2018 was a hit-and-miss year for many casino operators, including two of the main foreigner-only companies based in South Korea. Paradise Co. Ltd. saw its revenue increase by 15.8% in the whole of 2018, while Grand Korea Leisure Ltd (GKL) – its main rival – reported a drop in casino sales of approximately 1.8%.

According to a filing from earlier today, Paradise Co. said that it had $570.6 million in sales across the entirety of last year. Its table revenue increased by 15.7% year-on-year to $532.41 million from the $460.1 million it reported in 2017. Slot machine revenue jumped 16.9% year-on-year, coming in at $38.07 million.

The numbers are the combined totals from its four venues in South Korea. These include Busan Casino in the southern port city of the same name, Paradise City in Incheon, Jeju Grand on Jeju Island, and Walkerhill in Seoul. The possible reasons for the increases were not made released in the filing.

Paradise City wrapped up its phase one last year when it put the final touches on more non-gaming activities. The resort is being developed through a partnership with Japan-based Sega Sammy Holdings and phase one carried a price tag of $1.4 billion according to previous information released by the companies. Phase Two is expected to open at some point during the first half of this year and will include, among other activities, the Wonderbox indoor theme park.

A warrant of arrest has been issued against Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada in connection with a fraud case filed against him by the company he founded, local news outlets reported.

The Parañaque Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila also ordered the arrest of Takahiro Usui, former president of Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment (TRLEI), for his part in disbursing $3.1 million to Okada, who has maintained the amount to be salaries and consultancy fees that were rightfully earned and properly processed.

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the court also ordered the police chiefs in the cities of Parañaque and Makati, along with the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, to enforce the warrant. Bail was set at PHP348,000 (about $6,650) per respondent.

Inside Asian Gaming reported on Okada’s statements over the weekend, who maintained that no fraud was committed. It was not clear whether Okada had actually been served the warrants.

Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) wants to stop the use of its brand in the marketing of Cam Ranh Bay, an upcoming resort in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

In a media statement, the Hong Kong-based casino operator said that promotional materials of the Vietnam resort contained what appear to be photos of the Duyen Ha Resort Cam Ranh, labeled as “Nha Trang Galaxy’s,” and with the ‘Galaxy’ name also written in Chinese. A mark was also used that Galaxy said was “extremely similar” to its own.

“GEG wishes to clarify that it does not operate any hotel or resort in Vietnam nor does GEG have any association with any of the existing hotels or resorts in Vietnam. GEG considers these advertisements to constitute a serious infringement of Galaxy’s intellectual property rights and is investigating this matter,” the company said.

Galaxy added that it was planning “to take appropriate legal action” against unauthorized use of its name and trademarks. It also called on the public to inform the company of such violations.

Talal Shakerchi leads the Day 2 field at the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship after the event became the richest $25,000 in history with 1,014 entrants on record with late registration still open until the start of Day 2. 

It doesn’t matter what window you peer in from; nobody needs a $25,000 buy-in event.

Water.

Air.

Another report from the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship in the Bahamas as Lee Davy sits down with the World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Chad Holloway, to discuss how it feels to play his first $25k buy-in event.

PokerStars PSPC Report: a few and far between moment with Chad Holloway Audio

3: Barrels from the World Poker Tour including a few big names winning side events at the WPT Gardens Poker Championships, a new app, and an appearance at the Palm Springs Film Festival for Walking to Vegas star Vince Van Patten.

It doesn’t matter how many ways I think about this one; I still end up with the same question – why did the World Poker Tour (WPT) schedule the WPT Gardens Poker Championship, now?

Today, I stood in the middle of the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) tournament area and felt the whip of the lash that hangs from the knuckles of a fantastic poker tournament.

I didn’t need to be here to feel the welt. PokerStars has worked on creating an event with the hook of all hooks for a year. We knew it was going to be the most significant event of 2019, outside of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

A snapshot of the build-up to the PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship in the Bahamas through the eyes of one of the few people playing in the thing. 

Had God’s hand reached out and grabbed the tail end of my journey from Atlanta to Nassau last night, The Hendon Mob (THM) would have gone into liquidation.

The greatest poker players this world has ever seen were sitting on my plane. The people chosen to figure such things out must have known I’m not worthy because I had the only spare seats.

What does that even mean – not worthy?