South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports that four Chinese tourists staged a protest at Jeju airport back in May after a casino on the island refused to pay them baccarat winnings of KRW1.1 billion (US$1.09 million) because of suspicions that they cheated.
The four were customers at an unidentified casino hotel in the resort of Seogwipo, said the newspaper, quoting local police. They reportedly racked up the winnings in little more than two hours of play, but management suspected they had colluded with casino staff, possibly by asking a dealer to use sleight of hand to swap cards coming out of the card shoe with ones hidden on the dealer’s person.
The incident is now the subject of litigation between the players and the casino, said the newspaper.
Chinese tourists are an important component of South Korea’s casino industry. Paradise Group, the largest operator in the country, with venues in Seoul, Incheon, Busan and Jeju, said in its first quarter earnings statement that its casino drop had increased by 30.1 percent year on year, largely via high rollers from China.
