Major U.S. move into UK market

[jetset]

OWNERS OF THE VENETIAN INK DEAL FOR UK ONLINE CASINO AND POKER ROOM WITH CANTOR GAMING

Vegas giant has UK online gambling market firmly in its sights

The latest move by Las Vegas Sands, the major Vegas gambling group that owns The Venetian, Sands, Palazzo and Paiza land brands will cause ripples in the online gambling pond for sure - it has commissioned Cantor Gaming to launch an online casino and poker site initially aimed at serving the United Kingdom market. The site is anticipated to be launched during the second quarter of 2007.

According to RTT News, turnkey provider Cantor Gaming, an affiliate of the global financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald is the company that has secured the deal to provide a top notch online gambling service targeted on Great Britain, enabling Las Vegas Sands to take the lead in entering a market that has more legal and business potential than the restricted opportunities in the USA following the UIGEA.

Cantor Gaming will provide a complete online casino and poker destination featuring Las Vegas Sands brands, including The Venetian, Sands, Palazzo, and Paiza.

Las Vegas Sands has revealed that the online site will offer the most popular casino games, including blackjack, roulette, baccarat, video poker, slots and online poker.

The site, which will be operated in compliance with the laws of Alderney, British Channel Islands will not accept U.S. customers. The recently passed legislation (UIGEA) makes it illegal for banks to handle betting transactions to online gambling sites from the US residents.

The current deal marks the second partnership between Las Vegas Sands and Cantor Fitzgerald. Earlier in May, Las Vegas Sands' casino resort The Venetian, announced its plans to provide mobile gaming based upon Cantor technology.

Commenting on the deal, Bill Weidner, president and COO of Las Vegas Sands said, "As the internet gaming landscape continues to evolve this effort will put us in a strong position to evaluate and react to other potential opportunities."

Reports indicate that of the estimated $12 billion in annual revenue generated by online gambling in 2005, about 50 percent was contributed by American players. The online gaming industry lost $7 billion in market capitalization in one day after the Congress enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

 

[dominique]

And the plot continues to thicken....

 

[silcnlayc]

The ground work is being layed.

enabling Las Vegas Sands to take the lead in entering a market that has more legal and business potential than the restricted opportunities in the USA following the UIGEA.

Any B&M casino that does this will be ready for when the ban is lifted and will be in a position to beat all others to the puch...

 

[Casinomeister]

Hmmm...

Let me gaze into the future into the Crystal-meister ball...

Ah yes, it seems clearer...I see the Sands CEO changing planes at Heathrow - a brief stopover on the way to Alderney. He's checking into BA's First Class lounge when he's apprehended by Scotland Yard. Thrown into the Old Bailey in chains just in spite....it's fading now...

 

[GrandMaster]

Hmmm...

Let me gaze into the future into the Crystal-meister ball...

Ah yes, it seems clearer...I see the Sands CEO changing planes at Heathrow - a brief stopover on the way to Alderney. He's checking into BA's First Class lounge when he's apprehended by Scotland Yard. Thrown into the Old Bailey in chains just in spite....it's fading now...

The Old Bailey is the Central Criminal Court, it is not a prison. The Tower of London would be a good place to imprison someone.

 

[Casinomeister]

The Old Bailey is the Central Criminal Court, it is not a prison. The Tower of London would be a good place to imprison someone.

Stupid crystal ball - I knew I paid too much for the damn thing.

 

[Simmo!]

Stupid crystal ball - I knew I paid too much for the damn thing

Throw it at Grandmaster


OK - excuse my ignornace, Cantor Gaming is a casino software provider? Seems a strange move if they are.

 

[jetset]

Here's what Associated Press has to say:


Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. surged Monday after the casino operator reached a deal to launch an online casino and poker Web site for the United Kingdom market.

The agreement between a Las Vegas Sands affiliate and Cantor Gaming, an affiliate of bond brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, will build a Web site featuring games such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, video poker, slots and online poker. The site will use Las Vegas Sands brands including The Venetian, Sands, Palazzo, and Paiza.

While the site will not accept U.S. customers because of laws against cyber-gambling, the company did not say if it would accept bets from other countries either. It is expected to launch next year.

Analyst Celeste Mellet Brown of Morgan Stanley sees the agreement as a way for Las Vegas Sands to capitalize on any change in the current ban on U.S. Internet gambling.

"If Las Vegas Sands can show that it can successfully identify customers and put socially responsible policies in place, then it would be in a strong position to argue the merits of a new regulatory framework," the analyst said.

Brown sees the deal giving Las Vegas Sands exposure to the Internet gaming market as well as a modest boost to near-term earnings.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands gained $5.91, or 6.5 percent to $96.61 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Earlier in the session, shares hit a new 52-week high of $96.97.

Note for Simmo: Cantor is an associate of the famous New York financial and brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald and has been involved in the online business for two or three years now. FHM Casino is one of their's.

They take on turnkey online casino projects, but also have an important business running whereby they will be competing with other companies to provide major land gambling operations in Vegas and Atlantic City with remote gaming wireless devices with which guests can gamble whilst on the premises ie at the pool, in the bar etc etc.

 

[Simmo!]

... the company did not say if it would accept bets from other countries either.

Don't reckon their chances much if they don't

Note for Simmo:
They take on turnkey online casino projects, but also have an important business running whereby they will be competing with other companies to provide major land gambling operations in Vegas and Atlantic City with remote gaming wireless devices with which guests can gamble whilst on the premises ie at the pool, in the bar etc etc.

Thanks Jet but still a little unclear. Does this mean they could potentially source the games from a third party like MG, RTG etc or does it mean they will build their own?

 

[jetset]

Essentially, Cantor Gaming provides a white label deal, using gambling software from G.M.E.I. (Gaming and Entertainment Group)

 

[jetset]

AMERICAN MOVE INTO U.K. ONLINE GAMBLING CRITICISED (Update)

"They've put a stick in the wasp nest to see what comes out."

The news this week that the major U.S. land gambling group Las Vegas Sands is to work with Cantor Gaming in entering the UK and possibly European online gambling market (see previous InfoPowa report) has not been welcomed by local industry, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Torbjorn Ihre, the head of public affairs at the European Betting Association, said: "It's hypocrisy and discrimination. These two words fit. This proves that the U.S. being open to competition is a false claim."

The move into Europe comes just a few months after the U.S. launched a major crackdown on internet gambling. British executives were arrested and the US Senate outlawed banks from accepting online wagers. Las Vegas Sands is specifically targeting the UK market.

One of the as yet unnamed Las Vegas Sands gambling site's potential rivals, Sportingbet, said it doubted the seriousness of Las Vegas Sands' UK plans. Andrew McIver, the chief executive, said: "They've put a stick in the wasp nest to see what comes out. They want to see what happens who comes to them and whether others will follow."

He said he was not worried by such a big name entering the market. "Not at all. I wish them all the best. They are a very good company, but their strength is offline gambling not the internet. It will take them a few years to get going."

Las Vegas Sands said that the website, which would not accept U.S. customers, would feature the companies' brands, including The Venetian, Sands, Palazzo and Paiza. The new site will fall under the licensing requirements of the Channel Island of Alderney.

Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Dennis Neilander said Monday he was aware the companies had been discussing an online gambling arrangement. Operating and collecting revenues from an online casino is not an issue, he said, as long as the two companies report the dealings to gaming regulators.

"When the system is set up, we'll test it to make sure that they can't accept wagers from U.S. citizens," Neilander said. "That's the main concern."

The Telegraph points out that Las Vegas Sands is not the first land casino company to explore online gaming. From 2001 to 2003, MGM Mirage ran an online gambling site licensed on the Isle of Man. At the time, company executives said the involvement in the Web site, which didn't accept wagers from U.S. citizens, was a way of proving online gambling could be regulated.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman later said the company ended the venture "because it wasn't a sustainable business model" without the participation of American gamblers.

 

[Casinomeister]

Torbjorn Ihre, the head of public affairs at the European Betting Association, said: "It's hypocrisy and discrimination. These two words fit. This proves that the U.S. being open to competition is a false claim."

Exactly. I wonder how they are planning to market their casinos.

 

[dominique]

They've put a stick in the wasp nest to see what comes out

Hehe, great title!