互联网将成为博彩业的下一片新天地--利记娱乐城转载

大佬娱乐城

两年前，前幻影度假村长官理查德布朗森给出一个结论：互联网将成为博彩业的下一片新天地。理查德布朗森创立了美国的数字博彩公司，为游戏运营商和政府机构提供软件和广告服务。鉴于州政府的财政困境，他认为监管网上赌博迫在眉睫，特别是在线扑克，它是拓展州政府财政收入的最有效途径。
　　在为公司募资期间，布朗森发现，美国一些顶级富豪对于投资他的网络博彩公司十分热心。布朗森最终获得了几位亿万富豪的投资，其中包括沃那多房产公司（Vornado Realty Trust）董事长，房地产大亨史蒂芬·罗斯（Steven Roth），以及印地安那步行者队的老板，百货业巨头赫伯特·西蒙（Herbert Simon）。“他们都是站在长远的角度参与进来的。”布朗森说。他还跟亿万富豪阿尔弗雷德·陶布曼（Alfred Taubman）的儿子罗伯特和威廉签署了投资协议，“他们没有一个人认为这将是一场短跑比赛，在他们看来，这将是一场马拉松。”
　　一股面向网络博彩的投资浪潮正在美国上演，引领这股浪潮的，是一些最顶级的富豪。他们预期，在线博彩的监管制度即将由联邦或州一级政府推出。长期以来，美国在线博彩市场的规模一直为世界之最，但这个市场多年来一直处于法律的灰色地带，而且无法获得司法部的认同。美国最知名的亿万富豪和赌场并没有参与这项业务，把这笔财宝留给了如扑克之星（PokerStars）、全速扑克（Full Tilt Poker）和博狗（Bodog）这类离岸公司。但现在，博彩业正在大力推动国会通过网络博彩监管条例，而包括内华达州和新泽西州在内的州一级议员也在尝试着做出一些成绩来。人们普遍认为，一旦在线博彩监管条例获得通过，先发优势将成为抓住互联网的关键所在，由此引发了一股疯狂的抢滩热潮。
    上周，地产大亨唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）公开表示他将加入竞争行列。他说：“我们留意这个行业已有些时日了。”特朗普进军在线博彩业的举动更有意思的一面在于，他的合作伙伴是对冲基金经理人，亿万富豪马克·拉斯里（Marc Lasry）。后者掌控的大道资本集团（Avenue Capital Group）管理着120亿美元的财富。鉴于特朗普最近跟共和党走得很近，而拉斯里则是民主党事业的坚定支持者（包括支持奥巴马总统获得连任），这对组合看起来有点怪怪的。但大道资本集团控制着特朗普娱乐度假村（Trump Entertainment Resorts），倘若在线博彩监管条例生效，后者将持有拉斯里和特朗普正计划创建的合资企业10%的股份。“我们必须参与进来，因为许多国家正在这么做，而美国则习惯性地错失良机。”特朗普说。

　　尽管如此，亿万富豪致力于在线博彩的合资企业并不总是如愿推出。拉斯维加斯赌场大亨史蒂夫·怀恩（Steve Wynn）4月份宣布了一项他跟扑克之星公司达成的合作协议，但当扑克之星后来卷入司法部的打击行动（司法部的执法对象是那些在美国经营在线扑克业务的网站）的时候，他不得不走回头路，终止了这次合作。怀恩尚未公开透露任何进军互联网的新计划，但他依然表示，他支持制定线扑克监管条例。“我们相信，美国境内缺乏网络博彩监管制度的局面必须要改变了。”怀恩今年早些时候说。

　　事实上，司法部针对扑克之星和全速扑克公司背后几位关键管理人员的指控，虽然令亿万富豪们十分恼怒，但并没有把他们吓退。在全速扑克公司成为政府的打击对象之后，斯特仙娱乐场（Station Casinos）的所有者，亿万富豪兄弟洛伦佐和弗兰克·弗尔蒂塔撕毁了他们跟该公司签订的合作协定。但兄弟俩于2010年合伙创办的弗尔蒂塔互动公司（Fertitta Interactive）依然活跃，刚刚收购了位于加州奥克兰的在线博彩软件开发商数码艺术公司（CyberArts）。“弗尔蒂塔互动公司全力支持美国联邦政府推出在线扑克监管条例。”洛伦佐·弗尔蒂塔在10月份发表的一份声明中如是说道。
   
将网络博彩视为潜在金矿的，并不仅仅是博彩业的巨头们。正如对冲基金经理人马克·拉斯利进军博彩业的行为所示，华尔街那些“宇宙的主宰者”也在密切关注着这一领域的动向。2008年，由亿万富豪利昂·布莱克（Leon Black）、约舒亚·哈里斯（Joshua Harris）和马克·罗文（Marc Rowan）掌控的私募股权投资机构阿波罗全球管理公司（Apollo Global Management），与亿万富豪大卫·邦德曼（David Bonderman）运营的私募基金德州太平洋集团（TPG）通过一项高达300亿美元的杠杆收购协议，联手买下了哈拉斯娱乐公司（Harrah’s Entertainment ）。到目前为止，这宗交易看起来并不是一桩好买卖，但布莱克和邦德曼仍在努力运作，以图让公司东山再起。这家如今改名为凯撒娱乐（Caesars Entertainment）的公司已经向其在线业务投下巨资，并支持在华府展开的新一轮游说活动，参与进来的说客包括联邦调查局前局长刘易斯·弗里（Louis Freeh）。如果美国的在线博彩业能敞开门来做生意，那无疑会帮助布莱克和邦德曼这两位投资界的传奇人物走出困境。

大佬娱乐城

译文

　　Two years ago Richard Bronson, a former Mirage Resorts executive, came to the conclusion that the Internet would be the next big thing in the casino industry. He co-founded U.S. Digital Gaming to provide software and advertising services to gaming operators and government agencies in the belief that regulated online gambling, especially poker, would eventually be introduced by cash-strapped states seeking revenue.

　　When it came to raising money for his venture, Bronson found that some of the richest people in America were keen to invest in his Internet gambling business. Bronson secured investments from billionaires like real estate mogul Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, and shopping mall magnate Herbert Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers. “They are all in it for the long haul,” says Bronson, who also signed up Robert and William Taubman, sons of billionaire Alfred Taubman. “Not one of them thinks this will be a sprint, they think it will be a marathon.”

　　The American land rush for Internet gambling is on and it’s being led by the richest people in the country in anticipation that a regulatory regime for online gambling is coming at either the federal or state level. The U.S. online gambling market has long been the world’s biggest, but for years it has operated in the shadows of the law and a disapproving Department of Justice. Prominent U.S. billionaires and casino companies stayed out of the business, leaving its riches for offshore companies like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Bodog. But now the casino industry is strongly pushing to get Internet gambling regulation through Congress and lawmakers in states like Nevada and New Jersey are also trying to get something done. It is widely believed that first-mover advantage will be key in seizing the Internet if and when online gambling gets regulated, leading to a mad mobilization.
   
Last week Donald Trump publicly threw his hat in the ring, saying “we have been looking at this for a while.” What makes Trump’s entry into online gambling even more interesting is that his effort includes Marc Lasry, the billionaire hedge fund manager who controls Avenue Capital Group, which manages $12 billion. The two make a bit of an odd couple, given Trump’s recent alignment with the Republican Party and Lasry’s staunch support of Democratic Party causes, including the reelection of President Barack Obama. But Avenue Capital controls Trump Entertainment Resorts, which will own 10% of the joint venture Lasry and Trump are planning if online gambling regulation comes into effect. “This has to happen because many other countries are doing it and like usual the U.S. is just missing out,” Trump said.

　　Still, billionaire joint ventures for online gambling don’t always work out as planned. Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn announced a deal in April that he had struck with PokerStars, but had to backtrack and terminate the partnership days later when PokerStars got caught up in the Justice Department’s crackdown on online poker firms operating U.S. facing web sites. Wynn has not publicly disclosed any new plans for the Internet, but he has said that he supports online poker regulation. “We are convinced that the lack of regulation of Internet gaming within the U.S. must change,” Wynn said earlier this year.

　　Indeed, billionaires who were burned by the Justice Department’s indictment of some of the key executives behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have not been scared away from online gambling. Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, billionaire brothers who own Station Casinos, ripped up their partnership agreement with Full Tilt following the government crackdown on Full Tilt. But Fertitta Interactive, a company the brothers co-founded in 2010, is still going strong and just purchased CyberArts, an Oakland, Calif., outfit that produces online gambling software. “Fertitta Interactive fully supports the federal regulation of online poker in the United States,” Lorenzo Fertitta said in a statement in October.

　　It is not just the casino titans who are looking at Internet gambling as a potential goldmine. As Lasry’s move into this game shows, Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe are also paying close attention. In 2008 private equity firm Apollo Global Management, run by billionaires Leon Black, Joshua Harris and Marc Rowan, joined with TPG, the buyout shop run by billionaire David Bonderman, to purchase Harrah’s Entertainment in a massive $30 billion leveraged buyout. The deal has so far not been a good one, but Black and Bonderman are still trying to make it work. The company, now called Caesars Entertainment, has been investing heavily in its online operations and backing a new Washington D.C. lobbying effort that includes former FBI Director Louis Freeh. If online gambling in the U.S. opens for business, it would certainly help Black and Bonderman, two investing legends, get out of a tough spot.