Nevada Casino Revenue Down for Third Straight Month
The Nevada Gaming Control Board released November revenue figures last Friday that show another month of sub-par business for the state's casinos.
Nevada's casinos took in $721.5 million, down from $779.5 million in November 2000, representing a 7.5 percent decline. September's revenue in 2001 was down 3.2 percent. October was another low month, with a 5.12 percent drop.
A decrease in the number of baccarat players, the preferred game of high rollers around the world, accounts for a major part of the overall revenue decline in November. Strip casinos in Las Vegas saw a $44 million decline in baccarat win, which represents a downturn of 92.8 percent on the Strip and a 75.7 percent plunge for the entire state. These numbers indicate the state's overall casino win would have been down only 2 percent if baccarat were excluded.
Nevada's woes seem to be a boost to other gaming venues across the country, as riverboat and racetrack slot parlor revenues were up in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. November casino revenue increased by 10.8 percent in Illinois, 19.6 percent in Missouri and 13.9 percent in Iowa.
Exponential Increase Predicted in Wireless Web Use
Intermarket Group recently released its predictions for the wireless Web population. A stunning 18-fold increase is expected by 2005.
Europe will retain the highest concentration of wireless Web users, increasing to about 194 million by 2005. At the end of 2000, Europe had 7 million wireless Internet users. North America will play runner-up, with the 2 million wireless Web users in 2000 increasing to 89 million by 2005.
The Asia-Pacific region had 30 million people connecting to the Web via wireless devices at the end of 2000, and that number is expected to jump to 79 million by 2005. Latin America will continue to trail, but headway will be made with an increase in wireless Web use from just 100,000 in 2000 to about 52 million during the same time period.
Korea's Gambling Industry Has Record Year
An economic slump didn't deter Koreans from gambling last year, which is reflected by the country's 45 percent increase in revenue from gambling.
The Korea Leisure Industry Consulting organization reported gamblers spent 9.2 trillion Korean won, up from 6.3 trillion won in 2000. The jump included money spent betting on horse racing, cycling, casinos and lotteries.
More than 22 million Koreans bet on horse racing, cycling or casino games last year, which represents a 47.7 percent increase over 2000, when 15.3 million people participated in those same gambling activities. These numbers show that 48 out of every 100 Koreans were involved in some form of gambling in 2001.
The gambling industry is expected to increase to 11.5 million won in 2002, due to the advent of new forms of gambling and partial implementation of the five-day workweek.
Domain Registrations Decline; Cybersquatters to Blame?
Internet research firm Netcraft released a study this week that contains evidence that supports the theory that decreasing domain name registrations is a direct result of the fading popularity of cybersquatting.
According to the study, November 2001 witnessed a decline by 182,142 in the number of active Web sites. This represents only the second time in six years that fewer Web sites were registered than allowed to lapse.
Analysts believe the decline in registrations of domain names is primarily accredited to fewer people buying domain names in bulk in the hopes of reselling them for profit. Cyberquatting was a popular practice during the dot-com boom of early 2000, but has since slowed dramatically with the institution of tougher trademark laws and the ensuing dot-com bust.
Mike Prettejohn, director of Netcraft, said, "The decline in the domain name circulation isn't a bad thing as far as the Internet goes. It is a bad thing if you're a domain name registrar because you are seeing a decline in renewal income."
Most domain name registrar companies, however, have successfully broadened their product and service offerings to compensate for the domain registration slowdown.
Report Disputes Connection Between Tax Havens and Money Laundering
A new study using findings from the U.S. State Department, CIA, IRS, and Financial Action Task Force calls into question the widely held belief that countries identified as tax havens (those having low tax burdens and financial privacy) are directly linked with money laundering crimes.
The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation released its report entitled "U.S. Government Agencies Confirm That Low-Tax Jurisdictions Are Not Money Laundering Havens" today. The Washington-based foundation found that the opposite assumption is true: Dirty money is much more likely to be laundered in high-tax nations.
"This paper puts an end to the malicious stereotype that low-tax
jurisdictions attract a disproportionate share of the world's dirty money. It is time for politicians from high-tax countries to set aside their shameful demagoguery and put crime-fighting ahead of extra-territorial tax grabs," said Heritage Foundation tax expert Daniel Mitchell.
Ads No Help to Problem Gamblers Fighting Urge to Bet
University of Minnesota's Jon Grant and co-author Suck Won Kim studied 131 pathological gamblers of both sexes in an effort identify characteristics of people with gambling addiction.
Almost half of the pathological gamblers interviewed said TV, radio or billboard ads increased their desire to gamble and were enough incentive to maneuver them to the nearest casino. Those that were most easily affected by the ads also were also found to be the most likely to progress to problem gambling within a year of beginning the habit.
Participants in the study started exhibiting gambling problems after an average of 6 years of gambling, but the range was between less than a year to 33 years. Nearly half of the interviewees reported pathological gambling symptoms within the first year.