The casino and gaming industry is booming — especially in Macau — and 2012 looks to be a record year, MGM Resorts International

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[MGM  Loading...      ()   ] CEO Jim Murren said Wednesday.

Macau represents a $35 billion casino gambling market, which would grow to $50 billion five years from now, Murren said in an exclusive “Fast Money” interview.

“We want to build another property there and we do expect to spend $2½ billion because we think the markets are going to be there for us, and our brands work in China,” Murren said.

MGM shares closed at $13.77, down 3 percent, after it blamed high costs for fourth-quarter losses. But Murren was bullish on the industry’s prospects.

“Believe it or not, after what the market’s been through, we’re going to have all-time record visitation in Las Vegas in 2012,” he said.

Murren said he was “very confident” online gambling laws would pass on the federal level and urged the government to react to the multibillion-dollar industry. If it doesn’t pass, Murren said it was likely legislation would occur on a state-by-state basis.

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“It is a multibillion-dollar opportunity,” he said. “We’ll be one of the first companies out of the gate because we’re prepared.”

Besides online gambling, MGM would benefit from a venture into the social media sphere, Murren said.

Although the company has not publicized details about the initiative, Murren said it would launch in May.

“Think of Farmville meets Las Vegas,” he said, referring to the popular Facebook-based game by Zynga. “I think this is the year where the gamers are going to start merging with the gaming industry, and you’re going to see ‘Farmville on the Strip.’”

In Las Vegas, MGM’s City Center project faced uncertainty after the financial crisis yet managed to avert catastrophe, he said.

“Instead, we finished it in 2009. We’re employing 10,000 men and women today, and we’re making more money every quarter,” Murren said. “It’s a pretty remarkable story of resiliency and recovery.”

The facility’s convention spaces are booked for the year, and City Center now represents the third-most profitable property in the MGM portfolio, he said; “And I bet it’ll become the most profitable one within the next two to three years.”

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