Four Chinese gamblers have sued an unidentified casino on South Korea’s Jeju Island after it refused to cash out chips worth KRW 1.1b (US $1.1m) the gamblers had won in just a couple hours. The casino owner claimed the gamblers had conspired with a baccarat dealer to cheat the casino, citing a confession wrung out of the employee in question. However, the employee has since recanted, saying the owner forced him to file a false statement against the four gamblers. China’s ECNS news site reported that the local police chief was preparing to file charges against the unidentified casino’s owner.
The above incident occurred back in May but only became public knowledge earlier this month. The South Korean media is voicing fears that such incidents could put a damper on the number of Chinese tourists that flock to Jeju or to any of its other 16 foreigner-only casinos. In 2013, China accounted for 40.7% of all visits to South Korean casinos, topping visits from Japanese gamblers for the first time. Jeju has seen its Chinese visitation nearly quadruple between 2011 and 2013.
South Korea’s reliance on foreigners to fill its casinos has prompted more than one call for locals to be allowed casino access. But those voices don’t include Caesars Entertainment, which, along with its Lippo Group joint venture partner, is developing a resort casino in the Incheon free economic zone. Steven Tight, Caesars’ president of international development, told GGRasia that the JV partners had “built our [business] model and sized our resort on [overseas] tourists and we’re completely comfortable with that.”
Tight may well be making lemonade out of lemons, as he admits that “no one inside the government that I’ve heard is strongly advocating” letting locals into any casino other than Kangwon Land. Still, Tight says Caesars is “very encouraged by the growth of Chinese visitation to Korea and the growth in Chinese [gross gaming revenue] in Korea.” Tight says the Chinese and Japanese tourist segments will continue to be Caesars’ “top two guest profiles.”
Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has previously expressed interest in the South Korean casino market, but only in general terms. A hint of their strategy may have come to light following news that the company had expressed interest in acquiring a parcel of highly desirable land in Seoul. The Korea Herald reported that the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp has put its current HQ on the market for KRW 4t ($3.8b). The 80k-square-meter property is located in the southern part of the capital on which city officials are planning to develop a ‘sports-culture-entertainment complex.’ The property is expected to go on the auction block later this year.
