New Mutual Fund Bets on the House

Ahrens will stay on as the fund's "sub-adviser," which means he gets to focus on the fun stuff: Placing the bets.

"They're spread out over a few different areas," he says. "I believe in a concentrated portfolio. I would never want more than 40 stocks, but I'm diversified between Macau in the Far East and the U.S., between Las Vegas and the regional operators, between casinos, slot machine manufacturers and lottery operators."

He's put his biggest stack of chips on the Strip. "I like the big-cap names that are on Las Vegas Strip, and which have great exposure in the Far East," he says. His big bets include Wynn Resorts (WYNN Quote), MGM Mirage (MGM Quote) and the Las Vegas Sands (LVS Quote).

"The Las Vegas Sands is going to do very, very well in the Far East," Ahrens predicts. Not only are they in Macau, but "they have been given one of only two casino licenses in Singapore, and Singapore has said they're not going to issue any more for at least a decade."

He's also betting on controversial Melco PBL (MPEL Quote), the new Macau venture backed by the sons of Australian tycoon Kerry Packer and Chinese gambling king Stanley Ho. It had a big IPO last fall but has already taken a tumble.

"A lot of investors in the U.S. don't really understand the company," Ahrens says. "They try to compare it to Las Vegas Sands. But LVS is going to be mass market in Macau, whereas Melco's first casino is going to be called The Crown and it's really going to appeal to the high rollers."