$28 Million on Red

I had the pleasure of having dinner with Gary Loveman a few weeks ago, who is the CEO of Harrah's entertainment. It's incredible to hear him speak about the exponential growth of the company in the last 10 years.

Interestingly enough, he mentioned that 497 of the top 500 gamblers in the world are most likely natives of China. In case that didn't drive the point home, he mentioned that a single Chinese gambler was responsible for a $28M swing in EBITDA from one year to the next.

While I don't seem to understand their fascination with gambling (and in this case, gambling excessively), you have to believe that this represents a huge opportunity for casinos and gaming overseas. It makes Macau look like the next Dubai, but with casino money, instead of oil. Actually, you have to believe that a lot of the oil money is going to gamble in Macau and not Vegas. Fortunately, all of the casinos sprouting there are going to need technology and services that they can probably only get in Canada or the US.

Now if only the price of Microsoft Surface could come down quickly so we can all be gambling on fancy multi-touch virtual poker tables, in the comfort of our own living rooms.

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