Popular South Korean TV personality and comedian Lee Soo-geun is fairly the gambler, it seems. (Image supply: asianwiki)
We tend, rightly, to consider North Korea since the region where nothing is allowed and any fun can be had by no one. But as it happens that in their way more cousin that is seemingly westernized the south, the law comes with an iron fist also.
Southern Korea makes gambling illegal save for a couple of state-run and strictly limited opportunities. And yet, lately, a handful of well-known South Korean celebrities have risked it all for the benefit of a quick gambling fix, and possess been caught red-handed by the authorities there.
Celebs Get Trapped
Among those caught up into the gambling allegations are a definite well-known TV host/comedian, two A-list variety show hosts, and a former singer for the culturally popular K-pop variety. They have been now all under investigation for illegal sports gambling.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has established that popular television comedian Lee Soo-geun has been summoned for questioning, based on suspicions that he wagered a huge selection of millions of Korean won (1KRW is equal to approximately $0.93) on English Premier League soccer matches via a personal gambling internet site.
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 when he was found to be illegally gambling in April earlier this season.
Kim Yong-man has now started making television appearances as soon as again, so obviously he’s got finished reflecting on his conduct after being given an eight-month suspended prison term and 120 hours of community service. And he even bet over one billion Korean won (that’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 for the two-man band Country Kko Kko, has additionally been called in for enquiry, based on the local media, again for suspicion of illegal activities gambling. The spouse of 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 television that is korean are increasingly being investigated in link with illegal sports wagering. Most notable among them all for the typical public may likely be Tony An, a former singer of the now parted hit boy band H.O.T., who had been summoned final month for their alleged role in the unlawful wagering process.
Operated beneath the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Sports Toto is the only appropriate sports betting site in Korea, plus the upper gaming limit is set to 100,000 won per match, whereas the illegal sites in the country have no such betting limits and are also clearly not regulated by any governmental authority.
But celebrities aren’t the only ones who have to be careful, as Yoon Ae-sook, a counsellor at the Seoul Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Centre, explains that online gambling addiction has become more prevalent in that country. In accordance with 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 more than twice the rate into the general population that is global.
‘ As individuals can access the sites easily, the amount of people that are exposed in their mind is rising. Some lose billions of won on the sites,’ explained Yoon Ae-sook. ‘No one is resistant from gambling. If a person earns money gambling, they spend more money to win more, while once they lose, they make an effort 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’t take in an excessive amount of because of their tight schedules, and since they’re famous they can’t just kick back once again anywhere and relax,’ claimed Ahn Sang-hwi, a producer at tvN. ‘ They can’t even date for fear of getting their pictures all over the gossip pages, so their only socket is gambling.’
New Online Poker Site Pays U.S. Players a Quarter to Sit Back
A new online poker site called Quarter Poker claims to fund tournament players with $ .25 a time, but a few aspects raise concerns.
A fresh, innovative and reportedly completely appropriate for U.S. players poker site aims to bridge the gap between the play-money gambler and the real-money one, and they’re achieving this by really providing you bankroll, at no cost.
Providing You Bankroll
Before you get too excited, that bankroll is only a quarter. But given that, according to the website, you can get a new shiny one each day, and can cash out as soon as you hit $50, it at the very least provides the game a semblance of seriousness. In the event that you go bust, you must wait a day getting back in action with another quarter.
The unusual website is called Quarter Poker, and because you are not depositing money at any time, it claims to be legal in every U.S. state. Of course, as it’s never been done before quite like this, that stays to be seen.
But Who Is This Guy?
Take to though we did erstwhile investigative reporters that we have been we’re able to not find, in concrete anywhere, the names of the dudes whom created this idea, or where their funding is coming from either. We had to piece together bits of PR and news to even produce the name associated with man in the pitch video: Alex Klinghoffer. At least, we thought it absolutely was similar guy; the notably grainy bio picture on his individual website seems like it could be exactly the same guy, but their resume and bio bear no mention whatsoever of the QP site. We finally adopted a link on his website that took us to his Facebook page that had one mention of QP going live, and some pictures with a girlfriend that is beautiful some pretty well-heeled looking young men. It states he’s in Kansas. Maybe he’s a trust investment child, but not mentioning your capital source for the site that is new or any partners, or also yourself, is odd to say the least.
That said, Klinghoffer does star in his website’s promo video, which is about as slick as the typical made-at-home ones many online marketers post.
All we could state is, we’ve covered site that is enough online to say that, if you don’t actually fishy, in this way of launching isn’t the norm. It begs the question: what is not being stated right here? Having said that, we do see Klinghoffer questions that are answering on different poker forums, who knows, perhaps he just sucks at self-promotion.
QP claims they won’t make money on the internet site until they will have enough players to attract advertisers; in addition they hint at a future membership fee, but for now, it’s free.
Performance Dilemmas
This is the good news. Now here’s the not-so-good news. In the website’s FAQs, they built the site themselves, and based on some of the player that is early comments, it shows. Looks they noted they were still waiting for a player to actually cash out the $50 like they quietly launched on Sept. 29, and as of October 10 (12 days later. We grant you, with small tournament tables and also the possiblity to win about $1.25 for first, which could take awhile, and you’d have become running like an marathoner that is ethiopian make it here before 2015. But that’s the least of these issues so far.
A sampling of Facebook comments on their page and there are not many had been mostly frustrated with disconnection issues and unpopulated tables ( the web site does say in their FAQs that they’re making use of bots the same as shills at a land table until they pull in enough players to stop using them).
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 for a little initial base that is start-up say which will change as time passes and with the addition of membership costs. It is possible to, theoretically anyway, partake in 6, 10, and 20-player Sit and Go tournaments; no cash games are mentioned at present, though apparently the web site’s operators will consider that, too as MTTs, down the road. The software is said to run in browsers (we did notice a few responses blasting the performance of exact same on the QP Facebook page), therefore no downloads are required.
Now let’s get to your real elephant in the area: the angle that is legal. Klinghoffer is https://slotsforfun-ca.com/huuuge-casino-review/ reportedly quoted as saying that ‘we had the model authorized by one associated with top gaming attorneys in the country. And even though the reason is in fact type 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 to prevent a prison term that is lengthy? Hmmm.
Which in turn begs the concern why you need to be 18 to play on your website. Zynga, for instance, just requires than due to any gambling technicalities they could get nailed for that you be 13, and that’s presumably more so some hysterical parent doesn’t come after them.