互联网将成为博彩业的下一片新天地(3)

　　将网络博彩视为潜在金矿的，并不仅仅是博彩业的巨头们。正如对冲基金经理人马克·拉斯利进军博彩业的行为所示，华尔街那些“宇宙的主宰者”也在密切关注着这一领域的动向。2008年，由亿万富豪利昂·布莱克（Leon Black）、约舒亚·哈里斯（Joshua Harris）和马克·罗文（Marc Rowan）掌控的私募股权投资机构阿波罗全球管理公司（Apollo Global Management），与亿万富豪大卫·邦德曼（David Bonderman）运营的私募基金德州太平洋集团（TPG）通过一项高达300亿美元的杠杆收购协议，联手买下了哈拉斯娱乐公司（Harrah’s Entertainment ）。到目前为止，这宗交易看起来并不是一桩好买卖，但布莱克和邦德曼仍在努力运作，以图让公司东山再起。这家如今改名为凯撒娱乐（Caesars Entertainment）的公司已经向其在线业务投下巨资，并支持在华府展开的新一轮游说活动，参与进来的说客包括联邦调查局前局长刘易斯·弗里（Louis Freeh）。如果美国的在线博彩业能敞开门来做生意，那无疑会帮助布莱克和邦德曼这两位投资界的传奇人物走出困境。

　　译文

　　Two years ago Richard Bronson, a former Mirage Resorts executive, came to the conclusion that the Internet would be the next big thing in the casino industry. He co-founded U.S. Digital Gaming to provide software and advertising services to gaming operators and government agencies in the belief that regulated online gambling, especially poker, would eventually be introduced by cash-strapped states seeking revenue.

　　When it came to raising money for his venture, Bronson found that some of the richest people in America were keen to invest in his Internet gambling business. Bronson secured investments from billionaires like real estate mogul Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, and shopping mall magnate Herbert Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers. “They are all in it for the long haul,” says Bronson, who also signed up Robert and William Taubman, sons of billionaire Alfred Taubman. “Not one of them thinks this will be a sprint, they think it will be a marathon.”

　　The American land rush for Internet gambling is on and it’s being led by the richest people in the country in anticipation that a regulatory regime for online gambling is coming at either the federal or state level. The U.S. online gambling market has long been the world’s biggest, but for years it has operated in the shadows of the law and a disapproving Department of Justice. Prominent U.S. billionaires and casino companies stayed out of the business, leaving its riches for offshore companies like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Bodog. But now the casino industry is strongly pushing to get Internet gambling regulation through Congress and lawmakers in states like Nevada and New Jersey are also trying to get something done. It is widely believed that first-mover advantage will be key in seizing the Internet if and when online gambling gets regulated, leading to a mad mobilization.