Vietnamese authorities have deported seven South Korean nationals caught running an online gambling ring.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that South Korean police were heralding the speedy extradition of the seven-member gang, who were caught running an illegal online sports betting ring in Hanoi.

Acting on a tip, South Korea’s National Police Agency alerted their Vietnamese counterparts to the existence of the ring, which is believed to have handled wagers totaling KRW 10b (US $8.2m). Vietnamese police pounced, arresting all seven members and seizing computers, cell phones and betting records.

The two countries recently agreed to cooperate more fully on such investigations and this bust represents the first test of the new partnership. An NPA official couldn’t have been happier, noting that an extradition process that used to take over a month was accomplished in just two days.

A new study demonstrates that audio-visual stimuli can influence riskier gambling choices, at least, in rats.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) say they managed to convince rats to make riskier choices after adding light and sound cues to a ‘rat casino.’ The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, also showed that the administration of dopamine receptors was able to correct this behavior, suggesting possible future treatments for problem gamblers.

For a few years now, the UBC researchers have been running their ‘rat casino,’ which features a slot machine-style device that enables rats to win a variable number of sugar pellets with the pull of a lever. Some levers return a greater number of pellets when they do pay out, but most of the time they don’t pay out anything while imposing a ‘time out’ on the use of any lever. Most of the rat gamblers learn to avoid these options in favor of the low-risk, low-reward levers.

For their latest study, the researchers added light and sound cues, with the larger payouts accompanied by a corresponding rise in audio-visual stimuli. The flashy lights and sounds had the effect of causing the rats to more often choose the high-risk, high-reward options.

A new study demonstrates that audio-visual stimuli can influence riskier gambling choices, at least, in rats.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) say they managed to convince rats to make riskier choices after adding light and sound cues to a ‘rat casino.’ The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, also showed that the administration of dopamine receptors was able to correct this behavior, suggesting possible future treatments for problem gamblers.

For a few years now, the UBC researchers have been running their ‘rat casino,’ which features a slot machine-style device that enables rats to win a variable number of sugar pellets with the pull of a lever. Some levers return a greater number of pellets when they do pay out, but most of the time they don’t pay out anything while imposing a ‘time out’ on the use of any lever. Most of the rat gamblers learn to avoid these options in favor of the low-risk, low-reward levers.

For their latest study, the researchers added light and sound cues, with the larger payouts accompanied by a corresponding rise in audio-visual stimuli. The flashy lights and sounds had the effect of causing the rats to more often choose the high-risk, high-reward options.

The Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Pennsylvania has uncovered an internal theft ring that netted the scammers $419k of the casino’s money.

On Tuesday, Wilkes-Barre police arrested Robert Joseph Pellegrini, the casino’s VP of player development, on charges of theft, identity theft, fraud, conspiracy, computer trespassing and other transgressions. Also arrested was casino beverage server Rochelle Poszeluznyj and frequent casino customer Mark Joseph Heltzel.

Police said the scam involved Poszeluznyj collecting player reward ID and PIN numbers from customers when she took their drink orders. Poszeluznyj would pass on these numbers to Pellegrini, who would use them to make bogus reward cards, which were loaded up with free slot play credits.

The cards were then passed to Heltzel, who’d use them to gamble, while winnings were split among the three conspirators. The state police Bureau of Gaming claimed the scammers earned $418,793 in winnings from $478,100 in unauthorized free slot play between May 2014 and April 2015.

The Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Pennsylvania has uncovered an internal theft ring that netted the scammers $419k of the casino’s money.

On Tuesday, Wilkes-Barre police arrested Robert Joseph Pellegrini, the casino’s VP of player development, on charges of theft, identity theft, fraud, conspiracy, computer trespassing and other transgressions. Also arrested was casino beverage server Rochelle Poszeluznyj and frequent casino customer Mark Joseph Heltzel.

Police said the scam involved Poszeluznyj collecting player reward ID and PIN numbers from customers when she took their drink orders. Poszeluznyj would pass on these numbers to Pellegrini, who would use them to make bogus reward cards, which were loaded up with free slot play credits.

The cards were then passed to Heltzel, who’d use them to gamble, while winnings were split among the three conspirators. The state police Bureau of Gaming claimed the scammers earned $418,793 in winnings from $478,100 in unauthorized free slot play between May 2014 and April 2015.