Australian political parties and land based casino operators remain under the spotlight as more revelations about substantial donations from casinos to politics goes public.
Media Man and Gambling911 investigate 'Casino Jack' style, as we explore a new patch of Australia's 'Underbelly'.
From the get go, let it be said that it is not illegal (yet anyway) to make donations to Aussie political parties. Cash and cheques hit their coffers from any number of business sectors, certainly not restricted to the casino, hotel, club and resort sector et al. It's almost part of Australia business culture to cough up dollars to the majority of the political parties.
However, just because something is legal, or illegal for that matter, doesn't mean it is just.
In recent months Labor and Liberal have been inundated with buckets of cash from corporate Australia, and it doesn't get much more corporate that Tabcorp's Star City Casino and Crown Limited's Crown Casino.
Numbers obtained by the NSW Election Funding Authority show state Labor accepted $2.5 million in donations and union affiliation fees between July and December, while the Liberals and Nationals took in $1.9 million. Ah, Jack Abramoff from 'Casino Jack' fame would be proud.
The massive donations are a sign that big business aims win favour and positive history with an incoming Coalition government, the Liberals and Nationals have raised $19.5 million since the 2007 election from the hotels (inc casinos), clubs (pokie heaven), finance, pharmaceutical, lobbyist and property (more casinos) sector.
We've learned that in the same window, Labor snatched $16.5 million to its coffers, some of which is used for television commercials promoting NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally. We alert readers to the fact that Australian TV stations have been extremely quite on the internet censorship debate, while newspapers and radio, and internet forums, have been very vocal, but more on that non - coincidence later, if we're not busy playing a spot of golf with the 'Minister Of Silly Lists' and Censorship... if he's not busy being summoned to a "Please Explain" meeting with Prime Minster Kevin Rudd... (if he's not busy getting an "ear bashing" from U.S President Barack Obama about censorship). Readers, are you following this trail?
The political donations are putting intense pressure on the Australian government to implement recommendations handed down by a parliamentary committee last week, including a cap on donations at just $2000 per political party, group or independent candidate each financial year.
It's no secret that Labor received $115,000 from Star City Casino in the second half of last year, around the same times as the laws regulating the casino were being loosened and its exclusive licence was extended in Parliament. In 2008 Star donated $110,000 just two months before it was granted approval for a $575 million redevelopment, and readers will recall that their budget has just been increased by $100 million or so, which helps build more entertainment rooms, and may even go towards learjets for high rolling VIP's, as they go to "war" with Packer's Crown.
A spokeswoman for Ms Keneally said any suggestion that political donations had influenced concessions that allowed gambling controls and surveillance to be watered down was not correct. "Donations have no impact on the timing of bills going through Parliament.".
Political donations are keenly watched as an indication of which companies and wealthy individuals may be lobbying government. The Australian and international gaming community is watching closely to see what moves PartyGaming and Betfair may make in this space.
PartyGaming famously came to financial terms with the United States Department Of Justice last year to the tune of $100 million or thereabouts. It wasn't a pure donation, however the U.S knew Party had the money, and it was an opportunity for PartyGaming to move forward. PartyGaming and its brands such as PartyCasino and PartyPoker are making strategic moves to return to the U.S market and regulation changes are afoot, just its World Poker Tour is making pro active steps to boost things along with a pending play in the North American - Canadian region, which may see much of the U.S change its stance on igaming, poker tournaments and the like. Last fortnight PartyGaming inked an impressive business deal with France horse racing operator PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain). PartyGaming also enjoys b2b dealings with such mainstream brands as Marvel Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Frank Sinatra Enterprises, StudioCanal, Blizard Entertainment, Infinity Ward, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Hasbro, MGM and FremantleMedia. PartyGaming are understood to be in the "good books" of internet giants Google, Yahoo! and Bing!... something that has also served Gambling911 and Media Man International well over the years. Google is currently developing its own advanced web hosting and ISP services in a move that has has generated massive interest from mainstream media, new media and gaming operators.
Back to the pure political news...Figures Gambling911 and Media Man sourced via Fairfax Media and News Limited state the following...
In the second half of last year the biggest donors included: Clubs NSW, which gave $59,000 to Labor and $101,555 to the Coalition; Manildra Group, $40,850 (Labor) and $19,050 (Coalition); property developer Memo Corporation, $36,850 (Labor) and $22,200 (Liberal); and the Independent Retailers Association, $77,820 (Labor) and $9000 (Liberal). The Liberals accepted $57,926 from the Australian Hotels Association and $49,750 from British American Tobacco.
The Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, personally raised $174,650 at 10 fund-raisers held in his name and in his electorate, including raising some $108,100 at the Ku-ring-gai Business Breakfast last September.
Not to be outdone Labor collected in excess of $1 million in "affiliation fees" paid by unions between July and December.
In the coming weeks and months we will continue our probe into the relationships between Australian political parties and casinos, igaming operator, SP bookmakers and the like. Firms on our radar include but are not limited to Betfair, Centrebet, Full Tilt Poker (Easts Roosters NRL team connection), 888 (Warnie's the face of them for Australia), and a few others that will remain nameless for the moment.
Aussie's, anyone taking bets on what Australian land based casino operators are interested to enjoy a spot of golf with Senator Stephen Conroy (Minster of Communications, Censorship and "Silly Lists") Last time a casino exec played golf with our friend cash registers hit the jackpot. Ah, life is full of coincidences, just ask 'Casino Jack', coming soon to a movie theater near you if your an Aussie, Yankee or Kanok, but if your behind "The Great Internet Firewall" Of China, good luck, you will need it.
Tony "The Bruiser" Abbott, stay on Kevin "Bloody" Rudd, we sense Rudd's corner man Conroy is going down for the count as we approach the 12th round of action, broadcast from Sydney to Las Vegas, Macau, Florida and beyond via the internet channel (that no one owns, Australian government included). Special referee Jesse "The Body" Ventura and his 'Conspiracy Theory' actuality TV show remain pro actively interested in the connection between Australian casinos, political parties and proposed internet filter and blacklist initiatives.
Media Man and Gambling911 offer this public service announcement: Bet with your head, not over it, and keep it fun (and that messages is also applicable to Australian political parties).
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. The network attracts approximately 6 million hits per month and has portals in Australia, Canada, Europe, Asia and the United States
*The writer owns shares in Crown Casino
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4/7/10
Special Report: High - Rollers, Triads And A Las Vegas Giant - 29th March 2010
SAN FRANCISCO/MACAU - Late last autumn, a Hong Kong jury convicted four men of a conspiracy to commit bodily harm and a fifth of soliciting a murder.
At first, the men had been ordered to break the arms and legs of a dealer at Sands Macau suspected of helping a patron cheat millions of dollars from the business. Later, a call went out to murder the dealer, court records show. But then one of the gangsters balked and reported the plans to authorities.
The plot's mastermind, according to testimony in previously undisclosed court transcripts obtained by Reuters, was Cheung Chi-tai. At trial a witness identified Cheung as a leader of the Wo Hop To -- one of the organized crime groups in the region known as triads. Another witness, a senior inspector with the Hong Kong police called to testify because he is an expert on the triads, identified Cheung by name as someone who would commit crimes for money. Cheung's organized crime affiliation was corroborated in interviews for this article with law enforcement and security officials intimately familiar with the gaming industry in Macau.
The murder-for-hire case sheds light on the links between China's secretive triad societies and Macau's booming gambling industry. It also raises potentially troubling questions about one of the world's largest gaming companies, Las Vegas Sands, which plans to open a $5.5 billion Singapore casino resort in late April.
Cheung was not just named as a triad member but also, according to a regular casino patron testifying in the trial, "the person in charge" of one of the VIP rooms at the Sands Macau, the first of three casinos run here by Las Vegas Sands. In addition, Cheung has been a major investor in the Neptune Group, a publicly traded company involved in casino junkets -- the middlemen who bring wealthy clients to Macau's gambling halls. Documents show that his investment allowed him a share in the profits from a VIP gambling room at the casino.
An examination of Hong Kong court records, U.S. depositions from the former president of Sands, and interviews with law enforcement and security officials in both the U.S. and Macau, reveals a connection between Las Vegas Sands and Cheung -- ties that could potentially put Sands in violation of Nevada gaming laws.
The Reuters investigation is a collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Program at University of California, Berkeley.
U.S. casinos operating in Macau are all headquartered in Nevada and must comply with that state's laws which prohibit "unsuitable" associations that "discredit" its gaming industry. Those laws are meant to keep organized crime figures out of the casinos.
Leading up to its public offering in Hong Kong last November, Sands China, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands, acknowledged the risks of working with gaming promoters -- another term for junkets: "If we are unable to ensure high standards of probity and integrity of our Gaming Promoters with whom we are associated, our reputation may suffer or we may be subject to sanctions, including the loss of (Sands' Macau gaming license,)" the company wrote in a public filing.
Randall Sayre, a member of the Nevada Gaming Control Board that monitors casino compliance, declined to comment specifically on Sands Macau, writing in an email that the state "takes no public position on suitability ... without a full investigative work-up."
A gaming official, who insisted upon anonymity, said: "This relationship (with Cheung) would be of concern to Nevada authorities. You're talking about direct ties to bad guys." Another said the agency is monitoring the situation.
Las Vegas Sands issued a statement saying, "to our knowledge, Mr. Cheung Chi Tai is not listed as a director or shareholder" with any of the gaming promoters the company uses in Macau, but declined to comment further.
Sands was the first U.S. operator to cash in on the Chinese passion for gambling when it entered Macau in 2004 after the government opened the casino market to outsiders.
Since reverting to China in 1999, Macau, an hour away from Hong Kong by ferry, has flourished as one of the world's wealthiest cities. The territory's economy has soared in recent years -- much of the wealth generated by the enclave's casinos.
Indeed, the former Portuguese colony has become a playground for China's nouveau riche. And the gleaming neon red lights of the Sands Macau casino are the first sights a visitor takes in as the ferry approaches Macau.
THE JUNKETS
The link between Macau's gambling industry and organized crime may be an open secret, but it has come under increasing scrutiny lately. Within the last two weeks, MGM Mirage said it would give up its holdings in New Jersey in response to pressure from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The state agency had said that Pansy Ho, MGM Mirage's partner in Macau and the daughter of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, was an "unsuitable" associate, an assertion stemming from the agency's belief that her father has links to organized crime.
The involvement of the triads in Macau's casinos is centered on the murky and highly profitable junket business. The VIP sector brought in $9.9 billion last year, two-thirds of the enclave's total gambling revenues.
Macau has about 187 licensed junket operators, said Manuel Joaquim das Neves, director of Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
The junkets are crucial because they ensure the flow of capital by extending credit to gamblers, often millions of dollars on a visit. They assume responsibility for collecting on their loans -- at times indelicately, authorities say.
They also often assume management of the private VIP rooms. And while many law-abiding junkets are active in Macau, experts say the industry is highly susceptible to criminal influence given the extra-legal functions and opaque environments in which they work.
In an interview, Dan Grove, a former agent for the FBI who oversaw security for Sands Macau in the first few years after its opening -- and before the casino became involved in junkets -- characterized pressure from triads to work with the casino as "immense."
When known crime figures applied directly for contracts, blocking them was easy, Grove says. But if legitimate professionals submit applications and then sub-contract the work to the triads, detecting such ties was more difficult if not impossible.
JUMBO BOOM
Cheung Chi-tai's ties to Sands Macau came through such a multi-tiered arrangement. His solely owned company, Jumbo Boom Holdings, provided capital for another firm, now called Neptune Group, to acquire a stake in Hou Wan, a junket operator. Hou Wan was entitled to profits from Sands Macau's Chengdu VIP room.
Cheung owned more than 8 percent of Neptune Group in 2008, according to public filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange. That made him a substantial shareholder when the call for the dealer's murder went out.
When asked about Cheung, Nicholas Niglio, Neptune's chief operating officer, said: "I'm not familiar with him at all."
After a reporter showed him Neptune's 2008 annual report listing the firm's substantial shareholders, including Cheung, Niglio declined to respond specifically. Cheung does not appear in Neptune's 2009 annual report.
Niglio said Neptune wasn't a junket itself but invests in VIP junkets that operate at the Sands Macau, the Venetian Macau and Galaxy Entertainment's StarWorld casinos. He said Neptune now had a 20 percent stake in Hou Wan, a junket operator that runs around 20 VIP tables at the Sands Macau.
In Neptune's public filings three years ago, Cheung was described as a "merchant in Hong Kong" whose company "generally does not engage in underwriting business and has no underwriting experience as at the date of this announcement."
While Niglio described Neptune merely as an "investor" in junkets, trial testimony placed Cheung inside the casino's private room.
According to testimony by Siu Yun-ping, aka the "God of Gambling", who won about HK$100 million ($12.9 million) between August 2007 and January 2008 at various casinos, Cheung was "the person in charge" of the Chengdu Hall, one of the VIP rooms that Siu frequented.
Las Vegas Sands, however, has said it maintains management of all its VIP rooms, though it acknowledges working with gaming promoters to attract customers.
FRIGHTENED AWAY FROM THE SANDS
A triad member turned informant named Lau Ming-yee testified that he, and the five men who would be convicted of engaging in triad activities, referred to Cheung as "the boss."
Cheung, however, didn't appear in court and was not charged. Hong Kong police declined to answer detailed inquiries on why this was so. In an emailed response, authorities acknowledged only that a 49-year-old man surnamed Cheung was arrested in connection with the case but "released after legal advice was sought due to insufficient evidence."
Attempts to determine Cheung's current whereabouts with the Hong Kong police and U.S. gambling industry sources in Macau were unsuccessful.
The judge in last year's murder-for-hire case, Madame Verina Bokhary, said in passing sentence that, "I bear in mind of course that, behind the scenes, there is a person or are persons even more blameworthy than any of them."
In the summaries of the trial called "particulars of offense" the judge identified Cheung by his Cantonese nickname, "Tsang Pau," or "explosive money maker."
Siu, the "God of Gambling" suspected of colluding with the dealer at the Sands Macau, testified that he had been attacked, his house had been set aflame and that his son had received threatening phone calls. "As a result of Tsang Pau (Cheung), he (the witness) was frightened away from the Sands Casino," according to the judge's summary.
Macau's regulator Neves acknowledges that the junket business in Macau has links to organized crime, though he says it is less prevalent and more under control than in the past.
"This kind of business certainly involves people related to organized crime," he said. "That's why we established the license for just a year. Every year, they (the junket operators) must renew the license."
Asked specifically about whether Macau will strip the license from a casino operator if the regulators discover that it is hiring a junket operator with links to organized crime, Neves said: "It's separate. In principle, it doesn't affect the concessionaires."
Neves said he was informed by police of Cheung's alleged role in the murder-for-hire case. But he described the accusations against Cheung as "rumors" and said without formal charges being brought against him, he would be free to continue to operate in Macau.
"If he (was) condemned by the Hong Kong court ... if he was arrested and condemned ... we wouldn't allow him to run the junket," he said. "In this kind of case we must deal very carefully ... Sometimes if we use this (rumor) to deny the license, he can put us in court."
Unlike Las Vegas, where casinos tend to have direct relationships with their VIP customers, Macau's casinos rely on junket operators to bring them the majority of their high rollers, who might easily lose US$1 million in an evening.
THE $64,000 BET
On a late Friday night in February, gamblers were exchanging wads of golden one thousand Hong Kong dollar banknotes ($130) for expensive chips in the exclusive and restricted VIP gaming rooms of the Sands Macau.
The labyrinth of rooms -- decorated with classical Greek columns, Italian marble and chandeliers -- were largely filled with mainland Chinese clients at high-stakes Baccarat tables.
The atmosphere was smoky, hushed and privileged, as casino employees kept watch. The rooms seemed a world removed from the mass market gaming floors below.
At the "Luoyang" room, named after a gritty Chinese city, most gamblers were Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese, who constitute more than half of Macau's VIP gamblers. As two Reuters reporters looked on, a middle-aged woman with diamond bracelets staked a single HK$500,000 ($64,440) bet -- and shrugged off the loss.
A supervisor of the VIP floor and several employees said the Chengdu hall - the room that Cheung Chi-tai ran, according to the court testimony -- has been renamed.
Most VIP gambling in Macau is leveraged: gamblers usually bet more than their cash on hand. This is particularly true of mainland Chinese high-rollers who, because of Beijing's strict capital controls, are limited to carrying the equivalent of US$5,000 in renminbi per trip when they leave China. Macau's six publicly listed casino operators lend to only a small minority of their patrons, according to company filings. That is because collection of gambling debt is illegal in China and Macau forbids casinos from writing off their bad or uncollectible debts.
Concerned that junkets with possible links to organized crime could harm their businesses, some U.S. casino executives were reluctant to enter Macau. Harrah's Entertainment Inc , the world's largest casino operator, decided not to bid for a gaming concession there. Michael Chen, Harrah's president for Asia, said in an interview with Reuters last year that the company worried that its regulators around the world would not permit it to run casinos in Macau.
That issue was front and center in the official report released by New Jersey gaming regulators in mid-March regarding MGM Mirage's partnership with Pansy Ho. Regulators cited the junket influence within her father's VIP rooms as a prime concern. "The VIP rooms in (Stanley Ho's) casinos provided organized crime the entry into the Macau gaming market that it had previously lacked," the report said.
When Sands first won a license in Macau in 2002, it was paired with Hong Kong-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group, but the U.S. company ultimately ended the arrangement. William Weidner, the former president of Sands, in a deposition for an unrelated Nevada court case in 2007, cited Galaxy's intent to run the VIP rooms in the traditional Macau style as one of the reasons for the split.
"These guys want to do VIP rooms the way they ... do them in Macau where the ... triad guys run them because they're the only ones that can grant and collect credit in mainland China, and they smuggle the renminbi across the border," he said. "I can't do that business. That's the way they want to do it, so I can't do it."
Sands' major competitor, Wynn Resorts, said the company would decline its Macau gaming concession if it was barred from extending credit and collecting debts directly in an effort to avoid the junket system, according to company filings.
But the U.S. companies realized soon enough that they could not compete with local casinos without junkets.
China's high rollers tend to prefer the personal, informal relationships of the junkets, experts say, and often demand a level of anonymity incompatible with the credit applications required by the casinos.
LOWER PROFILE
While triads remain active in Hong Kong, the gangs have burrowed deeper into mainland China including cities like Chongqing and retain a strong imprint in Macau. The triads are believed to have originated as a rebel grouping in the early Qing Dynasty formed to help overthrow the Manchu regime.
Ko-lin Chin, a professor at Rutgers University and one of the foremost experts on Asian organized crime, disputes the regulator's contention that the triads are less prevalent in Macau. But he said they do keep a lower profile than before internationally owned casinos entered the market and revenues grew from $2.26 billion to $15 billion today.
Even if crime groups are involved in the junket business, he says, with the casinos making so much money, the government reaping huge taxes, and the citizens of Macau enjoying full employment, there is scant political will to remove them.
"No one wants to crash the party," he said. "This is a feel-good story."
(Reporting by Reuters in Macau and Hong Hong and Matt Isaacs in San Francisco and Las Vegas; editing by Lowell Bergman, Jim Impoco and Claudia Parsons)
At first, the men had been ordered to break the arms and legs of a dealer at Sands Macau suspected of helping a patron cheat millions of dollars from the business. Later, a call went out to murder the dealer, court records show. But then one of the gangsters balked and reported the plans to authorities.
The plot's mastermind, according to testimony in previously undisclosed court transcripts obtained by Reuters, was Cheung Chi-tai. At trial a witness identified Cheung as a leader of the Wo Hop To -- one of the organized crime groups in the region known as triads. Another witness, a senior inspector with the Hong Kong police called to testify because he is an expert on the triads, identified Cheung by name as someone who would commit crimes for money. Cheung's organized crime affiliation was corroborated in interviews for this article with law enforcement and security officials intimately familiar with the gaming industry in Macau.
The murder-for-hire case sheds light on the links between China's secretive triad societies and Macau's booming gambling industry. It also raises potentially troubling questions about one of the world's largest gaming companies, Las Vegas Sands, which plans to open a $5.5 billion Singapore casino resort in late April.
Cheung was not just named as a triad member but also, according to a regular casino patron testifying in the trial, "the person in charge" of one of the VIP rooms at the Sands Macau, the first of three casinos run here by Las Vegas Sands. In addition, Cheung has been a major investor in the Neptune Group, a publicly traded company involved in casino junkets -- the middlemen who bring wealthy clients to Macau's gambling halls. Documents show that his investment allowed him a share in the profits from a VIP gambling room at the casino.
An examination of Hong Kong court records, U.S. depositions from the former president of Sands, and interviews with law enforcement and security officials in both the U.S. and Macau, reveals a connection between Las Vegas Sands and Cheung -- ties that could potentially put Sands in violation of Nevada gaming laws.
The Reuters investigation is a collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Program at University of California, Berkeley.
U.S. casinos operating in Macau are all headquartered in Nevada and must comply with that state's laws which prohibit "unsuitable" associations that "discredit" its gaming industry. Those laws are meant to keep organized crime figures out of the casinos.
Leading up to its public offering in Hong Kong last November, Sands China, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands, acknowledged the risks of working with gaming promoters -- another term for junkets: "If we are unable to ensure high standards of probity and integrity of our Gaming Promoters with whom we are associated, our reputation may suffer or we may be subject to sanctions, including the loss of (Sands' Macau gaming license,)" the company wrote in a public filing.
Randall Sayre, a member of the Nevada Gaming Control Board that monitors casino compliance, declined to comment specifically on Sands Macau, writing in an email that the state "takes no public position on suitability ... without a full investigative work-up."
A gaming official, who insisted upon anonymity, said: "This relationship (with Cheung) would be of concern to Nevada authorities. You're talking about direct ties to bad guys." Another said the agency is monitoring the situation.
Las Vegas Sands issued a statement saying, "to our knowledge, Mr. Cheung Chi Tai is not listed as a director or shareholder" with any of the gaming promoters the company uses in Macau, but declined to comment further.
Sands was the first U.S. operator to cash in on the Chinese passion for gambling when it entered Macau in 2004 after the government opened the casino market to outsiders.
Since reverting to China in 1999, Macau, an hour away from Hong Kong by ferry, has flourished as one of the world's wealthiest cities. The territory's economy has soared in recent years -- much of the wealth generated by the enclave's casinos.
Indeed, the former Portuguese colony has become a playground for China's nouveau riche. And the gleaming neon red lights of the Sands Macau casino are the first sights a visitor takes in as the ferry approaches Macau.
THE JUNKETS
The link between Macau's gambling industry and organized crime may be an open secret, but it has come under increasing scrutiny lately. Within the last two weeks, MGM Mirage said it would give up its holdings in New Jersey in response to pressure from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The state agency had said that Pansy Ho, MGM Mirage's partner in Macau and the daughter of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, was an "unsuitable" associate, an assertion stemming from the agency's belief that her father has links to organized crime.
The involvement of the triads in Macau's casinos is centered on the murky and highly profitable junket business. The VIP sector brought in $9.9 billion last year, two-thirds of the enclave's total gambling revenues.
Macau has about 187 licensed junket operators, said Manuel Joaquim das Neves, director of Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
The junkets are crucial because they ensure the flow of capital by extending credit to gamblers, often millions of dollars on a visit. They assume responsibility for collecting on their loans -- at times indelicately, authorities say.
They also often assume management of the private VIP rooms. And while many law-abiding junkets are active in Macau, experts say the industry is highly susceptible to criminal influence given the extra-legal functions and opaque environments in which they work.
In an interview, Dan Grove, a former agent for the FBI who oversaw security for Sands Macau in the first few years after its opening -- and before the casino became involved in junkets -- characterized pressure from triads to work with the casino as "immense."
When known crime figures applied directly for contracts, blocking them was easy, Grove says. But if legitimate professionals submit applications and then sub-contract the work to the triads, detecting such ties was more difficult if not impossible.
JUMBO BOOM
Cheung Chi-tai's ties to Sands Macau came through such a multi-tiered arrangement. His solely owned company, Jumbo Boom Holdings, provided capital for another firm, now called Neptune Group, to acquire a stake in Hou Wan, a junket operator. Hou Wan was entitled to profits from Sands Macau's Chengdu VIP room.
Cheung owned more than 8 percent of Neptune Group in 2008, according to public filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange. That made him a substantial shareholder when the call for the dealer's murder went out.
When asked about Cheung, Nicholas Niglio, Neptune's chief operating officer, said: "I'm not familiar with him at all."
After a reporter showed him Neptune's 2008 annual report listing the firm's substantial shareholders, including Cheung, Niglio declined to respond specifically. Cheung does not appear in Neptune's 2009 annual report.
Niglio said Neptune wasn't a junket itself but invests in VIP junkets that operate at the Sands Macau, the Venetian Macau and Galaxy Entertainment's StarWorld casinos. He said Neptune now had a 20 percent stake in Hou Wan, a junket operator that runs around 20 VIP tables at the Sands Macau.
In Neptune's public filings three years ago, Cheung was described as a "merchant in Hong Kong" whose company "generally does not engage in underwriting business and has no underwriting experience as at the date of this announcement."
While Niglio described Neptune merely as an "investor" in junkets, trial testimony placed Cheung inside the casino's private room.
According to testimony by Siu Yun-ping, aka the "God of Gambling", who won about HK$100 million ($12.9 million) between August 2007 and January 2008 at various casinos, Cheung was "the person in charge" of the Chengdu Hall, one of the VIP rooms that Siu frequented.
Las Vegas Sands, however, has said it maintains management of all its VIP rooms, though it acknowledges working with gaming promoters to attract customers.
FRIGHTENED AWAY FROM THE SANDS
A triad member turned informant named Lau Ming-yee testified that he, and the five men who would be convicted of engaging in triad activities, referred to Cheung as "the boss."
Cheung, however, didn't appear in court and was not charged. Hong Kong police declined to answer detailed inquiries on why this was so. In an emailed response, authorities acknowledged only that a 49-year-old man surnamed Cheung was arrested in connection with the case but "released after legal advice was sought due to insufficient evidence."
Attempts to determine Cheung's current whereabouts with the Hong Kong police and U.S. gambling industry sources in Macau were unsuccessful.
The judge in last year's murder-for-hire case, Madame Verina Bokhary, said in passing sentence that, "I bear in mind of course that, behind the scenes, there is a person or are persons even more blameworthy than any of them."
In the summaries of the trial called "particulars of offense" the judge identified Cheung by his Cantonese nickname, "Tsang Pau," or "explosive money maker."
Siu, the "God of Gambling" suspected of colluding with the dealer at the Sands Macau, testified that he had been attacked, his house had been set aflame and that his son had received threatening phone calls. "As a result of Tsang Pau (Cheung), he (the witness) was frightened away from the Sands Casino," according to the judge's summary.
Macau's regulator Neves acknowledges that the junket business in Macau has links to organized crime, though he says it is less prevalent and more under control than in the past.
"This kind of business certainly involves people related to organized crime," he said. "That's why we established the license for just a year. Every year, they (the junket operators) must renew the license."
Asked specifically about whether Macau will strip the license from a casino operator if the regulators discover that it is hiring a junket operator with links to organized crime, Neves said: "It's separate. In principle, it doesn't affect the concessionaires."
Neves said he was informed by police of Cheung's alleged role in the murder-for-hire case. But he described the accusations against Cheung as "rumors" and said without formal charges being brought against him, he would be free to continue to operate in Macau.
"If he (was) condemned by the Hong Kong court ... if he was arrested and condemned ... we wouldn't allow him to run the junket," he said. "In this kind of case we must deal very carefully ... Sometimes if we use this (rumor) to deny the license, he can put us in court."
Unlike Las Vegas, where casinos tend to have direct relationships with their VIP customers, Macau's casinos rely on junket operators to bring them the majority of their high rollers, who might easily lose US$1 million in an evening.
THE $64,000 BET
On a late Friday night in February, gamblers were exchanging wads of golden one thousand Hong Kong dollar banknotes ($130) for expensive chips in the exclusive and restricted VIP gaming rooms of the Sands Macau.
The labyrinth of rooms -- decorated with classical Greek columns, Italian marble and chandeliers -- were largely filled with mainland Chinese clients at high-stakes Baccarat tables.
The atmosphere was smoky, hushed and privileged, as casino employees kept watch. The rooms seemed a world removed from the mass market gaming floors below.
At the "Luoyang" room, named after a gritty Chinese city, most gamblers were Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese, who constitute more than half of Macau's VIP gamblers. As two Reuters reporters looked on, a middle-aged woman with diamond bracelets staked a single HK$500,000 ($64,440) bet -- and shrugged off the loss.
A supervisor of the VIP floor and several employees said the Chengdu hall - the room that Cheung Chi-tai ran, according to the court testimony -- has been renamed.
Most VIP gambling in Macau is leveraged: gamblers usually bet more than their cash on hand. This is particularly true of mainland Chinese high-rollers who, because of Beijing's strict capital controls, are limited to carrying the equivalent of US$5,000 in renminbi per trip when they leave China. Macau's six publicly listed casino operators lend to only a small minority of their patrons, according to company filings. That is because collection of gambling debt is illegal in China and Macau forbids casinos from writing off their bad or uncollectible debts.
Concerned that junkets with possible links to organized crime could harm their businesses, some U.S. casino executives were reluctant to enter Macau. Harrah's Entertainment Inc , the world's largest casino operator, decided not to bid for a gaming concession there. Michael Chen, Harrah's president for Asia, said in an interview with Reuters last year that the company worried that its regulators around the world would not permit it to run casinos in Macau.
That issue was front and center in the official report released by New Jersey gaming regulators in mid-March regarding MGM Mirage's partnership with Pansy Ho. Regulators cited the junket influence within her father's VIP rooms as a prime concern. "The VIP rooms in (Stanley Ho's) casinos provided organized crime the entry into the Macau gaming market that it had previously lacked," the report said.
When Sands first won a license in Macau in 2002, it was paired with Hong Kong-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group, but the U.S. company ultimately ended the arrangement. William Weidner, the former president of Sands, in a deposition for an unrelated Nevada court case in 2007, cited Galaxy's intent to run the VIP rooms in the traditional Macau style as one of the reasons for the split.
"These guys want to do VIP rooms the way they ... do them in Macau where the ... triad guys run them because they're the only ones that can grant and collect credit in mainland China, and they smuggle the renminbi across the border," he said. "I can't do that business. That's the way they want to do it, so I can't do it."
Sands' major competitor, Wynn Resorts, said the company would decline its Macau gaming concession if it was barred from extending credit and collecting debts directly in an effort to avoid the junket system, according to company filings.
But the U.S. companies realized soon enough that they could not compete with local casinos without junkets.
China's high rollers tend to prefer the personal, informal relationships of the junkets, experts say, and often demand a level of anonymity incompatible with the credit applications required by the casinos.
LOWER PROFILE
While triads remain active in Hong Kong, the gangs have burrowed deeper into mainland China including cities like Chongqing and retain a strong imprint in Macau. The triads are believed to have originated as a rebel grouping in the early Qing Dynasty formed to help overthrow the Manchu regime.
Ko-lin Chin, a professor at Rutgers University and one of the foremost experts on Asian organized crime, disputes the regulator's contention that the triads are less prevalent in Macau. But he said they do keep a lower profile than before internationally owned casinos entered the market and revenues grew from $2.26 billion to $15 billion today.
Even if crime groups are involved in the junket business, he says, with the casinos making so much money, the government reaping huge taxes, and the citizens of Macau enjoying full employment, there is scant political will to remove them.
"No one wants to crash the party," he said. "This is a feel-good story."
(Reporting by Reuters in Macau and Hong Hong and Matt Isaacs in San Francisco and Las Vegas; editing by Lowell Bergman, Jim Impoco and Claudia Parsons)
4/6/10
Australia Gambling On Conspiracy Theory Or Not? by Greg Tingle - 6th April 2010
Readers, make no mistake, we live in volatile times.
The Media Man and Gambling911 (and our lotto mate Pluka Duck), have been inundated with letters of support for our ongoing investigation into online (and offline) censorship, government spooks and Big Brother et al. Folks, the political machines of the world have been busy attempting to stop your poker and casino fun, poker babes, FHM, Playboy... the lot.
Australian and Asia Pacific casino king, James Packer, is dealing with changes better than most, but owning a number of Asia Pacific's casinos and being Australia's 3rd richest man puts you in a stronger position than most. A round of golf with an Aussie politician doesn't go astray either.
You're freedom of speech, freedom of expression and basic human rights are at risk. Never has this been more evident than if your an American, Canadian or Australian reader. Don't get us started on China, but its likely our friends in China will never get to read this article, or see this website, as "The Great Firewall Of China" has quite likely blocked it! Don't laugh, your country may be next, and if your not quite certain as to believe our word on it, read up on some of Jesse Ventura's (former Navy Seal and U.S politician) writings, or better yet, watch his hit TV show 'Conspiracy Theory'. Think Underbelly meets They Live meets Michael Moore, and you're on the right track!
Has your Government (or ISP) blocked your favorite poker, casino and / or porn sites (yet)? If not, it may be just a matter or time... the thought police and "bible bashers" are in full campaign swing. Just wait to you learn what the Aussie's are up to at the moment, and even more scary, its happening on the watch of poker and porn hating Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, and second lieutenant, Senator Stephen Conroy (Australian Communications Minister aka Minister Of Censorship And Silly Lists).
Ok, with that Stephen Spielberg sci-fi intro, let's bring it back down to earth with some more traditional hard news out of Australia, with a gambling, government, protectionism twist... it's all about money, power and control, and more money, of course!
Aussie NSW Lotteries Deal Heading For Courtroom
Rival bidders to Tatts Group are considering taking legal action in the Supreme Court of Australia in an attempt to overturn the sale of NSW Lotteries after receiving legal advice that the $850 million sale is illegal!
Sources confirm that bidders have been talking to legal eagles about a possible challenge stemming from the decision of the government and its consultants to allow Tatts Group to throw into its bid pitch a potential $200 million worth of unclaimed prizes, in the final stages of the process. Tatts was allowed to make the move despite all bidders previously being notified that they could not bid for the unclaimed prizes. Are your following this? That's what we thought... stay with us...
The Aussie government says it has legal advice that the sale is in fact legal, despite its legislation indicating unclaimed prizes would go to the taxpayer. WTF?
The Sydney Morning Herald, a Fairfax Media publication, revealed last week claims by industry sources that in the original bids, Centrebet had in fact bid $750 million, G-Tech $730 million and Tatts Group $700 million, but Tatts Group's bid was boosted to $850 million by unclaimed prizes. Bonus hey!
NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally, said on talk back radio that "all bidders in the ... lotteries tender process were given the exact same information and they had the opportunity, all of them, to put in a conforming bid and a non-conforming bid. I'm advised that all of them took the opportunity to do that, and that the Tatts Group proposal was the best in value for the taxpayer."
Bidders dispute this full stop. They advise they were repeatedly told unclaimed prizes would stay with the state and be off-limits.
Speculation exists as to whether Tatts Group had won the right to unclaimed prizes would mean that NSW Lotteries would now be less inclined to publicise large prizes that had not been claimed.
Tatts formally took control of NSW Lotteries on the 1st April. NSW Lotteries press releases called on the winner of $30million on Tuesday night, with a ticket bought in Sydney's inner west, to come forward. An Ashfield couple claimed the prize.
Mike Baird, the opposition's Treasury spokesman, said "This whole transaction is symptomatic of Labor arrogance, incompetence and backroom deals. This ... needs to be exposed and we need to understand what requirements there are of Tatts to ensure unclaimed prizes are given every opportunity to be claimed."
Mr Baird heavily criticised the government for not releasing the legal advice supporting the sale.
Questioned as to why the legals had not been released, a spokesman for the Treasurer said it would be given to the Auditor-General, who is looking into the sale.
Two sets of legal advice to a bidder sighted by The Sydney Morning Herald state the sale is in breach of the Lotteries Act legislation.
Section 27 A of the legislation says money from unclaimed prizes should go to a consolidated fund, as directed by the minister, and liability for that money should rest with the state.
The Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, said that a simple reading of the legislation suggested it would have to be returned to the Parliament and if that occurred, it would then be blocked in the upper house.
The government and opposition are now waiting for the Auditor-General's report.
Aussie Censorship - Online, Offline, And Everything In Between!
Child "Experts" Push To Ban Soft Porn From Newsagents, Service Stations
Fairfax's Media's Mary-Anne Toy broke the story, and we're following up...
Dozens of Australian "child experts" are calling for a ban on the sale of porn magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse and other soft porn material from newsagents, milkbars, convenience stores, supermarkets and petrol stations. No, we're kidding you not.
The group (sounds like a cult or sorts) has requested censorship ministers (Hello again, Mr Conroy) to review the rules on which the so-called lads' mags such as People, The Picture, Ralph and Zoo are reviewed, saying they are increasingly explicit and contributing to the sexualisation of children.
A letter to the standing committee of attorneys-general/censorship ministers signed by a former chief justice of the Family Court, Alastair Nicholson, the chief executive of World Vision, Tim Costello, academics, child professionals and advocates states such material should be restricted to adults-only premises.
They are particularly disturbed by the prevalence of "teen sex" magazines featuring women apparently aged more than 18 but looking younger and styled with braces and pigtails but in highly sexualised poses and sometimes performing sex acts.
Gambling911 readers may recall the hugely popular Maxim poker babes feature. Maxim was not named by the clan, but we suspect they are not fans of poker babes Maxim style. Did we mention Jenny Woo, Pam Anderson, Rebecca Liggero, Bessie Bardot, Paris Hilton, and PartyPoker - PartyGaming sponsored Kara Scott, are competing for this month's Media Man Poker Babe Of The Month Award! Seemed timely to give you the heads up.
Julie Gale, director of the lobby group Kids Free 2B Kids, said easy access to the internet meant young people were experiencing unprecedented exposure to porn images, voluntarily or involuntarily. "But allowing pornography and overtly sexualised images to be sold in the public arena with easy access for children and teens tells them that this is acceptable. It gives it public validation."
Another campaigner, Catherine Manning of Say No 4 Kids, sent a petition with 8000 signatures to the attorneys-general calling for tighter restrictions. Many shops segregated adult material but others did not, she said.
"Exposure to adult sexualised material can send the wrong message to children about what's expected of them as adults. Girls think they should behave like 'porn stars' and boys expect them to."
Friends, coincidence or not in the timing of a proposed Australian internet filter and the calling of banning of soft porn in suburban shops et al? Does the Australian government think the public are totally stupid?
What's Really At Stake? American Living Legend Jesse Ventura Speaks Out...
Thanks to our friends at RT.com (Autonomous Nonprofit Organization)
http://www.rt.com
we have secured the following in writing...
We are being watched more than ever in the US
“There are many of us who don’t believe the status quo of what we’ve been told,” acknowledged former governor of the state of Minnesota, actor and TV host Jesse Ventura in an exclusive interview with RT.
Ventura, who has had explosive encounters with the American mainstream media, called it “soundbite news” and said it cannot be trusted at all.
“Major news organizations have really become almost monopolized. The media today is in creating news rather than reporting it. And that’s very dangerous,” he said.
Jesse Ventura shared that “the Internet is getting super powerful now, and that is what the government has to control next.”
The ex-governor warned that “Whenever government says ‘to keep you safe’ – get ready, because you are going to lose your freedoms.”
Summary: Australian, Canadian and American Readers - What Next?
If you are unhappy with your state and federal governments, let them know. Write, protest... you get the idea
Poker players and online casino players, it may be a good idea to become more familiar with the Poker Players Alliance, and become familiar with their associates in your region. Telephone and write to news media, including newspapers and television, but if your an Aussie, you might find more love with print, as Australian TV stations recently received a big payday courtesy of Senator Stephen Conroy's office and most Australian television stations have been very quite on the subject of internet censorship. The ABC, SBS (multi cultural, diverse and global) and Network Ten (covers poker) are most likely to listen to your concerns. Some talk back radio stations may also give you the time of day. Uncensored websites, bloggers and internet forums are a most effective way of getting your voice heard.
Media Man and Gambling911 recommend that you sign up for a multitude of online gaming accounts, be it PartyGaming, World Poker Tour, PokerStars, Captain Cooks, Betfair, BetUS, PKR... you get the idea. That way you have a number of accounts, so if one or more of them eventually get shutdown, or blocked from your countries "friendly" internet filter, you still have more choices. The late news... Full Tilt Poker investigation on the way in the U.S ...maybe scratch them off your "to do" list! Party rules ok, and I think no coincidence that PartyGaming is powering along and signing Government arm deals globally, most recently in France, as they were able to come to amicable terms with the United States government last year for the tune of $100 million or so. Next stop might be Canada, via way of a Canadian poker tour operation, and no coincidence that Media Man now has a Canadian Media Man website portal. http://www.mediamancanada.com
We encourage you to enjoy your "free" and "uncensored" (or thereabouts) version of the internet while you can.
In the coming weeks and months Gambling911 and Media Man will provide more details on how you can likely stop or reduce internet filtering and the "great firewall" when it comes knocking in your home town.
We leave you with more words of wisdom, just in case Jesse Ventura left you hanging for more!
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed (Charles Darwin)
We wish the readership happy hunting, and let's keep the bastards honest. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi USA USA Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company
*The writer owns shares in Crown Casino
References: Google News, Fairfax Media, Autonomous Nonprofit Organization, Tru TV
Website Network
Media Man
Media Man Australia
Media Man Canada
Media Man Asia
Casino News Media
Australian Casino News
Poker News Media
Global Gaming Directory
The Media Man and Gambling911 (and our lotto mate Pluka Duck), have been inundated with letters of support for our ongoing investigation into online (and offline) censorship, government spooks and Big Brother et al. Folks, the political machines of the world have been busy attempting to stop your poker and casino fun, poker babes, FHM, Playboy... the lot.
Australian and Asia Pacific casino king, James Packer, is dealing with changes better than most, but owning a number of Asia Pacific's casinos and being Australia's 3rd richest man puts you in a stronger position than most. A round of golf with an Aussie politician doesn't go astray either.
You're freedom of speech, freedom of expression and basic human rights are at risk. Never has this been more evident than if your an American, Canadian or Australian reader. Don't get us started on China, but its likely our friends in China will never get to read this article, or see this website, as "The Great Firewall Of China" has quite likely blocked it! Don't laugh, your country may be next, and if your not quite certain as to believe our word on it, read up on some of Jesse Ventura's (former Navy Seal and U.S politician) writings, or better yet, watch his hit TV show 'Conspiracy Theory'. Think Underbelly meets They Live meets Michael Moore, and you're on the right track!
Has your Government (or ISP) blocked your favorite poker, casino and / or porn sites (yet)? If not, it may be just a matter or time... the thought police and "bible bashers" are in full campaign swing. Just wait to you learn what the Aussie's are up to at the moment, and even more scary, its happening on the watch of poker and porn hating Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, and second lieutenant, Senator Stephen Conroy (Australian Communications Minister aka Minister Of Censorship And Silly Lists).
Ok, with that Stephen Spielberg sci-fi intro, let's bring it back down to earth with some more traditional hard news out of Australia, with a gambling, government, protectionism twist... it's all about money, power and control, and more money, of course!
Aussie NSW Lotteries Deal Heading For Courtroom
Rival bidders to Tatts Group are considering taking legal action in the Supreme Court of Australia in an attempt to overturn the sale of NSW Lotteries after receiving legal advice that the $850 million sale is illegal!
Sources confirm that bidders have been talking to legal eagles about a possible challenge stemming from the decision of the government and its consultants to allow Tatts Group to throw into its bid pitch a potential $200 million worth of unclaimed prizes, in the final stages of the process. Tatts was allowed to make the move despite all bidders previously being notified that they could not bid for the unclaimed prizes. Are your following this? That's what we thought... stay with us...
The Aussie government says it has legal advice that the sale is in fact legal, despite its legislation indicating unclaimed prizes would go to the taxpayer. WTF?
The Sydney Morning Herald, a Fairfax Media publication, revealed last week claims by industry sources that in the original bids, Centrebet had in fact bid $750 million, G-Tech $730 million and Tatts Group $700 million, but Tatts Group's bid was boosted to $850 million by unclaimed prizes. Bonus hey!
NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally, said on talk back radio that "all bidders in the ... lotteries tender process were given the exact same information and they had the opportunity, all of them, to put in a conforming bid and a non-conforming bid. I'm advised that all of them took the opportunity to do that, and that the Tatts Group proposal was the best in value for the taxpayer."
Bidders dispute this full stop. They advise they were repeatedly told unclaimed prizes would stay with the state and be off-limits.
Speculation exists as to whether Tatts Group had won the right to unclaimed prizes would mean that NSW Lotteries would now be less inclined to publicise large prizes that had not been claimed.
Tatts formally took control of NSW Lotteries on the 1st April. NSW Lotteries press releases called on the winner of $30million on Tuesday night, with a ticket bought in Sydney's inner west, to come forward. An Ashfield couple claimed the prize.
Mike Baird, the opposition's Treasury spokesman, said "This whole transaction is symptomatic of Labor arrogance, incompetence and backroom deals. This ... needs to be exposed and we need to understand what requirements there are of Tatts to ensure unclaimed prizes are given every opportunity to be claimed."
Mr Baird heavily criticised the government for not releasing the legal advice supporting the sale.
Questioned as to why the legals had not been released, a spokesman for the Treasurer said it would be given to the Auditor-General, who is looking into the sale.
Two sets of legal advice to a bidder sighted by The Sydney Morning Herald state the sale is in breach of the Lotteries Act legislation.
Section 27 A of the legislation says money from unclaimed prizes should go to a consolidated fund, as directed by the minister, and liability for that money should rest with the state.
The Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, said that a simple reading of the legislation suggested it would have to be returned to the Parliament and if that occurred, it would then be blocked in the upper house.
The government and opposition are now waiting for the Auditor-General's report.
Aussie Censorship - Online, Offline, And Everything In Between!
Child "Experts" Push To Ban Soft Porn From Newsagents, Service Stations
Fairfax's Media's Mary-Anne Toy broke the story, and we're following up...
Dozens of Australian "child experts" are calling for a ban on the sale of porn magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse and other soft porn material from newsagents, milkbars, convenience stores, supermarkets and petrol stations. No, we're kidding you not.
The group (sounds like a cult or sorts) has requested censorship ministers (Hello again, Mr Conroy) to review the rules on which the so-called lads' mags such as People, The Picture, Ralph and Zoo are reviewed, saying they are increasingly explicit and contributing to the sexualisation of children.
A letter to the standing committee of attorneys-general/censorship ministers signed by a former chief justice of the Family Court, Alastair Nicholson, the chief executive of World Vision, Tim Costello, academics, child professionals and advocates states such material should be restricted to adults-only premises.
They are particularly disturbed by the prevalence of "teen sex" magazines featuring women apparently aged more than 18 but looking younger and styled with braces and pigtails but in highly sexualised poses and sometimes performing sex acts.
Gambling911 readers may recall the hugely popular Maxim poker babes feature. Maxim was not named by the clan, but we suspect they are not fans of poker babes Maxim style. Did we mention Jenny Woo, Pam Anderson, Rebecca Liggero, Bessie Bardot, Paris Hilton, and PartyPoker - PartyGaming sponsored Kara Scott, are competing for this month's Media Man Poker Babe Of The Month Award! Seemed timely to give you the heads up.
Julie Gale, director of the lobby group Kids Free 2B Kids, said easy access to the internet meant young people were experiencing unprecedented exposure to porn images, voluntarily or involuntarily. "But allowing pornography and overtly sexualised images to be sold in the public arena with easy access for children and teens tells them that this is acceptable. It gives it public validation."
Another campaigner, Catherine Manning of Say No 4 Kids, sent a petition with 8000 signatures to the attorneys-general calling for tighter restrictions. Many shops segregated adult material but others did not, she said.
"Exposure to adult sexualised material can send the wrong message to children about what's expected of them as adults. Girls think they should behave like 'porn stars' and boys expect them to."
Friends, coincidence or not in the timing of a proposed Australian internet filter and the calling of banning of soft porn in suburban shops et al? Does the Australian government think the public are totally stupid?
What's Really At Stake? American Living Legend Jesse Ventura Speaks Out...
Thanks to our friends at RT.com (Autonomous Nonprofit Organization)
http://www.rt.com
we have secured the following in writing...
We are being watched more than ever in the US
“There are many of us who don’t believe the status quo of what we’ve been told,” acknowledged former governor of the state of Minnesota, actor and TV host Jesse Ventura in an exclusive interview with RT.
Ventura, who has had explosive encounters with the American mainstream media, called it “soundbite news” and said it cannot be trusted at all.
“Major news organizations have really become almost monopolized. The media today is in creating news rather than reporting it. And that’s very dangerous,” he said.
Jesse Ventura shared that “the Internet is getting super powerful now, and that is what the government has to control next.”
The ex-governor warned that “Whenever government says ‘to keep you safe’ – get ready, because you are going to lose your freedoms.”
Summary: Australian, Canadian and American Readers - What Next?
If you are unhappy with your state and federal governments, let them know. Write, protest... you get the idea
Poker players and online casino players, it may be a good idea to become more familiar with the Poker Players Alliance, and become familiar with their associates in your region. Telephone and write to news media, including newspapers and television, but if your an Aussie, you might find more love with print, as Australian TV stations recently received a big payday courtesy of Senator Stephen Conroy's office and most Australian television stations have been very quite on the subject of internet censorship. The ABC, SBS (multi cultural, diverse and global) and Network Ten (covers poker) are most likely to listen to your concerns. Some talk back radio stations may also give you the time of day. Uncensored websites, bloggers and internet forums are a most effective way of getting your voice heard.
Media Man and Gambling911 recommend that you sign up for a multitude of online gaming accounts, be it PartyGaming, World Poker Tour, PokerStars, Captain Cooks, Betfair, BetUS, PKR... you get the idea. That way you have a number of accounts, so if one or more of them eventually get shutdown, or blocked from your countries "friendly" internet filter, you still have more choices. The late news... Full Tilt Poker investigation on the way in the U.S ...maybe scratch them off your "to do" list! Party rules ok, and I think no coincidence that PartyGaming is powering along and signing Government arm deals globally, most recently in France, as they were able to come to amicable terms with the United States government last year for the tune of $100 million or so. Next stop might be Canada, via way of a Canadian poker tour operation, and no coincidence that Media Man now has a Canadian Media Man website portal. http://www.mediamancanada.com
We encourage you to enjoy your "free" and "uncensored" (or thereabouts) version of the internet while you can.
In the coming weeks and months Gambling911 and Media Man will provide more details on how you can likely stop or reduce internet filtering and the "great firewall" when it comes knocking in your home town.
We leave you with more words of wisdom, just in case Jesse Ventura left you hanging for more!
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed (Charles Darwin)
We wish the readership happy hunting, and let's keep the bastards honest. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi USA USA Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company
*The writer owns shares in Crown Casino
References: Google News, Fairfax Media, Autonomous Nonprofit Organization, Tru TV
Website Network
Media Man
Media Man Australia
Media Man Canada
Media Man Asia
Casino News Media
Australian Casino News
Poker News Media
Global Gaming Directory
4/4/10
Media Man Casino - World Casino Directory - Global Gaming Directory Profiles
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World Casino Directory
Global Gaming Directory
World Directory
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Casino Reviews
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World Casino Directory
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World Directory
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Media Man Australia
Australian Gambling News: Tattersalls Complete NSW Lottery Sale, by Greg Tingle - 4th April 2010
Australia's gambling, gaming and igaming sector shows little sign of slowing down, in fact it looks like full speed ahead with James Packer's Crown Casino continuing to lead the charge.
Packer has been rumored to be eyeing off a part or full purchase in Tabcorp (owner and operator of Star City Casino in Sydney, and Jupiter's Casino on the Gold Coast), to name but a few.
Could Australian "protectionism" be coming into play? Is "protectionism" a form of racism, as a country aims to protect its own, and blocking out foreign nations in the process? Is Australia continuing down the China path, and who or what will stop the madness? So many questions, yet so few answers, as the Rudd Government sticks to its agenda and "stays on message" (just like the U.S Government did with its crimes against humanity relating to "the war on terrorism"). Jesse Ventura, Australia may need you to expose the truth. It's all good fodder for Conspiracy Theory.
Media Man down under and Gambling911 report...
Tatts Group Ltd says it has completed the acquisition of NSW Lotteries from the NSW Government. The deal is now subject to review by the NSW Auditor General.
Tatts said in a statement on that the acquisition has been completed, "and NSW Lotteries is now part of the Tatts Group".
The sale carries with it a 40-year exclusive licence to conduct public lotteries in NSW.
Controversy has swirled around the deal as it was revealed that Tatts bought the Lotteries with an unconfirmed bid of $850 million.
The bid allowed for the rights to the Lotteries' unclaimed prizes pool to be retained by Tatts, whereas other bidders advise they were denied the right to include unclaimed prizes in their bid.
The NSW Opposition and the NSW Green party now say, supported by advice from unnamed senior partners of two Sydney law firms, that the sale is illegal under the legislation that allowed the deal, according to reports carried by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last Thursday.
Announcing completion of the acquisition, Tatts Group said that Tatts Lotteries produced earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $119 million in 2009. Those are the sorts of numbers that even give igaming powerhouse, PartyGaming, a run for their money.
"The acquisition of NSW Lotteries is expected to produce an additional $120 million of EBITDA by 2014," Tatts Group said in its statement.
The late news...
We almost forgot, with casino fever at an all time high, Media Man has bit the bullet and launched http://www.mediamancasino.com It's not "white label", but a little birdie tells us its heading in that direction. Media Man management advise its hosted overseas "in protest to the proposed Australian internet filter and blacklist".
Gambling911 and Media Man International are recommending to readers that may be "down under" in the Asia Pacific region that if you enjoy games of skill and games of chance to sign up now to a few accounts, in case that may help keep online casino and online gaming accounts active, if or when the Australian internet filter aka "Great Australian Firewall" will spoil your fun. PartyGaming (inc World Poker Tour and its Playtech powered casinos), PokerStars, Captain Cooks, PKR and Betfair are some of the brands most popular in Australia.
Media Man tips that a device and "secret way" of circumventing the proposed internet filter is on the way, but its not "letting the cat out of the bag" quite yet, as the art of war continues between Aussie web publishers, media companies and the Australian government continues.
Media Man advises publicily that if the Australian government throws too much red tape at media, publising and internet companies, thus reducing productivity, revenue, income et al, that management may have to put promised job offers to Australian indigenous peoples via GenerationOne on hold.
Internet Snapshot Guide And The Idiots Guide to iGaming, Gaming and Politics
No one owns the internet!
The internet was invented in the United States and was designed to withstand a nuclear war.
Australians are some of the most passionate gamblers in the world, both at land based venues and online.
Cleopatra, Sinatra, Black Rhino, Hitman, Mission: Impossible and Tomb Raider are some of Australia's favorite slot games.
Crown Casino is home to one of the world's most popular and richest poker tournaments, Aussie Millions.
It is legal to participate in affiliate programs, casino affiliate programs and the like.
The Australian Federal government has some interest to regulate igaming and their Productivity Commission report is due to go public in approximately a month.
Senator Stephen Conroy have received at least one reported death threat over his censorship agenda, via way of internet forum, and reported in Fairfax Media.
Australia is now on the Enemies Of The Internet list complied by Reports Without Boarders
http://www.rsf.org/en-pays51-Australia.html
The United States administration has gone on record that it does not support Australia's proposed internet filter. The U.S, European Union and World Trade Organization are considering stepping in and urging the Australian government to seriously reconsider its stance on censorship. The censorship may cost the Australian and world economy billions, with media and entertainment giants such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Microsoft, News Corp, Marvel - Disney, DC Comics, Sony, Apple, Dell, Virgin Enterprises Limited, Paramount Pictures, Playboy, Penthouse, FHM, UFC, World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, ESPN, SBS (and Gambling911), being just some of those likely to be adversely affected. Loss of income is set to result in job losses and the price of goods and services skyrocketing in some sectors. Some industries and brands may be forced to go "underground" and many "black markets" are expected to rise and prosper, and demand goes up for certain "vices". Consumer protection measures are likely to be lost should the Australian internet filter go ahead.
In closing, we think Australia's James Packer sums it up beautifully with his famous "Internet is like electricity", something Australian politicians have seemed to cotton on with pretty well of late.
Are we on the cusp of 'The End Days' aka 'The End Times', which Nostradamus gives considerable mention to in the quatrains, as the New World Order continues to take hold, or it just business as usual? 2012 is not far off, and soon you will be able to place bets on it! Readers, you be the judge, and bet with your head, not over it.
PS: Readers, thanks for your letters. Gambling911, Media Man and Plucka Duck (of Hey Hey "Chook Lotto" fame) appreciate each and every one of you.
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of industry vertical covered.
*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited
*Media Man is a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man Australia
Media Man Asia
Media Man Canada
Casino News Media
Australian Casino News
Australian Sports Entertainment
Poker News Media
Global Gaming Directory
Packer has been rumored to be eyeing off a part or full purchase in Tabcorp (owner and operator of Star City Casino in Sydney, and Jupiter's Casino on the Gold Coast), to name but a few.
Could Australian "protectionism" be coming into play? Is "protectionism" a form of racism, as a country aims to protect its own, and blocking out foreign nations in the process? Is Australia continuing down the China path, and who or what will stop the madness? So many questions, yet so few answers, as the Rudd Government sticks to its agenda and "stays on message" (just like the U.S Government did with its crimes against humanity relating to "the war on terrorism"). Jesse Ventura, Australia may need you to expose the truth. It's all good fodder for Conspiracy Theory.
Media Man down under and Gambling911 report...
Tatts Group Ltd says it has completed the acquisition of NSW Lotteries from the NSW Government. The deal is now subject to review by the NSW Auditor General.
Tatts said in a statement on that the acquisition has been completed, "and NSW Lotteries is now part of the Tatts Group".
The sale carries with it a 40-year exclusive licence to conduct public lotteries in NSW.
Controversy has swirled around the deal as it was revealed that Tatts bought the Lotteries with an unconfirmed bid of $850 million.
The bid allowed for the rights to the Lotteries' unclaimed prizes pool to be retained by Tatts, whereas other bidders advise they were denied the right to include unclaimed prizes in their bid.
The NSW Opposition and the NSW Green party now say, supported by advice from unnamed senior partners of two Sydney law firms, that the sale is illegal under the legislation that allowed the deal, according to reports carried by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last Thursday.
Announcing completion of the acquisition, Tatts Group said that Tatts Lotteries produced earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $119 million in 2009. Those are the sorts of numbers that even give igaming powerhouse, PartyGaming, a run for their money.
"The acquisition of NSW Lotteries is expected to produce an additional $120 million of EBITDA by 2014," Tatts Group said in its statement.
The late news...
We almost forgot, with casino fever at an all time high, Media Man has bit the bullet and launched http://www.mediamancasino.com It's not "white label", but a little birdie tells us its heading in that direction. Media Man management advise its hosted overseas "in protest to the proposed Australian internet filter and blacklist".
Gambling911 and Media Man International are recommending to readers that may be "down under" in the Asia Pacific region that if you enjoy games of skill and games of chance to sign up now to a few accounts, in case that may help keep online casino and online gaming accounts active, if or when the Australian internet filter aka "Great Australian Firewall" will spoil your fun. PartyGaming (inc World Poker Tour and its Playtech powered casinos), PokerStars, Captain Cooks, PKR and Betfair are some of the brands most popular in Australia.
Media Man tips that a device and "secret way" of circumventing the proposed internet filter is on the way, but its not "letting the cat out of the bag" quite yet, as the art of war continues between Aussie web publishers, media companies and the Australian government continues.
Media Man advises publicily that if the Australian government throws too much red tape at media, publising and internet companies, thus reducing productivity, revenue, income et al, that management may have to put promised job offers to Australian indigenous peoples via GenerationOne on hold.
Internet Snapshot Guide And The Idiots Guide to iGaming, Gaming and Politics
No one owns the internet!
The internet was invented in the United States and was designed to withstand a nuclear war.
Australians are some of the most passionate gamblers in the world, both at land based venues and online.
Cleopatra, Sinatra, Black Rhino, Hitman, Mission: Impossible and Tomb Raider are some of Australia's favorite slot games.
Crown Casino is home to one of the world's most popular and richest poker tournaments, Aussie Millions.
It is legal to participate in affiliate programs, casino affiliate programs and the like.
The Australian Federal government has some interest to regulate igaming and their Productivity Commission report is due to go public in approximately a month.
Senator Stephen Conroy have received at least one reported death threat over his censorship agenda, via way of internet forum, and reported in Fairfax Media.
Australia is now on the Enemies Of The Internet list complied by Reports Without Boarders
http://www.rsf.org/en-pays51-Australia.html
The United States administration has gone on record that it does not support Australia's proposed internet filter. The U.S, European Union and World Trade Organization are considering stepping in and urging the Australian government to seriously reconsider its stance on censorship. The censorship may cost the Australian and world economy billions, with media and entertainment giants such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Microsoft, News Corp, Marvel - Disney, DC Comics, Sony, Apple, Dell, Virgin Enterprises Limited, Paramount Pictures, Playboy, Penthouse, FHM, UFC, World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, ESPN, SBS (and Gambling911), being just some of those likely to be adversely affected. Loss of income is set to result in job losses and the price of goods and services skyrocketing in some sectors. Some industries and brands may be forced to go "underground" and many "black markets" are expected to rise and prosper, and demand goes up for certain "vices". Consumer protection measures are likely to be lost should the Australian internet filter go ahead.
In closing, we think Australia's James Packer sums it up beautifully with his famous "Internet is like electricity", something Australian politicians have seemed to cotton on with pretty well of late.
Are we on the cusp of 'The End Days' aka 'The End Times', which Nostradamus gives considerable mention to in the quatrains, as the New World Order continues to take hold, or it just business as usual? 2012 is not far off, and soon you will be able to place bets on it! Readers, you be the judge, and bet with your head, not over it.
PS: Readers, thanks for your letters. Gambling911, Media Man and Plucka Duck (of Hey Hey "Chook Lotto" fame) appreciate each and every one of you.
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of industry vertical covered.
*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited
*Media Man is a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man Australia
Media Man Asia
Media Man Canada
Casino News Media
Australian Casino News
Australian Sports Entertainment
Poker News Media
Global Gaming Directory
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