Shareholders of Publishing and Broadcasting voted to approve the company’s split into separate gaming and publishing arms. PBL, controlled by Australia’s richest man, James Packer, has been expanding its interests in the lucrative gaming sector while cutting back its media interests. Under the split plan, which won 98 percent shareholder support, PBL will house its casino and international gaming assets in a company called Crown...
Crown Casino was fined AUD 35,000 last month for conducting card games without a full deck and breaking the rules of other games conducted at the Southbank complex. The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation fined the casino on four breaches of the Casino Control Act 1991. In a statement posted on the commission's website, it outlined the breaches and reasons for the fines, which dated to September, 2006. Games played at Crown that breached the rules included: three games of Texas Hold 'em Poker, a game of Blackjack, a game of Crown Pontoon, and a game of Pai Gow.
PBL'S Crown Casino in Melbourne and its Burswood Casino in Perth will be used to guarantee a bond issue to help prop up the price of listed US company Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau), it emerged yesterday. James Packer's company plans to raise up to USD 250 million (AUD 290 million) in exchange tradeable bonds, as part of a move to to bolster the price of the Macau company, which has been badly hit in recent weeks by visa restrictions being imposed on gamblers by the Chinese Government.
A Melbourne man who enticed Crown Casino croupiers into a conspiracy to cheat the gambling mecca was jailed today for at least six months. Alexus Benetton, 42, approached three croupiers at the Melbourne casino between June and August 2003, Judge Joe Gullaci said today. He convinced the Crown employees to pay out losing bets and then paid them commissions.
The Victorian government has defended its decision to continue to allow high rollers to smoke at Crown Casino, despite state-wide bans for all other venues that start on Sunday. From July 1, smoking will be banned in all enclosed licensed pubs, clubs, bars and gaming rooms across Victoria - except high-roller rooms at Crown in Melbourne.
Crown Casino should either ensure money from big spenders is legitimate or be forced to compensate victims of crime for ill-gotten gains gambled by criminals, a Victorian judge says. County Court Judge Frank Dyett made the remarks as he sentenced Heather MacNeil-Brown, 63, to six years' jail - with a minimum non-parole period of four years - for embezzling almost AUD 1 million from the Australian branch of global consulting and accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
James Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd is poised to apply for a gaming licence in the US state of Nevada, an essential precursor to the opening of his flagship Crown casino in Las Vegas in four years. On Thursday the company announced it had bought a stake in a Las Vegas venture that has building approval for the world's second-tallest tower.
His father was a whale, one of the biggest Las Vegas gamblers of all time. Now James Packer wants to go one better by claiming a slice of casino action in NYC. Mr Packer's Crown Gaming is negotiating to become the casino partner of Australia's Capital Play consortium, one of four groups battling for the 20-year rights to operate horse racing at New York's three premier racetracks, Belmont Park, Aqueduct and Saratoga.
Shares of Melco PBL slid 6% Monday after the gaming company delayed unveiling "VIP" rooms at its first casino in Macau, which opened over the weekend. "Crown Macau debuted on May 12 with elegant décor and a packed mass gaming floor. But the VIP rooms have yet to be opened. Slow ramp-up of VIP volume would hurt market share in early months," Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang said in a research note Monday.
James Packer unveiled his latest AUD 700 million casino hotel at a lavish party for 1700 guests in the Chinese gambling mecca of Macau. Crown Macau, the newest foreign addition to Macau's thriving gambling industry cost USD 583 million (AUD 706.88 million) to build, and features a 36-storey tower with 216 hotel rooms, 220 gaming tables and 500 slot machines.
As James Packer prepares to showcase his first international casino venture - the AUD 760 million Crown Macau casino - on Wednesday, his biggest rival, Las Vegas Sands, has dismissed the threat of competition. "I've got to tell you, we really don't take Crown and its location and its product very seriously," said Las Vegas Sands executive vice-president Brad Stone of the six-star casino.
