green eco
friendly casino... hang on a moment, Media Man
Australia is already green, having sold the V8
and with pro active assistance to the likes of
Universal Peace Centre Retreat, Greenfest and
Virgin Unite. Media Man is in the final stages
of establishing casino tour packages with Travel
Tourism Media
( www.traveltourismmedia.com
), and is still taking business proposals
from potential partners for the project. A birdie
told us they were checking out the World Poker
Tour as a potential partner, but their status
is not right for the Australian market. In anticipation
of the formal launch, Media Man Australia has
established Casino Travel Media
( www.CasinoTravelMedia.com
) to oversee the growth of the business.
Richard Branson, Virgin King,
has done well to stay out of the traditional casino
business, however a number of casinos are going
very cheap at the moment. Branson might do well
to pick up a couple and add to one of his latest
ventures, Virgin Hotel, which will complement
his Virgin Vacations business beautifully. His
Virgin Games remains impressive, and offshoot,
Challenge Jackpot, recently hit the screens in
Europe to rave reviews. Pikum!, who he also lent
his name (and money via Virgin Mobile) to is also
on a wave of momentum.
Down under in Australia there's
whispers of TAB teaming up with another gaming
operator, and this likely has something to do
with attempting to adept to the ever changing
market, as more punters continue to hit the internet
to try their luck.
We
recently stumbled upon a board game (on the web)
entitled Media
Mogul, and we help to soon review it, as it
features Murdoch, Branson and Simon.
Thank you to the folks are iGaming
Business and CAP Magazine, we enjoyed the read
and did find strong relevance to the online gaming
sector
Media
Man Australia casinos of the month... you guessed
it, Virgin Casino and PKR Casino.
Profiles
Virgin
Casino
|
