J. Albert Gamboa   LAS VEGAS – Gaming operators are revitalizing the 6.8-kilometer Las Vegas Strip straddling the towns of Paradise and Winchester in Clark County, Nevada into a more sophisticated entertainment zone. After all, the Strip pioneered the concept of integrated casino resorts. Although the Chinese special administrative region of Macau has surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the most lucrative gaming market in the world, Vegas is still on top of the game in many ways – with more visitors arriving every year, and any move by this so-called “Sin City” having an effect on casino operations globally. In fact, three of the four US-listed companies that operate in China are based here: MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corp., and Wynn Resorts Ltd. They do not seem to be threatened by the rising stars of Asian gaming, namely: The Philippines, with four integrated resorts; Singapore, which is limited to two casinos; and Japan, where the parliament recently passed a law allowing three domestic gaming licenses to be issued by 2020. But ironically, lottery games are illegal in Nevada because the gaming industry here does not want the competition. The Nevada Resort Association said: “The potential impact of a lottery on commercial gaming, and therefore the state’s tax revenue, should be well-understood before amending the state’s constitution is considered.” Compared to other types of gaming, lotteries do not pay property taxes or create high-paying jobs, nor do they have the direct and indirect economic impact of integrated casinos. Every effort to amend Nevada’s 1864 Statehood Constitution to allow lotto operations over the past 30 years has failed in the legislature. Back home in the Philippines, the House of Representatives is investigating alleged irregularities in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), a government-owned and -controlled corporation mandated to raise and provide funds for health programs, medical assistance, and charities of national character. The lower legislative chamber’s Committee on Games and Amusement chaired by Congressman Gus Tambunting has conducted hearings regarding the lotto and small town lottery (STL). Among the pending bills in Congress are HB 5026 declaring PCSO’s Philippine Lotto and STL as the solely recognized legal numbers games in the country, and HB 4324 requiring the PCSO to print lotto tickets on non-thermal paper to ensure that printing cannot be easily erased or obscured. Meanwhile, the Commission on Audit (COA) urged the PCSO to end the bleeding of its Keno online lottery game for allegedly racking up P4.3 billion in losses over the past dozen years. COA’s annual audit report said the PCSO has been losing over P350 million a year as Keno payouts have exceeded prize allocations since 2006 and should therefore stop it since it could lead to the “depletion of the reserve fund for lotto games.” Another controversy occurred when lotto ticket prices went up by 20 percent last week after the PCSO implemented a provision of Republic Act 10963, otherwise known as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. Bettors were surprised they had to shell out more money owing to the TRAIN-mandated increase in prices and a documentary stamp regulation from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. This was worsened by a shortage of coins for change, resulting in long queues at lotto outlets nationwide, and further aggravated by the Ultra Lotto draw last Friday with a big jackpot that attracted millions of bettors. Amid the changing rules and emerging competition, the gaming industry is still a safe bet in the Philippines, where negative attitudes about gambling depart from Filipinos’ actual behavior toward its acceptance and increasing popularity. Over the last decade, gaming has become a leading source of government revenues amounting to P170 billion in 2017 alone. During the Global Gaming Expo in Macau a couple of months ago, all eyes were on the Philippines following a moratorium on land-based casino resorts as well as new developments in the licensing of online gaming. The country’s dynamism in terms of regulation is expected to be a strong point especially as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has shown that it is open to adjusting and being flexible when it comes to operators, consumers, and stakeholders compared to Japan and Singapore. [email protected]