
Popular South Korean TV personality and comedian Lee Soo-geun is very the gambler, it seems. (Image supply: asianwiki)
We tend, rightly, to think about North Korea once the region where nothing is permitted and any fun can be had by no one. But as it happens that within their even more seemingly Westernized cousin to the south, the law comes with an iron fist as well.
Southern Korea makes gambling illegal save for a couple of state-run and strictly limited opportunities. Yet, lately, a few well-known South Korean celebrities have risked it all for the sake of a gambling that is quick, and have now been caught red-handed by the authorities there.
Celebs Get Trapped
Among those caught up into the gambling allegations are a well-known TV host/comedian, two A-list variety show hosts, and a former singer of the culturally popular variety that is k-pop. They are now all under investigation for unlawful 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 web site.
Following news of the comedian’s alleged bad behavior, Lee Soo-geun announced his intentions to leave all programs he is currently appearing on in an effort to ‘take some time to reflect,’ according to broadcaster KBS, much like show host Kim Yong-man did whenever he was found to be illegally gambling in April earlier in 2010.
Kim Yong-man has now begun making television appearances once again, therefore obviously he’s 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 won that is koreanthat’s the currency, perhaps not a win) on foreign gambling sites.
Tak Jae-hoon, a television entertainer and show host who reached fame as half associated with 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 associated with 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 now being investigated in connection to illegal sports wagering. Most notable one of them all for the overall public would probably be Tony An, a former singer of the now parted hit kid band H.O.T., who was summoned final month for their alleged role in the wagering process that is illegal.
Operated under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Sports Toto could be the only appropriate sports betting site in Korea, while the top gaming limit is set to 100,000 won per match, whereas the illegal sites into the country have no such betting limits and they are obviously not regulated by any authority that is governmental.
But celebrities aren’t the only ones who must be careful, as Yoon Ae-sook, a counsellor at the Seoul Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Centre, explains that on the web gambling addiction has become more prevalent in that country. Based on the center, around 2.6 million Koreans have a gambling problem, which equates to a fairly high 7.6 percent of the population that is adult. That’s significantly more than twice the price in the basic population that is global.
‘ As people can easily access the sites, the number of individuals who are exposed to them is increasing. 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 try 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 excessively because of their tight schedules, and simply because they’re famous they can not just kick back anywhere and relax,’ claimed 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.’
Brand New On Line Poker Site Pays U.S. Players a Quarter to Sit Down
A new online poker site called Quarter Poker claims to fund tournament players with $ .25 a time, but a few aspects raise questions.
A fresh, revolutionary 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 are achieving this by actually providing you bankroll, at no cost.
Giving You Bankroll
Before you have too excited, that bankroll is only a quarter. But given that, in line with the website, you may 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. If you go bust, you need to wait 24 hours to get back in action with another quarter.
The website that is unusual called Quarter Poker, and because you are not depositing money at any time, it claims to be legal in every U.S. state. Of program, since it’s never been done before that can match this, that continues to be become seen.
But That Is This Guy?
Decide to try though we did erstwhile investigative reporters that we’re we’re able to not find, in concrete anywhere, the names of the dudes who came up with 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 title for the guy in the pitch video: Alex Klinghoffer. At minimum, we thought it had been exactly the same man; the somewhat grainy bio picture on his individual website looks like it may be equivalent guy, but his application and bio bear no mention whatsoever of the QP site. We finally followed a link on his web site that took us to his Facebook page that 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 fund baby, however mentioning your capital source for a new site, or any partners, or also yourself, is odd to say minimal.
That being said, Klinghoffer does star in his site’s promotional vid, which is about as slick as the typical made-at-home ones many online marketers post.
All we are able to 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 question: what is not being said here? On the other hand, we do see Klinghoffer answering questions directly on different poker forums, who knows, maybe he just sucks at self-promotion.
QP claims they won’t make cash on the 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 Issues
This is the good news. Now here’s the not-so-good news. In the site’s FAQs, they built the web site themselves, and predicated on some associated with 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 https://slotsforfun-ca.com/huuuge-casino-review/ a new player to really cash away the $50. We grant you, with small tournament tables plus the chance to win about $1.25 for first, that may take awhile, and you’d have to be running like an Ethiopian marathoner to make it here before 2015. But that’s the least of these problems therefore far.
A sampling of Facebook comments on their page and there are not many were mostly frustrated with disconnection issues and unpopulated tables ( the site does say in their FAQs that they’re utilizing bots the equivalent of shills at a land table until they pull in enough players to stop with them).
And although they say it is possible to 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 base that is start-up say that will alter over time and with the addition of account costs. It is possible to, theoretically anyway, partake in 6, 10, and 20-player Sit and get tournaments; no money games are mentioned at present, though apparently the site’s operators will consider that, too as MTTs, later on. The software is said to run in web browsers (we did experience a few comments blasting the performance of exact same in the QP Facebook page), so no packages are required.
Now let’s get to the real elephant in the area: the legal angle. Klinghoffer is reportedly quoted as stating that ‘we had the model authorized by one regarding the top gaming attorneys in the united states. Even though the good explanation is obviously types of complicated, it boils down to the fact that this isn’t gambling.’
Didn’t someone mention their ‘solid’ a 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 have to be 18 to play on the website. Zynga, for example, only calls for 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.