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Casino Execs Upset Over Chinese Gambler Story

LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas casino executives were shaking their heads Tuesday over a Washington Post story about the exploits of wealthy Chinese gamblers.

American-based casino operators are aggressively wooing Chinese smugglers and corrupt government officials to gamble in their Las Vegas gambling halls, the newspaper reported.

"There's a kernel of truth but a lot of exaggeration," said Harrah's Entertainment spokesman Gary Thompson.

That U.S. operators aggressively market to Chinese nationals is beyond dispute. But they also say that the idea they are targeting ill-gotten gains is ludicrous.

"We do what we think is prudent," Thompson said. "Do we know where every customer gets every last nickel? Of course not."

Thompson said Harrah's employs a Chinese vetting agency to verify the identity and creditworthiness of its Chinese customers.

"I don't know why Harrah's was lumped into this story," he added. "We're out of the high-end business."

Thompson also noted that the story claims Harrah's is opening an office in Beijing next month; no such opening is planned, he said. The story said the company has agents in five Chinese cities; Thompson said the correct number is three.

The two Las Vegas operators with the biggest high-end operations, MGM Mirage and Park Place Entertainment also have marketing representatives in China, but neither company's executives were willing to say how many people they employ in the world's most populous country, citing competitive reasons.

Park Place spokesman Robert Stewart said his company will write letters to the U.S. consulate on behalf of Chinese nationals requesting a visa to visit Las Vegas.

"It would say 'This guest has been invited to Caesars Palace for these dates,' " Stewart said. "The letter doesn't go beyond that. It's just a courtesy for our guests."

The company's casinos write the letters on behalf of visa applicants from other countries, and the letters are commonly written by noncasino hotels as well, he explained.

”We very much value our Asian customers," Stewart said. "They're an important part of our business.

Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown casino industry analyst Andrew Zarnett said Asian high rollers are the casino industry's most prized players.

"That's why Nevada's regulation of the industry is so important," Zarnett said. "The operators have to stay in line when it comes to competing for those high rollers to avoid antagonizing the regulators."

Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said that state regulators don't focus on the suitability of gamblers.

"Patron suitability isn't addressed in the regulations," Neilander said. "We try to focus on the junket reps, the marketing representatives. The junket reps are required to be registered, and we can address problems with their customers by dealing with them."

Neilander noted that most big-betting Asian nationals play on credit.

"I think the licensees look pretty carefully at who they're giving credit to," he said.

Gary Orton, deputy director of the control board's enforcement division, said that, to the best of his knowledge, the Chinese government has never asked Nevada officials to watch out for a national gambling with ill-gotten cash or credit.

"Our operators should do their due diligence," Orton said, noting that the should at least know the gambler's identity and understand the legitimate source of his money.

"It's probably too much to ask for them to know where every dollar comes from."

MGM Mirage's Feldman disputed the story's assertion that gaming executives were aware of methods used by Chinese gamblers to smuggle hard currency past Chinese customs.

"I think the reporter talked to some second- and third string players," Feldman said, noting that the anecdotal stories cited about large gambling losses at MGM were incorrect.

"Probably 99 percent of these kinds of 'big-loss' stories are exaggerations," he said.

One of the story's identified sources, Harrah's Las Vegas Asian regional marketing director Bill Chu, criticized U.S. government officials for denying visas to Chinese citizens who can't prove the source of their money.

''Our government is saying, unless they show the sources of their money, they're not going,'' Chu reportedly said. ''Well, as far as I'm concerned, let's put the dollar in the circle and deal. None of these people want to say how they got their money. They're rich, that's all that matters!''

Las Vegas casino industry insiders were surprised by Chu's remark.

"I wonder how much longer he'll be with Harrah's?" asked one, while another speculated that Chu must bring in an awful lot of business to get away with such an unguarded remark.

Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

Harrah's Entertainment spokesman Gary Thompson said Chu remains a company employee.

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