AsiaCasino.com – ASTV's ON-LINE GAMBLING VENTURE
Asian Star Development recently launched AsiaCasino.com (http://www.AsiaCasino.com/), the first project arising out of a strategic alliance between VentureTech, Inc. and ASTV to provide Internet-related gambling services.
Under the terms of the alliance, ASTV will utilize its presence and reputation in Hong Kong, Asia and mainland China to assist in the marketing and exposure of the interactive gaming web site while VentureTech will operate and maintain the website. Asian Star and VentureTech will share net operating revenues.
biz.yahoo.com
AsiaCasino.com offers more than 25 exciting casino games (including blackjack, poker, roulette, baccarat and craps) plus exotic games such as Pai Gow, Sic Bo and Caribbean Poker. The Asia Casino Sportsbook allows betting on all of the major leagues plus other worldwide sporting events, in addition to providing Asian residents with access to real time betting lines from Las Vegas.
Asian Star Development's management has not made any projections of revenues or earnings from its Internet gambling venture. However, there are a number of independent, third-party studies on the potential size of the market that ASTV is now a part of.
First of all, Christensen/Cummings estimates that there currently are about 25 million Internet gamblers; by 2001, upwards of 40 million people are expected to be gambling online. In terms of dollar amounts, Christensen/Cummings and DataMonitor estimate total worldwide Internet gambling revenues of US$811 million this year, increasing to US$1.52 billion in 2000 and US$10.2 billion in 2002. To put these numbers into perspective, last year Americans spent about US$600 billion on baseball, movies and Disney products.
The Asian gambling market is believed to be "an untapped gold mine" for online gaming, and that Internet-based gambling has yet to even break the surface of the prospective demand for at-home wagering in that part of the world. Much of the probable future growth will be in China; Computer Economics, Inc. reports that while there are presently about five million Internet users in China, this total will grow to 37.3 million by 2005, second only in usage to the United States. More importantly, total gambling turnover in Asia is the highest in the world, surpassing US$600 billion in 1997.
What Asian Star Development brings to the AsiaCasino.com deal is immediate credibility and understanding of the local culture through is regional business experience and connections. We believe that their involvement will go a long way toward assuring Asian players that when they visit AsiaCasino.com, that they are gambling in a legitimate, enjoyable and honorable casino environment.
Together, Asian Star Development and Venture Tech are confident of gaining a significant share of the as-yet untapped online gambling market in China and other parts of Asia.
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