Awesome stuff dogarse, sounds very similar to a few of my underground games in China.

Last paragraph is especially hope everything continues to work out well.

Just came across this. Its from last month:

Newly-signed St. Louis Cardinals reliever Seung Hwan Oh has been fined $8,000 by South Korea for gambling in Macau, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The country also has punished ex-Chicago Cubs pitcher Lim Chang-yong, who was Oh’s teammate with the Samsung Lions of the South Korean baseball league. Both men were charged with betting $33,000 each at Macau casinos in 2014, which is a violation of South Korean law.

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...-over-gambling

What a stupid law. I have a local friend going to WSOP in July. I guess the travel agencies should tell locals going to Macau and Las Vegas, to make sure they don't gamble. lol

god yeah, above post is the law I heard about, can't believe it's true

Its just so hypocritical. SK wants tourists to come here and gamble, but don't want their citizens to gamble abroad. Thats fuked up.

Hopefully we will have more poker options in 2020:

February 26, 2016
Mohegan Sun wins South Korea casino license

South Korea has given the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (MTGA) and KCC Corp. duo the greenlight to build a $5b casino resort at Incheon International Airport.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) on Friday issued a new integrated resort license to Connecticut tribal casino operator Mohegan Sun, which partnered with South Korean chemical maker KCC.

The consortium, called Inspire Integrated Resort plans to break ground early 2017 and must begin operation by 2020. The Phase 1 is estimated at $1.6 billion, with a total of $5 billion over multiple phases. Mohegan Sun will also be joined by Miura Holdings Asia as part of the development team.

The project will feature a three-tower luxury hotel complex with 1,350 five star and six start guest rooms, a Paramount Studios-themed indoor-outdoor amusement park, and a 20,000 square meter casino with 250 gaming tables and 1,500 slot machines............

http://calvinayre.com/2016/02/26/cas...ce=twitterfeed

I don't understand the point. Is this casino-specific tourism? Nobody who comes to Korea wants to stay in Incheon. If they're looking to lighten some businessmen coming in and out it doesn't make sense to spend so much money.

I think you've got it backwards Loosekannen. No Gamblers who fly into Korea want to travel all the way into Seoul and back. That's three wasted gambling hours.

That's my point. Are they angling for gambling tourism? Seems weird when many better options exist in the immediate area.

Where? Closer, nicer, safer than the Phillipines and Cambodia. Also closer to Shangahi and Beijeng than Macau. Not sure how you can see it is a weird idea. It makes perfect sense to me.

I think the location for the casino is here, by the artificial lake:



It is right over from the new runway they are constructing, rwy 4. That whole belt of land will be airport hotels, shopping +++.

it's just one hour into Seoul from Incheon...

perhaps they have data that says that Incheon has a lot of flights w/layovers with a long enough time to gamble but not long enough to make a trip into the city.

To me this would make sense, if they're building a casino next to the airport (i don't know where it is), and the majority of the people on layovers are businessman or of a demographic that tends to gamble, most likely businessmen, this is a pretty interesting strategy.

Anyone actually been to Incheon? Maybe it has some cool ****

I'm sure the idea is to attract people (Chinese) whose sole intention is too gamble for what ever time they have available. If the only two places you plan to be on your entire trip is the airport and the casino it makes sense to have the two as close together as possible.

Also my 3 hour comment was a rough estimate of 1.5 hours from airport to casino and then 1.5 hours back.

Worth mentioning that the Incheon Int'l we know today will be wildly different when they complete all phases in 2020, both inside and the surroundings.

It should also be seen in context with the two IFEZ projects across both bridges, Songdo and the other one (forgot the name). Songdo is very, very nice. I would love to live there while I'm here. This area will change a lot in the next 4 years. Hard to believe now tho.

This casino will have major tax relief also, being in the smack of the free economic zone.

Fwiw, the few times I have driven from the airport to WH it has taken at least 1,5 hours one way.

There are Chinese tourists everywhere in Seoul. I just didn't expect casino tourism to be a thing in Incheon. They're investing 5 billion that I'm wrong so they're probably right. *shrug*

I just don't think the average Chinese gambler is thinking "in the morning I'll check out Kyongbuk palace, then wander around Insadong for a couple of hours and absorb the culture, go to a tradtional Korean restaurant to try delicious soju and improve my health for some Kimchi, then drop by the Casino for a relaxing hour of baccarat before bed".

Sure, their are plenty of Chinese tourists but I doubt that's the market they are trying to capture. Do you think all the Chinese in Macau are there for a cultural experience?

You guys are all wrong. An average gambler would be thinking like Banker!!!!!

Macau has more to offer than one (expensive) super casino by the airport. I doubt Emporer Sauna is opening in Incheon anytime soon.

Wow, I misspelled emperor. I was quite drunk.

I think you are dead on accurate here. That is how Macao makes it's money, and from what I've seen in Seoul, most of the people playing the expensive games like baccarrat and roulette are Chinese rich people, and some other nationalities. For poker, some poor Japanese come just to play...like that's all they do. I'm sure the new casino will be profitable, and it will be cheaper for many Chinese middle-class people to come and stay around Seoul too, and it's closer to the major Chinese cities like Beijing than Macao or the Phillipines.

This could be a major money maker. And probably have some great poker action eventually too

My parents went to Macao thinking that. In fact, they were interested in the old Portuguese colony. They were let down...most of that is gone..and they said the ferry ride over there was just hell...like a sardine can full of mostly rude Chinese people pushing and shoving each othere. They'd never go back...and the casinos were so expensive, it was ridiculous. No 2 or even 5 buck blackjack games like in the US...that place caters to the rich and that's it.

And now you guys have come full circle into why I think it's a bad idea. Macao already caters much better to the rich. And no middle classers are coming to Seoul to stay in an Incheon casino.

I'm fully willing to admit I'm wrong once it starts making money hand over fist. I bet the real idea is to have presence for when gambling laws are loosened here.

We need Korean nationals to enter/exit the place freely.

Hey, a restaurant rec for you guys. 팔월식당 is elite. It's a small bistro in an odd location (samgakji stn exit 7 walk 20 meters it's on your right.

The menu is a small balance of French/Italian and it is high quality. I talked to the chef for a bit. He did his study in Lyon. It's badass and for the price it is elite.

I had his spring set menu of halibut carpaccio, roast duck, and my wife had a bolognese dish. We have also had the meatball dish. We shared a chocolate cake slice and a bottle of wine, Mondavi Cab Sauv. All of that for under 90,000₩.

It's tiny. 4 tables and 14 seats total. I can't recommend it enough. Now that I'm leaving I'll get the word out.

Better bistros out there if you are willing to travel outside Yongsan.

Lol. I've seen Korea from Panmunjom to Mokpo and back. Went to Daegu and Busan both last week. Hook a brother up! Speaking of disappointing... 순대타운 near 신림역 Saturday night was really poor.

You want French/Italian?

What kind of food?