Cap Raise and Debt restructure, page-355

I used to think casinos cannot lose

1) licence is very valuable as it forms a moat around the business and keeps competitors out
2) casinos has probability on their side and will always win in the long term
3) they have hard assets like properties to back up the valuations
4) people has been gambling for thousands of years and will
continue to do so, it will never run out of business

but Star saga has made me realise the following

1) licence is very costly and it also comes with very strict regulations, in fact, the biggest banker or beneficiary is the government and not the consumer or shareholders, government will collect fees up front, based on turn over and also on profits… they will never lose
2) casinos, admit it or not is the fertile ground for money laundering. That’s the biggest slice of profit Star makes, punters are willing to lose 10-20% of their money if it can be washed clean…. But without that, no one is stupid enough to gamble their money away
3) management makes aggressive developments and stupid decisions which can cost the shareholders dearly
4) high gearing and potential cost overruns will cost them another one or two more capital raisings. Which means the share price will never recover above $1
5) if in the future digital currency is in play and cash banned, I can imagine them losing even more customers and more money