
Popular South Korean TV comedian and personality Lee Soo-geun is quite the gambler, it seems. (Image supply: asianwiki)
We tend, rightly, to consider North Korea since the region where absolutely nothing is permitted and no one can have any fun. But it turns out that in their alot more seemingly Westernized cousin to 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, recently, a small number of well-known South Korean celebrities have risked it all for the benefit of a gambling that is quick, and also have been caught red-handed by the authorities there.
Celebs Get Trapped
Among those caught up in the gambling allegations certainly are a well-known TV host/comedian, two slotsforfun-ca.com A-list variety show hosts, and a former singer regarding the culturally popular K-pop variety. These are typically now all under research for illegal sports gambling.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has announced that popular tv 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 football matches with a private gambling internet site.
Following news of the comedian’s so-called bad behavior, Lee Soo-geun announced their motives to leave all programs he is currently appearing on in an effort 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 begun television that is making once again, so 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 Korean won (that’s the currency, not a victory) on foreign gambling sites.
Tak Jae-hoon, a television entertainer and show host who reached fame as one half of the two-man band Country Kko Kko, has also been called in for enquiry, based on the regional media, again for suspicion of unlawful sports gambling. The other half of the band, 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 being investigated in connection to illegal sports wagering. Most notable among them all for the general public would likely be Tony An, a former singer of the now parted hit kid band H.O.T., who had been summoned last month for his alleged role into the wagering process that is illegal.
Operated underneath the direction of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Sports Toto may be the only legal sports betting site in Korea, therefore the top gaming limit is set to 100,000 won per match, whereas the illegal sites in the country have no such wagering limits and are clearly not regulated by any government authority.
But celebrities aren’t the ones that are only have to be careful, as Yoon Ae-sook, a counsellor at the Seoul Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Centre, explains that online gambling addiction is now more prevalent in that nation. In accordance with the center, around 2.6 million Koreans have a gambling problem, which equates to a relatively high 7.6 percent of the population that is adult. That is more than twice the price in the basic global population.
‘ As people can access the sites effortlessly, the number of people who’re exposed in their mind is increasing. Some lose billions of won regarding the web sites,’ explained Yoon Ae-sook. ‘No one is immune from gambling. In case a person earns cash gambling, they spend more money to win more, while when they lose, they try to recover their losses.’
But according to broadcasting insiders, celebrities in Korea are lured into gambling as a result of the lifestyles which don’t afford them the usual pastimes of the public that is general.
‘Entertainers can not take in excessively because of their tight schedules, and simply 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 getting their pictures all over the gossip pages, so their only outlet is gambling.’
Brand New Online Poker Web Site Pays U.S. Players a Quarter to Sit Down
A online that is new site called Quarter Poker claims to fund tournament players with $ .25 a time, but several aspects raise questions.
A brand new, innovative and apparently completely appropriate for U.S. players poker site aims to bridge the space between the play-money gambler and the real-money one, and they are carrying this out by really giving you bankroll, at no cost.
Giving You Bankroll
Before you have too excited, that bankroll is merely a quarter. But given that, according to the website, you may get a brand new shiny one each and can cash out once you hit $50, it at least gives the game a semblance of seriousness day. In the event that you go bust, you must wait twenty four hours to have back for 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 appropriate in every U.S. state. Of program, since it’s never been done before that can compare with this, that remains become seen.
But That Is This Guy?
Take to that we are we could not find, in concrete anywhere, the names of the guys who came up with this idea, or where their funding is coming from either though we did erstwhile investigative reporters. We had to patch together bits of PR and news to come up with even the title associated with man in the pitch video clip: 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 accompanied a link on his site that took us to his Facebook page which had one mention of QP going live, and some images with a girlfriend that is beautiful some pretty well-heeled looking young men. It says he’s in Kansas. Maybe he’s a trust investment child, but not mentioning your capital source for a site that is new or any partners, or also yourself, is odd to express the smallest amount of.
Having said that, Klinghoffer does star in his web site’s promo video, which is about as slick as the conventional made-at-home ones many online marketers post.
All we could state is, we’ve covered site that is enough online to say that, or even actually fishy, this way of launching is not the norm. It begs the relevant question: what’s not being stated right here? Having said that, we do see Klinghoffer questions that are answering on various poker forums, so who knows, perhaps he just sucks at self-promotion.
QP claims they won’t make money on the internet site 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 is the good news. Now here’s the not-so-good news. In the site’s FAQs, they built the site themselves, and predicated on some regarding the early player Facebook comments, it shows. Appears like they quietly launched on Sept. 29, and at the time of October 10 (12 days later), they noted these people were still waiting for a new player to truly cash out the $50. We grant you, with small tournament tables as well as the opportunity to win about $1.25 for first, which could take awhile, and you would have become running as an marathoner that is ethiopian make it there before 2015. But that’s the least of the issues therefore far.
A sampling of Facebook comments on their page and there are not many had been mostly frustrated with disconnection problems and unpopulated tables ( the site does say in their FAQs that they are utilizing bots roughly the same as shills at a land dining table until they pull in enough players to stop using them).
And although they say you’ll cash out at $50, for now anyway, you will only be receiving a 2:1 ratio, i.e., $25 in your actual cashout. Again, they blame this on a tiny initial start-up base and say which will change in the long run and with the addition of account charges. It is possible to, theoretically anyway, partake in 6, 10, and 20-player Sit and get tournaments; no cash games are mentioned at present, though reportedly the site’s operators will consider that, also as MTTs, later on. The software is said to operate in internet explorer (we did view a few reviews blasting the performance of exact same on the QP Facebook page), so no packages are required.
Now let’s get to the real elephant in the room: the angle that is legal. Klinghoffer is reportedly quoted as saying that ‘we had the model approved by one of this top gaming attorneys in the nation. Even though the good explanation is actually types of complicated, it boils down to the undeniable fact that this is not gambling.’
Didn’t someone mention their ‘solid’ lawyer after handing over millions to the Department of Justice to avoid a prison term that is lengthy? Hmmm.
Which then begs the question why you must be 18 to play on your website. Zynga, as an example, just requires that you be 13, and that’s presumably more so some hysterical moms and dad does not come after them than because of any gambling technicalities they are able to get nailed for.