GKL AUG.casino sales at US$25mln, driven by Seoul venues

Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), a foreigner-only casino operator in South Korea, saw casino sales in August increase by 7.3 percent month-on-month, to approximately KRW33.39 billion (US$25.3 million), the company said in a Monday filing to the Korea Exchange. The latest monthly tally was up 45.8 percent from the prior-year period.

During August, table-game sales were nearly KRW30.19 billion, up 8.6 percent sequentially and up 48.4 percent from a year ago. Machine-game sales were just below KRW3.21 billion, down 3.7 percent month-on-month but 25.3 percent higher than a year earlier.

Grand Korea Leisure’s casino sales for the first eight months this year totalled nearly KRW272.56 billion, an increase of 86.4 percent from the prior-year period.

Grand Korea Leisure runs three foreigner-only, Seven Luck-branded, casinos. Two are in the capital Seoul, including in Gangnam, and one in the southeastern port city of Busan. The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In August, Grand Korea Leisure’s Seoul Gangnam Casino and Seoul Dragon City Casino were the two gaming venues that contributed the most to the company’s casino sales, according to data published separately on Grand Korea Leisure’s official website.

Of the KRW33.39 billion in casino sales achieved in August, a total of just above KRW14.72 billion came from Seoul Gangnam Casino, while close to KRW14.3 billion were generated from Dragon City Casino in the South Korean capital, the data shows.

The company’s cumulative drop – the amount of money paid by customers to purchase chips – reached nearly KRW2.13 trillion for the first eight months of 2023, up by 107.1 percent year-on-year, according to the firm’s Monday filing.

For August, the casino firm’s drop amounted to KRW293.33 billion, up by 19.1 percent sequentially and up 50.2 percent from a year ago. Of the KRW293.33 billion of drop achieved in August, approximately KRW199.97 billion were drop for “VIP” table games and another KRW65.73 billion were for “mass” table games; while the remaining KRW27.63 billion were slot machine drop, according to additional corporate information published in its official website.

For both VIP and mass play, Japan and China are listed as amongst the most significant sources for the casino operator’s patrons for the reporting period.

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"Let's go enjoy the festival." MID family who came from Ulsan to Jecheon in one step

MID is indispensable for i-Festa, a summer festival for i-League players.

The Korea Basketball Association held the "2024 Basketball i-Leage i-Festa" in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province on Thursday. The two-day event is a summer basketball festival enjoyed by players from 24 regions where the basketball i-League is held.

More than 500 players and leaders visited Jecheon. Among them, Ulsan MID enjoyed the festival with 61 players.

"The reaction was always good in the first year, last year, and this year as well," said Lee Sang-ki, head of MID. "I-Festa has been developed this year as well. There are a variety of foods for the players and it has become easier to eat. The additional 3x3 finals gave the players motivation and the desire to win."

MIDs attend i-Festa, the third event of this year, all of which were attended by students. The summer basketball festival went viral not only by players but also by parents.

"We have decided to move together as a team. Sixty-one athletes came to Jecheon, and they are all players who want to wait for i-Festa," Lee said. "Not only coaches but also parents were with us. We left Ulsan at 6:30 a.m. Not only athletes but also parents were waiting for i-Festa."

Not only MID players but also i-League players from various regions enjoyed playing basketball inside a cool gym. Outside the gym, there was a water play zone and various cultural experience programs to help people fight off the heat.

The Korea Basketball Association provides not only snacks and accommodation for players who visit i-Festa. However, there was something that was left to be desired. The end of the summer festival, which is when there is no recreation. After finishing their work last afternoon, the players returned to their lodging facility, had dinner, and gathered at the auditorium to create memories through recreation activities. However, they were not able to host recreation events this year due to lack of suitable venues. Not only the Korea Basketball Association but also its leaders are disappointed.

"Last year, many athletes enjoyed recreation with a smile," Lee said. "It was better to hang out with friends from various regions than to relax and look at smartphones. However, I was sad to hear that there was no recreation program this year because I didn't have enough space in my accommodation," Lee said. "I am grateful to the staff who always worked hard and prepared for young players. I look forward to i-Festa next year."

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Full of Various and Fun Programs! Pyeongtaek Kim Hoon Kwon Dae-kyung Says Summer Basketball Festival

i-Festa is perfect for the end of summer vacation!

Kim Hoon basketball class in Pyeongtaek participated in the "2024 Basketball i-Leage i-Festa" held in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province on Thursday. They played basketball in a cool gym and bathed in the heat at a water playground outside the gym.

"It's been more than a year since I learned basketball," said Kwon Dae-kyung (right), a third-year student at Jangdang Middle School who participates in the i-League under Kim Hoon in Pyeongtaek. "I visited i-Festa this year following last year's recommendation."

i-Festa is a summer basketball festival enjoyed by players from 24 regions where basketball i-League is held. Students from the lower grades of elementary school to the secondary school can enjoy the festival.

Kwon Dae-kyung said, "If you come to i-Festa, you can enjoy various and fun activities. Among them, playing in the water is the best," and added, "I talked a lot while coming here with my friends. If I become a high school student, I can't participate in this festival, but I want to spend summer consistently with my friends who have been with me."

I introduced i-Festa to my younger siblings as a festival experience and the highest grade here.

Kwon Dae-kyung said, "Since it is not a competition, it is a time to enjoy basketball without burden. It is a festival where you can play basketball and have fun activities," adding, "It is a time where you can take pictures and talk with your friends and make memories at the dorm. The i-League is also participating, and you can enjoy basketball without burden, compete, and enjoy the fun of basketball."

Finally, he said, "The school started the day before the festival (16th). I have to go back to school after enjoying the festival for two days and one night, but I want to play more (laugh)."

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Pagcor nods licence for casino resort in Cebu

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), the country’s gaming regulator, has approved a provisional licence for local firm Udenna Corp to build a casino resort at Lapu-Lapu City, on the island of Mactan in Cebu province. The company on Thursday said it would invest US$300 million in the scheme, according to media reports.

Privately-held Udenna – owned by Philippine businessman Dennis Uy – is a holding company based in Davao City, engaged in trading and shipping. Mr Uy is said to have been one of the top contributors to the election campaign of the country’s current head of state, President Rodrigo Duterte.

Udenna said in a statement it planned to start construction of the casino resort – dubbed Lapu-Lapu Leisure Mactan – in three months. The project would be built on a 12-hectare (29.6-acre) beachfront property, six kilometres (3.7 miles) from Cebu’s international airport (pictured).

The casino, retail complex and hotels are scheduled to open as early as 2019, with the remaining facilities completed by 2022, the firm said.

“We see this integrated development taking a major role in bringing the Philippines on par with the region’s premier destinations for leisure, gaming and meetings, as well as for commercial and residential investments,” said in a statement Mr Uy, Udenna’s president and chief executive, as quoted by Reuters news agency.

The head of Pagcor, Andrea Domingo, had said in March that the country would have a five-year moratorium on issuing further casino licences for the capital Manila, amid industry concerns of oversupply.

Despite the moratorium on more Manila licences, Pagcor was said to be welcoming applications for other parts of the country with more modest capital expenditure.

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Philippines extends AML law to include casinos

The Philippine Congress on Tuesday approved amendments to a money laundering law in order to cover the oversight of casinos. Two sets of amendments were separately approved – one bill by the House of Representatives and one bill by the Senate, reported local media. The two chambers form the country’s legislature, known as the Congress.

In separate votes, the two chambers passed – via third and final readings – two separate but similar bills expanding the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act to reportedly improve the legal framework, bringing it in line with global standards.

The bills propose to add casinos – namely land-based, Internet and ship-based casinos – to the list of bodies that are required to report suspicious transactions under the Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The bills also add to the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act oversight of “chipwashing and junket operators”, defined in the bills as “any person who brings a person, a group of persons, or junket players in the casino premises to participate in the gaming operations”.

The amendment bills also require casinos to report to the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) what are referred to as “covered transactions”. Casinos must report any single casino cash transaction that involves an amount of more than PHP5 million (US$100,000) or its equivalent in any other currency, according to the approved bills.

“We should move to be more transparent by amending the law to protect our casinos from money laundering by crime syndicates,” said Josephine Sato, one of the authors of the amendments passed by the the lower house, as quoted by Reuters news agency.

Senator Francis Escudero, the main proponent of the the upper-house amendments, reportedly said Internet and ship-based casinos were added to ensure that the country would not be “used as a money laundering site for the proceeds of any unlawful activity”.

Mr Escudero had said that the upper house amendments would need to be enacted before a June deadline set by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering; otherwise the Philippines faced being blacklisted by that body. The lawmaker was further quoted saying that were the blacklist tag applied, it would put the country under stringent international financial scrutiny.

The Philippines casino industry came under fresh international examination – regarding anti-money laundering controls – when news broke in March 2016 that hackers had allegedly stolen US$81 million from Bangladesh central bank accounts held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, with some of that money allegedly finding its way into the Philippines’ casino sector.

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