Alvin Chau, the CEO of Suncity Group Holdings, was taken into custody this weekend after a warrant for his arrest was issued in the Chinese city of Wenzhou on Friday. Suncity is Macau’s largest junket operator, and China’s main complaint against the 47-year-old Chau is as basic and nebulous as you’d expect: money laundering. However, … Read more
While Philippine POGOs have always been controversial since the Duterte administration approved and licensed them in 2016, that controversy has mostly been fueled by the Xi Jinping administration in China. Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators – or POGOs – are run by Chinese migrants living in the islands, and their online gambling services exclusively target mainland … Read more
This week, the Chinese government announced a new initiative aimed at policing the country’s illegal gambling market. This is, at least publicly, something of a 180 from the nation’s stance in the last several months, where it implored the Duterte Administration to bar all online gaming in the Philippines. With Duterte et al. having none … Read more
It’s been a reasonably quiet week in the Philippines gambling market, for a change. However, thanks to the ongoing row between China and the Philippines due to the latter’s controversial POGO industry, developments in competing markets – especially those in China – are of much interest to Filipino casino insiders. Just this week, the China … Read more
While the Philippines have been a constant thorn in the side of China through the former’s controversial POGO industry, Cambodia has received less fanfare for being largely the same thing. Over the past several years, both Southeast Asian nations have built up domestic gambling markets that largely target mainland Chinese players, much to Beijing’s chagrin. … Read more
The Philippine gambling industry can’t seem to catch a break. Despite record profits and a concerted effort to crack down on tax-dodging POGOs and commercial brick-and-mortar casinos, critics are still pushing the narrative that the industry is a magnet for fraudsters and violent criminals. The South China Morning Post’s most recent report on the subject … Read more
There is seemingly no end to the various “controversies” around the domestic Philippines gambling industry. Usually, the issues of import arise from the tenuous, Chinese-dominated POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) market, but the local casino markets have also been in the spotlight of late. First, many local politicians suggested that the state-run casinos in the … Read more
2019 has been an adventurous – if not tumultuous year – for the Philippine gambling industry. Between admonishments from neighboring China and the influx of migrants to President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on tax-evading Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and the local government’s questioning of the state-owned brick-and-mortar casino model, the market – while profitable – … Read more
For the domestic gambling industry, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks in the Philippines. There are three major stories of note concerning the gaming landscape in the island nation, with some good news and some bad news. The Good Starting off with the good news, PAGCOR – the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation – … Read more
Seemingly week to week, the gambling situation in the Philippines appears to change. Indeed, the politics of POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) and local gaming venues have lately been the biggest roller coaster in the country. For many of the parties involved, of course, the current landscape has been far from an amusement park. After … Read more