Popular South Korean TV personality and comedian Lee Soo-geun is fairly the gambler, it seems. huuuge casino mobile (Image source: asianwiki)
We tend, rightly, to think about North Korea as the area where nothing is permitted and any fun can be had by no one. But as it happens that inside their way more cousin that is seemingly westernized the south, the law comes with an iron fist too.
Southern Korea makes gambling illegal save for a couple of state-run and strictly limited opportunities. And yet, lately, a small number of well-known South Korean celebrities have risked it all for the sake of a quick gambling fix, and also have been caught red-handed by the authorities there.
Celebs Get Trapped
Among those caught up into the gambling allegations certainly are a well-known TV host/comedian, two A-list variety show hosts, and a former singer associated with the culturally popular K-pop variety. They’ve been now all under investigation for illegal sports gambling.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has announced that popular television comedian Lee Soo-geun has been summoned for questioning, based on suspicions that he wagered hundreds of millions of Korean won (1KRW is equal to approximately $0.93) on English Premier League football matches with a gambling website that is private.
Following news of the comedian’s so-called bad behavior, Lee Soo-geun announced their intentions to go out of all programs he is currently appearing on in order to ‘take some time to reflect,’ according to broadcaster KBS, just like show host Kim Yong-man did whenever he was discovered to be illegally gambling in April earlier this present year.
Kim Yong-man has now started making tv appearances as soon as again, therefore obviously he’s got finished reflecting on his conduct after being provided an eight-month suspended prison term and 120 hours of community service. And he even bet over one billion won that is koreanthat’s the currency, not a win) on foreign gambling sites.
Tak Jae-hoon, a television entertainer and show host who reached fame as one half of this band that is two-man Kko Kko, has also been called in for enquiry, based on the local media, again for suspicion of illegal activities gambling. The other half regarding the musical organization, Shin Jung-hwan, has also faced allegations of illegal gambling.
Under Investigation
In total, reports indicate that between six and eight popular South Korean television personalities are increasingly being investigated in link with unlawful sports wagering. Most notable among them all for the overall public may likely be Tony An, a former singer of the now parted hit kid band H.O.T., who was simply summoned final month for their alleged role within the wagering process that is illegal.
Operated under the direction of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Sports Toto is the only legal sports betting web site in Korea, plus the upper gaming limit is set to 100,000 won per match, whereas the illegal sites into the country have no such gambling limits and are also obviously not regulated by any government authority.
But celebrities aren’t the only ones whom need to be careful, as Yoon Ae-sook, a counsellor during the Seoul Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Centre, explains that on the web gambling addiction is now more prevalent in that country. According to the center, around 2.6 million Koreans have a gambling problem, which equates to a fairly high 7.6 percent of the adult population. That is significantly more than twice the rate within the general global population.
‘ As people can easily access the sites, the number of people who’re exposed in their mind is rising. Some lose billions of won regarding the sites,’ explained Yoon Ae-sook. ‘No one is resistant from gambling. In cases where a person earns money gambling, they spend more money to win more, while once they lose, they you will need to recover their losses.’
But according to broadcasting insiders, celebrities in Korea are lured into gambling because of the lifestyles which don’t afford them the typical pastimes of the general public.
‘Entertainers can not take in an excessive amount of because of their tight schedules, and because they’re famous they can’t just kick back once again anywhere and relax,’ reported Ahn Sang-hwi, a producer at tvN. ‘ They can’t even date for fear of having their pictures all around the gossip pages, so their outlet that is only is.’
New On The Web Poker Web Site Pays U.S. Players a Quarter to Sit Down
A new online poker site called Quarter Poker claims to finance tournament players with $ .25 a day, but a few aspects raise concerns.
A new, revolutionary and reportedly totally legal for U.S. players poker site aims to bridge the space involving the play-money gambler and the real-money one, and they’re achieving this by actually giving you bankroll, for free.
Providing You With Bankroll
Before you get too excited, that bankroll is just a quarter. But given that, in line with the website, you can get a new shiny one each day, and can cash out when you hit $50, it at the very least provides the game a semblance of seriousness. In the event that you get bust, you have to wait twenty four hours getting back in action with another quarter.
The unusual website is called Quarter Poker, and because you aren’t depositing money whenever you want, it claims to be legal in every U.S. state. Of program, since it’s never been done before that can compare with this, that remains to be seen.
But That Is This Guy?
Decide to try though we did erstwhile investigative reporters that we are we could not find, in concrete anywhere, the names of the dudes who created this idea, or where their funding is coming from either. We’d to piece together bits of PR and news to come up with even the name associated with the man in the pitch video: Alex Klinghoffer. No mention whatsoever of the QP site at least, we thought it was the same guy; the somewhat grainy bio picture on his personal website looks like it could be the same guy, but his resume and bio bear. We finally implemented a link on his internet site that took us to his Facebook page which had one mention of QP going live, and some pictures with a breathtaking gf and some pretty well-heeled looking young men. It says he’s in Kansas. Maybe he’s a trust fund baby, not mentioning your capital source for the new site, or any partners, or also yourself, is odd to say the least.
That being said, Klinghoffer does star in his site’s promo video, which is about as slick as the conventional made-at-home ones many online marketers post.
All we are able to state is, we’ve covered enough online site launches to state that, or even actually fishy, in this way of launching isn’t the norm. It begs the relevant question: what is not being stated right here? On the other hand, we do see Klinghoffer questions that are answering on different poker forums, so who knows, possibly he just sucks at self-promotion.
QP claims they won’t make money on the webpage they also hint at a future membership fee, but for now, it’s free until they have enough players to attract advertisers.
Performance Problems
That’s the good news. Now here’s the not-so-good news. In your website’s FAQs, they built the site themselves, and according to some regarding the player that is early comments, it shows. Appears like they quietly launched on Sept. 29, and at the time of October 10 (12 days later), they noted these were nevertheless waiting for a player to truly cash out the $50. We grant you, with small tournament tables plus the chance to win about $1.25 for first, which could simply take awhile, and you would have to be running like an marathoner that is ethiopian make it here before 2015. But that’s the least of the problems therefore far.
A sampling of Facebook comments on their page and there are not many were mostly frustrated with disconnection problems and unpopulated tables ( the web site does say in their FAQs until they pull in enough players to stop using them) that they are using bots the equivalent of shills at a land table.
And you can cash out at $50, for now anyway, you will only be receiving a 2:1 ratio, i.e., $25 in your actual cashout although they say. Again, they blame this on a little initial base that is start-up say that will change with time and with the addition of membership charges. You can, theoretically anyway, partake in 6, 10, and 20-player Sit and Go tournaments; no money games are mentioned at present, though apparently the web site’s operators will consider that, aswell as MTTs, down the road. The software is said to run in internet explorer (we did see a comments that are few the performance of same in the QP Facebook page), therefore no packages are required.
Now let’s get to your real elephant in the space: the angle that is legal. Klinghoffer is reportedly quoted as saying that ‘we had the model approved by one associated with top gaming attorneys in the country. And even though the good reason is sort of complicated, it boils down to the fact that this isn’t gambling.’
Didn’t someone mention their ‘solid’ legal counsel after handing over millions to the Department of Justice in order to avoid a prison term that is lengthy? Hmmm.
Which in turn begs the question why you must be 18 to play on the site. Zynga, for example, just requires that you be 13, and that’s presumably more so some hysterical parent doesn’t come after them than because of any gambling technicalities they could get nailed for.
