South Korea’s largest private casino operator Paradise Co Ltd is under investigation by the country’s tax authority, although the reasons behind the probe remain unclear.

Last Friday, Korean media reported that the Seoul office of the National Tax Service (NTS) had launched a ‘high-intensity tax audit’ of Paradise, which operates four foreigner-only casinos, including the Paradise City integrated resort outside of Incheon. The NTS is reportedly building on a previous audit from 2017.

The media report of the Paradise probe came just two days after a possibly related NTS announcement of 38 suspected tax-dodging entities. Paradise confirmed the existence of the probe to GGRAsia but claimed not to know “the exact purpose” of the investigation.

Like most Korean casino operators – except Kangwon Land, the only venue that permits local residents to gamble – Paradise has suffered as a result of COVID-19’s sharp reduction in international tourist arrivals.

David Laka has won $1.6 million at the live felt, but he now has one of the most prestigious online titles to his name – the first of the 2020 EPT Online Series titles, too! Winning $143,567 for taking down the online event, Laka rode out a frantic final day of action on PokerStars to triumph in fine style.  

With just 29 players kicking off the action, by the end of late registration just 15 players were assured of profit, as the money places included just that number. Three registrations were permitted, with Laszlo Bujtas busting all three of his without profit. Others to fall by the wayside before the money bubble burst included Fedor Holz, Anatoly Filatov, Timothy Adams, Christian Rudolph, Sergi Reixach, Joao Vieira and Steve O’Dwyer all unable to ride out the rollercoaster of EPT gameplay. It would be Guntis Aleskins who would bubble the event, busted by Pascal Lefrancois, who would take those chips and run all the way to second place by the end of the event.  

Plenty more would have to leave before the final table was reached and they included Austrian powerhouse Matthias Eibinger with Christoph Vogelsang, Parker Talbot and Andrey Zaichenko also missing out.  

American player Chris Oliver was the first to bust the final table, losing the majority of his chips to Lefrancois, before he was joined on the virtual rail by countryman Jon Van Fleet. Finishing in 5th place was Croatian player ‘zufo16’, who cashed for $51,736, around $15,000 less than Russia player Vyacheslav Buldygin, who came 4th.  

Hong Kong authorities have disrupted an unauthorized online gambling operation that used ‘emerging financial technology’ to process US$64.5m worth of illegal wagers.

On Monday, the Cyber ​​Security and Technology Crime Investigation Division of the Hong Kong Police Force announced the arrest of 22 individuals suspected of involvement in an illegal online casino, football and horserace betting operation that has been active since May of this year.

Police estimated that the group handled wagers worth HK$500m in just the past few months through a variety of websites based in other countries. The arrested individuals, whose tasks included soliciting gamblers via online platforms, worked out of a number of high-end condos in Hong Kong.

The investigation, which was dubbed Operation Moonshield, said the organizers convinced an ever-increasing number of local residents to open online bank accounts, control of which would then be assumed by the organizers in order to move money between the gambling sites and their customers.

London’s Park Lane Casino is being sued by a VIP gambling customer just as the company appeals the recent suspension of its gaming license.

On Monday, UK media reported on a court case filed by Croatian national Juste Puharic, who claims that the Park Lane Casino reneged on a promise to pay him a ‘commission’ to bet large amounts at the members-only venue during a multi-day gambling session.  

Puharic’s legal team told the High Court that their client had been targeted by Park Lane’s VIP managers with an offer to match any ‘cash back’ deals Puharic enjoyed at other Mayfair casinos. Suitably incentivized, Puharic proceeded to wager a little over £27m at Park Lane’s roulette tables over a five-day period in May 2015.

Trouble was, Puharic ultimately emerged from this roulette rodeo nearly £1.5m in the black, leading him to conclude that Park Lane owed him £243,518, equal to a 0.9% ‘win or lose’ commission on his wagering handle that he claimed to receive from other casinos.  

Australian betting and lottery operator Tabcorp Holdings is apologizing to punters, investors and racing bodies after a technical outage cost the company around AU$10m in lost earnings.

Tabcorp’s TAB, Keno and Gaming Services operations went offline on Saturday morning and the retail, digital and telephone betting disruption continued through midday Sunday. The systems were shut down again Sunday evening for a full restart but were reportedly back to relatively normal by Monday morning. Tabcorp said it was doing its best to restore “optimal service levels in coming days.” 

Tabcorp issued a statement saying the outage was due to “a smoke and likely fire incident at a third-party managed data center in Sydney,” stressing that there was “no evidence” of any cyber skullduggery or threats to customer data. The data center in question was operated by Global Switch, which said “there was no fire” although “one customer had several servers and equipment affected.”

The outage could have been timed better, as it coincided with the final day of the Melbourne Cup racing carnival. The shutdown of TAB’s betting operations left many punters with no choice but to patronize so-called corporate bookmakers (Sportsbet, Bet365, etc.) although even these operations were impacted by disruptions to TAB-specific exotic wagers.

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Great.com CEO Erik Bergman is intent on changing the world with the help of the casino industry. Bergman is long considered a modern-day Robin Hood by the people who know him best, whose passion for fighting climate change has inspired him to reach out to the global casino industry to unite to take action in the fight against global warming. Bergman sat down as the first repeat guest on The Long Con, joining our Becky Liggero Fontana to talk about the inspiration behind his crusade.

Bergman has been utilizing his experience in the charity sector to help raise one million euros and then match that donation amount. Choosing the cause of climate change is something that Bergman carefully considered, reaching out to industry experts to understand the problem better. “I’ve struggled to really grasp what that means. A couple of temperature changes, what does that really mean? The water being a little bit higher, I haven’t felt connected really to that.”

Bergman makes a good point to how the vast majority of the everyday population would feel towards climate change. Bergman became motivated by the long-term impact that climate change is going to have on the world’s ability to grow food. According to Bergman “we will have approximately 100 million climate refugees by 2050.”

Genting HK has made good on its plans to launch cruises to nowhere. The company’s Genting Cruise Lines arm struck a deal with Singapore to offer the meandering cruises as a way to get people’s minds off the COVID-19 pandemic, and has now made a splash with its first official sailing out of the country, following a similar introduction in Taiwan this past July. There was apparently no shortage of interest, either, for this first trip. 

The World Dream set sail this past Friday on its first trip with around 1,400 passengers, about half of its maximum capacity and reportedly the maximum allowed due to anti-coronavirus policies. Those policies also include social distancing procedures in all public areas, increased food and beverage handling rules, 100% fresh air ventilation in the staterooms and public areas, as well as the ship’s inclusion of a new medical facility. That facility includes a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine, which can reportedly detect bacteria and viruses much quicker than other methods.

Apart from the PCR machine, all guests and crew will be tested regularly, as well. Before gaining access to the ship, all guests will have to pass a COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test, and those who are seven years old or older will have to carry a MICE Pod token, which monitors wearers to ensure they adhere to social distancing guidelines. That requirement stems from orders passed down by Singapore’s Ministry of Health.

The cruises are going to be short – only around two or three nights.  However, they should offer some much-needed relief and give people the ability to step away from the stress caused by being on lockdown. However, the cruise industry has often been seen as a breeding ground for the virus, with large quantities of people confined to smaller spaces where the virus can be propagated more easily. 

New Zealand will be expected to bounce back emphatically when they take on Argentina for the first time in the Tri-Nations Series. The All Blacks were shocked in an upset by Australia 24-22 in their last outing.

[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]

The New Zealand rugby public don’t enjoy their side losing, and two consecutive losses would be a tough pill for them to swallow. The All Blacks have not lost consecutive matches since 2011.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster gambled against Australia, with several changes to his side that the defeated the Aussies by 37-points in game three of the Bledisloe Cup. Playmaker Richie Mo’unga is set to play this week, with Beauden Barrett likely to return to fullback. Mo’unga scored 23-points in Sydney but was rested last week for the match in Brisbane.

The latest update from the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) for the AGEM Index shows a surprising downturn. The basket of stocks for certain gaming companies saw gains each month from May to September that ranged from just above 3% to as much as 14.5%, but the October results couldn’t keep that momentum going. According to the latest figures, the AGEM Index slipped 6.8% last month from September’s numbers, even as the gaming industry appears to be on a post-COVID-19 rebound.

The Index lost a total of 36.05 points last month, closing at 494.82. While the drop is significant in terms of recovery, it was only 2.5% lower than what was reported in October 2019. This would seem to indicate that gaming operators are still on the right track as they try to get back on course and recuperate recent losses. 

The biggest drop was seen in PlayAGS Inc, which lost 23.7% from September and 76.6% from October of last year. However, in terms of month-to-month performance, International Game Technology took the worst of it, with its stock showing a 26.2% loss compared to September. Year on year, its loss was 38%. Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. also took a hit with a 4.5% dip and forcing the Index to lose 15.96 points. Konami Corp. cost the Index 9.8 points as it saw a month-over-month decline of 10.4%. Transact Technologies added 43% from September, but is still down 42.2% year on year. 

Overall, of the 13 companies covered, eight moved down and five moved up from September. Of those that saw improvement, only one was able to report improvements in both prior-month and prior-year performances. Agilsys, which jumped 12.1% over September’s figure and 7.5% over that of October of last year. The others saw either month-over-month improvements or year-on-year improvements, or vice versa. Scientific Games Corp. falls into that category, seeing an 8.7% month-over-month slip, but a year-on-year gain of 32.9%.

New South Wales (NSW) have made wholesale changes to their side as they attempt to square the State of Origin series against Queensland at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

The home side were shocked by a Queensland side, considered to be the biggest underdogs in the last 40 years of State of Origin history. NSW were backed by league experts to overwhelm an injury-depleted Queensland side, missing several key stars.

Queensland were able to overturn a 10-0 halftime deficit to record a memorable 18-14 win in front of a partisan Adelaide Oval crowd, witnessing their first Origin game.

The Maroons will head into game two in Sydney with plenty of confidence, knowing more win will clinch the State of Origin Shield, stopping an NSW three-peat. The Maroons have been forced to make several changes to their starting side. Valentine Holmes will make his first appearance, after his return from the NFL at fullback. Dunamis Lui comes into the starting side at prop in place for Christian Welch, who was ruled out due to concussion protocols. Jaydn Su’A comes into the side at the expense of Cohen Hess.

Crown Resorts wants to put a new multibillion-dollar casino in New South Wales (NSW), but has put itself under the regulatory microscope, threatening those chances. With the casino operator being called out for multiple infractions, it is now considered “unsuitable” for a license, although it will most likely have a chance to turn things around. While it’s facing that major dilemma, Crown is preparing to get one of its properties back in business, and Crown Melbourne is expected to reopen this week after having been shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crown announced this morning through a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange that Crown Melbourne has worked out a deal with the government that will allow it to fire up the gaming machines and uncover the tables. As should be expected, though, the environment will be much different than what was enjoyed pre-COVID-19, with a number of restrictions put in place to help prevent the virus from spreading. While casinos across the globe have also implemented similar policies, some have been forced to shut down again, and the same fate might ultimately be seen at Crown Melbourne, as well.

Crown CEO Ken Barton says in the announcement, “We have been working for some time with the Victorian Government and health authorities to determine how we can safely re-open Crown Melbourne and have developed extensive physical distancing and hygiene measures to allow re-opening in a safe manner. We are pleased to be able to commence the process of welcoming back our employees and customers to Crown Melbourne.”

Operations will relaunch this coming Thursday, but there will be only ten VIP areas, each able to welcome up to ten guests. There will be social distancing measures in place, such as every second gaming machine and electronic table game turned off, and guests will only be allowed to remain in the venue for up to an hour and a half. In addition, each area of the casino will be required to have a “COVID Marshal” to make sure everyone is following the rules.