Mr Lawrence Ho Co-chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment confirmed his attendance at the International Gaming Awards (IGA) in London. Melco Crown Entertainment won Best Operator Australia & Asia for the past two years and will be competing for the title at the IGA 2011. Last year the IGA ceremony welcomed some of the biggest names in the industry...

(Bloomberg) -- Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. Chairman Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, said it’s “crucial” that its USD 2.1 billion City of Dreams casino defies the global recession and has a successful opening. “We know the pressure is on us,” Ho said today in a Bloomberg Television interview in Macau. “The success of it will have major implications.”

James Packer and Lawrence Ho, two sons of billionaires, opened a USD 524 million casino in Macau in May 2007. It was a flop. The empty building was "eerie," the 31-year-old son of casino magnate Stanley Ho said in an interview. Three months after Crown Macau's grand opening, the two co-chairmen of Melco Crown Entertainment, its Hong Kong-based owner, decided it was time to "throw in a nuclear bomb," Ho said.

James Packer's Asian casino partner Lawrence Ho says its PBL joint venture made some early mistakes with its first casino project, Crown Macau. Mr Ho, son of casino billionaire Stanley Ho, said "Melco PBL didn't get off to a good start." "We went away from my original vision - which was a high-roller, six-star, VIP property - and tried to squeeze in too many slot machines", in order to boost profit margins.

A strong relationship with the government and a new direction for the Crown Macau is upholding the confidence of Melco PBL Entertainment's CEO, Lawrence Ho, in the company's future in Asia's Las Vegas. Earlier this month Melco PBL announced a [[USD]] 142 million loss for the nine months ending September 30.

Stanley Ho (Founder and managing director SJM): The elusive billionaire had a 40-year monopoly on Macao gambling and remains one of the world's biggest casino operators, despite inroads by American companies, such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., that have cut his market share nearly in half. Ho is countering with more elaborate casinos, including the Grand Lisboa, which debuted in February, and two outsized casino projects, Oceanus and Ponte 16.

New York (Reuters) - A founder of payment processor NETeller Plc pleaded guilty on Friday to a conspiracy charge over the handling of billions of dollars in illegal gambling proceeds. Stephen Lawrence, 47, during a hearing before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel in Manhattan, also agreed to cooperate with the government. Lawrence faces a maximum sentence of five years on the conspiracy charge for his role in the operation of the payment processor.