Vegas Baby: Roll The Dice With Gambling ETFs (LVS, WYNN, BJK)

Right off the bat, we should admit that not all of the ETFs mentioned here are specific to the gambling industry. There is just one ETF devoted to casino operators and related fare and it has already been noted ETFs are often short on marquee casino stocks such as Las Vegas Sands LVS and Wynn Resorts WYNN. Still, it might be worth finding ways to play the global gambling boom with select ETFs. Global gambling revenue jumped to $419 billion last year from $397 billion in 2010 and is forecast to reach $448 billion in 2012 according to Bloomberg. It's not just about Las Vegas anymore. Arguably, it hasn't been for a while. Macau is the world's largest gaming hub followed by Vegas, but analysts expect Singapore will take the number two spot within the next several years. Maybe even this year. As the Bloomberg article notes, Cambodia is on the rise, too. With that, consider these ETFs as a way to beat the house. Market Vectors Gaming ETF BJK THE casino ETF is the Market Vectors Gaming ETF. For some reason BJK, which just celebrated its fourth birthday, has no legitimate competition. Las Vegas Sands and Wynn combine for almost 23% of BJK's weight, but this ETF is global in nature. Roughly two-thirds of the fund's country weight is of the ex-U.S. variety. A fair bit of that comes in the form of emerging markets as China and Malaysia combine for almost 29% of BJK's weight. Showing that investors are feeling better about the global economy, BJK has jumped 13% year-to-date, but the ETF would need to break through resistance around $36 to keep the party going. iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund EWS Singapore's gambling revenue topped $5 billion in 2010 and $6 billion last year, so the growth trajectory here is quite impressive. There are good reasons to play Singapore that do not involve gambling and investors need to evaluate those reasons because EWS is not a direct gaming ETF by any means. Financials and industrials account for about 70% of the ETF's weight. Said another way, increased gaming revenue should help Singapore's economy and that should help EWS going forward. iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund EWM Until recently, Malaysia has been part of the global gambling conversation. At least not for many Americans, but it's not Americans Malaysia relies on to fuel its gambling industry. Let's put it this way: If you're a believer in the rising economic strength of Asian tigers Indonesia and Thailand, than betting on Malaysia's gambling business makes sense because most of Malaysia's gambling "whales" come from Indonesia and Thailand. Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF ASEA ASEA is an ETF we've liked for a while and it's global gambling utility comes from the fact that Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand account for nearly all of the fund's country weight. A move above $16.50 could ASEA to new highs beyond $17.25. SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF DWX DWX, which currently yields 6.82%, is the "stretch" play on our list, but it does offer a combined weight of almost 10% to China and Singapore. And the ETF offers some exposure to another gambling destination that doesn't get much press: Czech Repbulic, which receives an allocation of almost 5% in DWX. There's no Czech Republic ETF yet, so we're turning to DWX. Prague has dozens of casinos. And you thought the romance capital of Eastern Europe was just for finding future swimsuit models...