£1m EuroMillions Lottery Fortune Still Unclaimed
Posted on | July 28, 2010 | No Comments
Hong Kong Casino Shares Going Up
Posted on | July 23, 2010 | No Comments
Well, we like to have a flutter on the stock market here at Online Casino King, and occasionally we like to have a flutter on casino stocks- and the good news is that Hong Kong casino shares seem to be having a good run despite a recent slowdown in Macau’s gambling revenue.
Gross gambling revenue for June 2010 in the former Portuguese colony fell by a fifth from May (which admitedly was a record high) as the World Cup offered punters alternative entertainment (we think). Gross gambling revenue is the amount of bets minus the money paid back to winning players, and is a measurement of what a casino makes before taxes, salaries and other expenses.
June revenue cam in at 13.6 billion Macau patacas ($1.2 billion), compared to 17 billion patacas recorded in May, according to Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
The development of Macau’s Cotai Strip, the Chinese equivalent to The Strip at Las Vegas, is powering ahead again. If it hits critical mass- more tourists are likely visit Macau.
Sands China Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd are the 2 shares to go for if you fancy having an oriental punt.
Shares of SCL and Galaxy were both up 1.5%, (The Hang Seng Index was up 1.4% overall).
Macau Casino King Stanley Ho’s SJM Holdings Ltd was up 1.8%.
Wynn Macau Ltd was down almost 1% as Wynn ’s U.S. parent, Wynn Resorts Ltd said Wednesday that the Q2 operating loss for Wynn Las Vegas balooned to $17.2 million from $8.3 million a year earlier due to the continuing slump in Vegas.
The Las Vegas Sands Corp. has been losing VIP´s to the Wynn as Junket business moved over to the other casino. (A casino junket is where gamblers are flown to an area where legalized gambling is available and booked into a hotel-casino, both paid for by the junket company’s expense, in exchange for a slice of the gamblers’ losses. In Macau´s case, it refers mostly to the players who come in from mainland China).
Over the long term, these shares seem like a good buy. The economy in China is only heading in one direction at the moment, and we expect the numbers coming out of Macau to continue to break records. Personally, we are going for Sand shares- Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of Sands Corp. seems to be hitting a purple patch both with his Macau business and the opening of the new Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Stanley Ho, The Casino King of Macau, Orders Durian Fruit by Private Jet
Posted on | July 20, 2010 | No Comments
If you thought extravagance was oh so early 21st Century, then think again. The Casino King of Macau, Stanley Ho sent his private jet to Singapore recently to buy some Musang durian fruit (the best type of course)- according to a Malay paper called China Press.
Durian is known as the king of fruit. You either love them or hate them thanks to their strong (some would say revolting) smell. They are not allowed on commercial airlines because of the smell- which is not a problem for Stanley Ho of course. Mr Ho sent his personal shoppers on his private jet with orders to buy the melon-sized fruits. They obliged and carried back 88 (lucky 8´s again) valued at around 2000 Sing. dollars (or US $1,505).
10 of the fruit were for a gift to Ho´s pal and and fellow multi billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Any vacancies going on your Personal Shopper Team Stanley? Count me in please.
Happy Retirement, Paul The Psychic Octopus
Posted on | July 13, 2010 | No Comments
Paul the psychic Octopus has hung up all of his 8 boots and is retiring from predicting any more football matches following a 100% record through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The octopus´ Modus Operandi was as follows: he opened the lid of the container containing the flag of the team who he reckoned was going to win. It was simple and no one really knew how he did it. Except for the fact that he is psychic.
After their win, the Spanish wanted to bring Paul to a Spanish aquarium and offered a decent transfer fee but the Germans were a bit worried that he´d end up as a plate of Pulpo Gallego (Galician Style Octopus– a delicacy in these parts). Paul will be retiring from his “predictions”.
Happy Retirement Paul. Back your own country next time sunshine, we know you´re originally from Weymouth.
Bet with the Psychic Octopus Who Says….Spain to Beat Germany in World Cup Final Glug Glug Glug
Posted on | July 9, 2010 | No Comments
If you are thinking of having a bet on the World Cup final, don´t do anything until you have heard what Paul the Psychic Octopus has to say!
Paul the (now) world famous Psychic Octopus has chosen España to win this Sunday’s World Cup final.
Paul´s choice was broadcast live across German TV: the 8 legged Mystic Meg, has predicted Spain (or is it Catalonia borrowing a Spanish goalie with all those Barcelona players?) will beat The Netherlands and lift the coveted Jules Rimet trophy.
El Pulpo Rojo (as he is now known in Spain) has got behind Vincent Del Bosque’s side ahead of the match, dealing a big blow to the men in orange, as both football mad nations prepare to win the World Cup for the first time ever.
Paul has correctly predicted all of Germany’s six results, including their win against England, their defeat to Serbia, and their defeat to Spain. He also reckons that Germany will beat Uruguay for 3rd place on Saturday.
Paul is in fact an English octopus. He was born in Weymouth. And we´ve got a referee in the final! It´s all gone very quite over in Germany now, hasn´t it, eh , eh, eh?
He´s been advised against travelling to Spain if his prediction comes true, as the Spanish love a bit of Octopus washed down with a chilled white wine.
Sheldon Adelson Back on Top With the Singapore Marina Bay Sands
Posted on | July 6, 2010 | No Comments
Right- we are off to Singapore and the new Marina Bay Sands! Sheldon Adelson- the casino magnate who burned through more cash than anyone else in the Credit Crunch (over $US35 billion on the latest estimates) is looking pretty again following the opening of his new HUGE gambling and entertainment complex in the Island city state of Singapore: The Marina Bay Sands.
Looking over the old colonial trading route of the Straits of Malacca, the 1.2 hectare Sky Park sits ontop of 3 55-storey towers. As Adelson comments himself: “This surpasses anything I’ve done. It’s the best by the width of an ocean.”
The numbers are scary. It cost $US 5.7bn, It´s nearly a million sq metres big and its already pulling in record punters. The Marina Bay Sands is Adelson´s biggest single hotel and casino bet by his company, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and boasts 2600 rooms, a 600-table casino, 1500 slot machines, 2 theatres, art worth $US50m, 300 shops , a museum, an art gallery and a convention centre for up to 45,000 delegates. Phew…. And you thought the casinos in Macau were out of this world.
The Sky Park has gardens, a pool and a restaurant that seem to float in mid-air. Adelson hoovered up cash faster than anyone in history by building hotels, casinos and convention centres in America and Asia. His model was to build the properties, keep the casinos and sell off the retail space to pay off the loans. And things were going well until the Credit Crunch when the wheels almost fell off his model. He was at one time the 6-richest man on the planet, worth a staggering $US 40billion. At one point he was making over $US20 a day.
But then he started losing money faster than anyone else as well. Shares in the Sands Corporation droppped like a stone from around $150 to $1, wiping out most of Adelson’s wealth. At one stage, he was bleeding around $100m a day – que pobre!.
He had to shore up his company with $1bn of his own cash in loans and equity sales to prevent it going belly up. And he had to water down his stake from 70 per cent to about 50 per cent, just keeping control from the banks and other investors.
But things are again looking up. The Singapore Govt. is right behind him as they try and lure more tourists into the city and to get rid of its prim and proper “no chewing gum here” reputation.
As well as the new Marina Bay Sands, the City State has another casino licenced and is also on the F1 circuit. Ministers are hoping to attract 17 million visitors a year and triple tourism revenue to $36bn by 2015, raising GDP by 1.6 per cent.
Analysts already estimate that the casino at Marina Bay Sands is making over $US3.6m a day: an annual profit of $US1.3bn. And the Sands Corporation made its first profit in two years in Q1 – $17m, versus a $US35m loss last year.
You wouldn´t bet against him pulling it off.
England vs Germany World Cup 2010 Odds & Special Bets
Posted on | June 25, 2010 | No Comments
OK- it’s not been the best start from the men in white…unless they play in red! And they are playing Germany in red in the last 16 on Sunday. We’re expecting the usual tense affair when England take on their old World Cup rivals.And we’re planning to make it even tenser with a few side bets. The best we’ve found? Paddy Power who are offering a great money-back special to blow your vuvuzelas about:
Bore Draw Special – England vs Germany
In cas you need to cushion the blow if England fail to produce the necessary against the Germans in 90 mins, PaddyPower are offering you r money-back on 1st/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast singles on this match if it ends nil nil. A good insurance
And they’re offering the same special on the Ghana vs USA match as well.
Come On England! CLICK HERE
Do you have to accept the bonus at online casinos?
Posted on | June 22, 2010 | No Comments
One of the questions we are often asked here at Online Casino King is “Do I Need to Accept the Bonus when playing at an Online Casino”?
There are so many online casinos out there (that´s one of our aims, to make it easier to find your way through this maze and compare like for like). And the main promotional tool you´ll see is the “FREE MONEY BONUS”. That´s no surprise really, as everyone likes a freebie. But is it really a freebie- and should you bother with the bonus?
Well, the first thing we should just underline, is that you don´t NEED to accept the bonus. It is not obligatory. In fact, in some cases it is better not to take the bonus.
When you are deciding on an online casino offer, don´t use the bonus offer as your only criteria. Make sure you are satisfied that the casino is well run, is licenced, has the games that you want to play, pays out fast and has a good repututation. if you can tick all of these boxes AND get a huge bonus that suits you, all the better, but don´t just make a decision on this one factor.
So should you accept the bonus? Well that depends mostly on the games you will be playing. Most, if not all, bonuses require you to play a certain amount of bets before you cash out any winnings. Check what the terms are before you accept the bonus- it will be called the wagering requirement, or play through requirement or something.
Generally speaking, these average around 25x (in which case you have to bet the bonus 25 times before cashing out). A x10 requirement would be a good one. A x50 would be a poor one. Check it before you accept: we have seen them as low as x4 and as high as x100. On the the reviews at OnlineCasinoKing we always list the bonus amount AND the wagering requirement so that you can quickly compare (correct at time of writing the review, and we try and keep this as accurate as possible if the offer changes).
Also check to see if you have to play through the bonus AND your deposit or just your bonus. Avoid bonuses that make you play though your deposit as well.
Finally, check to see if there are any restrictions on the types of games that you´ll need to play to meet the wagering requirements. Most bonuses only let you play slots (or give you a penalty for playing higher payout games like blackjack). But they might not. Again, read the terms and conditions. Good luck!
Bet on the England Slovenia Game. plus More World Cup Promos
Posted on | June 22, 2010 | No Comments
England v Slovenia. 3pm UK time. Wednesday 23rd June 2010.
Tick, tock, tick, tock. The seconds are counting down to England´s crucial World cup game against Slovenia. If you fancy a bet, we have some good options for you (scroll down)- the bookies appear to be falling overthemselves to offer odds on this one, following all the usual handbag throwing and tantrums from the England camp (at least the French are putting us to shame on this area!)
Wayne Rooney has got to step up to the plate in this match, or it´s game over for England and Capello. And John Terry has been doing a lot of talking off the pitch. He now needs to be doing some on it.
England has a squad full of stars including Wayne Rooney: one of the best strikers in the world. Now that his mate Cristiano Ronaldo has started to motor, we are just waiting for the Liverpudlian to start his engines. The last time England did not make it to the last 16 stage of the world cup was more than 50 years ago. Their long suffering fans will be gutted if it happens again.
Before the start of the South African World Cup England were the clear favorites of their group but after a tie with USA and Algeria, all hopes are on the final pool game.
If Slovenia win, they will top the group. USA will top it with a win, but if England win the ranking will be worlked based on goal difference.
Now…on to the bets.
NO LOSE World Cup Bet for the 2010 England Slovenia Game
One of the best World Cup betting offers out there at the moment is 888 sport.
 The 888 World Cup 2010 Special- You Can´t Lose. If you win, you win! If you lose, you get your money back up to £20. Back Rooney to Score FIRST at 10/3 at William Hill
You get £30 in free bets with William Hill.
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Should FIFA Ban the Vuvuzela Trumpets From the 2010 World Cup?
Posted on | June 14, 2010 | No Comments
It’s the talk of the 2010 World Cup so far. Sure there have been some great games (Germany vs Australia), some poor games (France Uruguay) and some unwatchable games (England USA, er Bobby Green anyone?), but the real talk of the 2010 WC so far is those trumpets, horns, whatever you want to call them- the Vuvuzela.
The local fans love them, the visiting fans love them (some of them anyway), but the rest of the world seems to hate them. Players, commentators, and most of all fans watching on tv have all complained about the monotonous hornet buzz that is supposedly ruining player’s concentration and making it impossible for viewers around the globe to get any sense of the atmosphere inside the stadium.
So should FIFA ban them?
Well, let’s try and be fair here and look at the argument from both sides
FOR the Vuvuzelas
- The Vuvuzelas are giving the South Africa World cup a different flavour. It’s part of the South African football culture to use Vuvuzelas, so they should be part and parcel of the World Cup.
- Er. That’s it.
AGAINST the Vuvuzelas
- Fans around the world can’t hear anything on their TVs apart from the continual droning of vuvuzela horns.
- The players are complaining that they cannot concentrate on the pitch and they can’t sleep at night.
- The commentary is being drowned out.
The biggest seller in South Africa at the moment after Vuvuzelas? Earplugs- named VuvuStop.
What do we think? Ban them. They are ruining the whole tournament for people watching around the world. FIFA have got to remember that this is a WORLD Cup- it’s for all nations to enjoy. If the World doesn’t want the Vuvuzela, sit up and take notice!
We don’t buy the “African tradition” line. It’s a British “cultural” tradition to drink 10 pints of lager during a game of football and sing drunkenly all the way through the match with no shirts on, but I am sure if England, Scotland, Wales or N. Ireland hosted the World Cup, then this would be banned by FIFA because (rightly so) it impacts on everyone else’s enjoyment of the tournament. Comments please…..
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