Juntera

In Japan the other forms of legal gambling mostly suck. And all have the same high takeout. It is not right to say that they have a monopoly. Just objectively the slots they have here suck, and boat racing is totally rigged and sucks, the lottery is not for serious gamblers. Keirin is actually awesome but will always be super niche compared to horse racing. The other competition is offshore betting where the cops have really cracked down even though the law doesn't really support it. They are big on this as it cuts into their pachinko cash cow that they regulate; these pachinko regulatory positions are used as amakudari for retired cops. It also looks like they are doing something good after the horrible, dastardly fraud that happened to poor Shohei Otani, whose translator was able to obtain massive credit lines from bookmakers simply by touting his relationship! Regardless this strong competitive position allows them to take a long term view and re-invest in better facilities and more promotion which keeps the sport healthier. There is also a strong ownership culture for whatever reason. They also got lucky with the uma musume game. I still think long run the sport is slowly declining without some unforeseen catalyst. Some of the handle growth is just better economy/stock gains meaning big bettors bet more and also likely increased syndicate action. People are already starting to rotate back into pachinko/pachislot. On the topic of betting, in addition to the lack of bookies they also never have had good rebates in Japan. This is all smart and good for the system as it reduces pro handle and late odds moves, which are still awful and have gotten worse recently. Despite the higher takeout in Japan recreationals probably lose slower in Japan than in the US.