South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd saw its 2020 gaming revenue fall by more than half, which may be why the company chose to reopen its Seoul venue despite little improvement in the country’s COVID-19 situation. 

On Wednesday, Paradise announced that its December casino revenue totaled KRW42.2b (US$38.9m), a nearly 40% decline from the same month last year but more than quadruple the company’s November revenue. December’s gains were entirely due to table games, which quintupled from November, while electronic gaming machine revenue fell by more than one-fifth. 

December’s take brought Paradise’s full-year revenue to KRW335.3b ($308.5m), down 57.2% from 2019’s result. Table games were down 58% to KRW310.4b, while EGM revenue slid 44.4% to KRW24.9b. 

Paradise operates four foreigner-only casinos, including the Paradise City integrated resort in Incheon, along with three smaller venues in Busan, Jeju Island and the Paradise Walkerhill in South Korea’s capital Seoul.