Monthly Archives: September 2018

Philippines ‘steps up’ crackdown on illegal online gambling

Online gambling operators in the Philippines face a grim future if they continue to operate without a local license, according to the country’s gambling regulatory body.

On Sunday, Andrea Domingo, chair of the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), said local officials would make life miserable for any online gambling operator conducting business from the Philippines without a PAGCOR-issued Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (POGO) license.

Philippine law enforcement agencies have raided over 170 illegal online gambling operations since January 2017 and PAGCOR VP Jose Tria Jr. claimed the crackdown had been “stepped up” in June 2018 following a “mutual cooperation” pact with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Immigration.

Domingo offered illegal online gambling operators a “word of advice,” namely, “legalize your operations or face dire consequences.” Said consequences could mean either criminal charges or deportation, depending on the passport anyone swept up in the dragnet happens to be holding.

Goa’s floating casinos granted yet another stay of execution

Floating casinos in the Indian state of Goa have been granted yet another reprieve from their forced relocation, in what definitely qualifies as the day’s least surprising news.

On Saturday, Goa’s Public Works Minister Sudin Dhavalikar granted the state’s six floating casinos another six-month extension of their ability to operate on the Mandovi river. The announcement came just one day before the last six-month extension was set to expire.

For years now, Goa’s government has been promising to shift the shipboard casinos to a new waterway, but only as a temporary measure. The ultimate plan is to compel the casinos to permanently transfer their operations to a designated land-based gaming zone, possibly as part of an in-development airport near the state’s northern border.

The original plan was for Goa’s floating casinos to move ashore by 2020, but Goa’s Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar announced in early August that the transfer might not take place until 2022. Parrikar also promised to appoint a judicial commissioner who would be responsible for regulating casino activity as of this December.