
Popular South Korean TV comedian and personality Lee Soo-geun is fairly the gambler, it appears. (Image supply: asianwiki)
We tend, rightly, to think about North Korea while the region where nothing is permitted and any fun can be had by no one. But it turns out that within their even more seemingly Westernized cousin to the south, the law posseses an iron fist as well.
Southern Korea makes gambling save that is illegal a couple of state-run and strictly limited opportunities. Yet, recently, a handful of well-known South Korean celebrities have risked it all for the sake of a quick gambling fix, while having been caught red-handed by the authorities there.
Celebs Get Trapped
Among those caught up within the gambling allegations are a well-known TV host/comedian, two A-list variety show hosts, and a former singer regarding the culturally popular K-pop variety. They’ve been now all under research 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 hundreds of millions of Korean won (1KRW is equal to approximately $0.93) on English Premier League football matches using a private gambling internet site.
Following news of the comedian’s alleged bad behavior, Lee Soo-geun announced their intentions to go out of all programs he is currently appearing on so as to ‘take some time to reflect,’ according to broadcaster KBS, much like show host Kim Yong-man did when he was found to be illegally gambling in April earlier in 2010.
Kim Yong-man has now begun television that is making once again, so obviously he’s 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, perhaps not a victory) on foreign gambling sites.
Tak Jae-hoon, a television entertainer and show host who reached fame as half of the two-man band Country Kko Kko, has also been called in for enquiry, based on the local media, again for suspicion of unlawful sports 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 Korean television personalities are increasingly being investigated in link with unlawful sports wagering. Most notable among them all for the general public may likely be Tony An, a former singer of the now parted hit boy band H.O.T., who was summoned final thirty days for his alleged role within the wagering process that is illegal.
Operated beneath the direction of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Sports Toto could be the only appropriate sports betting web site in Korea, plus the upper gaming limit is set to 100,000 won per match, whereas the illegal sites within the country have no such gambling limits and are clearly not regulated by any government authority.
But celebrities aren’t the ones that are only must 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 for the reason that country. In accordance with the center, around 2.6 million Koreans have a gambling problem, which means a relatively high 7.6 percent of the population that is adult. That is a lot more than twice the rate into the basic population that is global.
‘ As individuals can access the sites easily, the amount of people that are exposed for them is rising. Some lose billions of won in the web sites,’ explained Yoon Ae-sook. ‘No one is immune from gambling. In case a individual earns cash 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 as a result of the lifestyles which don’t afford them the usual pastimes of the general public.
‘Entertainers can’t drink too much because of their tight schedules, and because they’re famous they can not just kick back once again anywhere and relax,’ reported Ahn Sang-hwi, a producer at tvN. ‘ They can’t even date for fear to getting their pictures all over the gossip pages, so their outlet that is only is.’
New Online Poker Site Pays U.S. Players a Quarter to Take A Seat
A online that is new site called Quarter Poker claims to fund tournament players with $ .25 a time, but several aspects raise concerns.
A fresh, revolutionary and reportedly totally legal for U.S. players poker site aims to bridge the gap involving the play-money gambler and the real-money one, and they are carrying this out by actually giving you bankroll, at no cost.
Providing You With Bankroll
Before you have 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 least provides game a semblance of seriousness. You have to wait 24 hours to get back in action with another quarter if you go bust.
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, because it’s never been done before quite like this, that remains to be seen.
But That Is This Guy?
Take to though we did erstwhile investigative reporters that we’re we could not find, in concrete anywhere, the names of the guys 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 title regarding the 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 adopted a link on his internet site that took us to their 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 states he’s in Kansas. Maybe he’s a trust fund child, but not mentioning your capital source for a brand new site, or any partners, or even yourself, is odd to say the smallest amount of.
That said, Klinghoffer does star in his website’s promotional vid, which is about as slick as the typical made-at-home ones many online marketers post.
All we could state is, we’ve covered enough online site launches to say that, or even actually fishy, this way of launching isn’t the norm. It begs the question: what’s not being stated right here? Having said that, we do see Klinghoffer answering questions directly on various poker forums, so who knows, perhaps he just sucks at self-promotion.
QP claims they won’t make money on the website they also hint at a future membership fee, but for now, it’s free until they have enough players to attract advertisers.
Performance Issues
That is the news that is good. Now here’s the not-so-good news. In your website’s FAQs, they built the web site themselves, and considering some associated with the player that is early comments, it shows. Looks like they quietly launched on Sept. 29, and as of October 10 (12 days later), they noted they certainly were still waiting for a person to actually cash away the $50. We grant you, with small tournament tables and the opportunity to win about $1.25 for first, that may take awhile, and you would have become running like an Ethiopian marathoner to make it here before 2015. But that’s the least of the dilemmas so far.
A sampling of Facebook comments on their page and there aren’t many were mostly frustrated with disconnection problems and unpopulated tables ( the 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 for a little initial base that is start-up say that will alter in the long run and with the addition of membership fees. You are able to, theoretically anyway, partake in 6, 10, and 20-player Sit and Go tournaments; no cash games are mentioned at the moment, though reportedly the site’s operators will consider that, also as MTTs, down the line. The software is said to run in web browsers (we did view a few reviews blasting the performance of exact same regarding the QP Facebook page), therefore no packages are needed.
Now let’s get to the real elephant in the space: the appropriate angle. Klinghoffer is reportedly quoted as stating that ‘we had the model approved by one associated with top gaming attorneys in the country. Even though the good explanation is truly form of complicated, it boils down to the undeniable fact that this isn’t gambling.’
Didn’t somebody mention their ‘solid’ legal counsel after handing over millions to the Department of Justice to avoid a long jail term? Hmmm.
Which then begs the relevant concern why you have to be 18 to play on your website. Zynga, for instance, only calls for that you be 13, and that’s slotsforfun-ca.com presumably more so some hysterical moms and dad does not come after them than due to any gambling technicalities they could get nailed for.
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