
The Poipet Strip: nine little gambling enterprises in a gambling no-man’s-land between the Cambodian and Thai passport control counters. (Image: scbsme.com)
While final month’s military coup in Thailand, which toppled the democratically elected government, may be a cause for concern to the community that is international it’s reportedly been a huge boon to the tiny Cambodian gambling town of Poipet, just across the border. Poipet has for ages been a popular location for the individuals of Thailand, where gambling on anything apart from domestic horseracing and the national lottery is illegal, despite a general enthusiasm among the population.
But, the newest junta that is military authoritarian crackdown on illegal gambling enterprises and gambling dens in Thailand is directing the former customers of the unfortunate establishments eagerly towards the table games of Poipet.
Cambodia itself has a (loosely enforced) no-gambling policy but, fortunately for all involved, Poipet’s casino strip, which contains nine smallish casinos, is cunningly situated in some sort of gambling no-man’s-land between the Cambodian and Thai passport control counters.
Military Shut Down of Illegal Gambling
The influx continues to be something of a shock to the Poipet operators, however, because into the times following the coup they stated that the quantity of people to the town had fallen dramatically. At the beginning of June, managing director of Crown Resorts Kim Ledaro (unaffiliated aided by the Australian gambling empire; we checked) told the Phnom Pen that the day-to-day average of Thai site visitors had dropped by 40 % from the month that is previous.
It seems that Thai gamblers, initially fearing for their safety that is personal in times immediately succeeding the coup, have become more spirited and rebellious into the face of repression. One such gambler, now cheerfully ensconced behind a baccarat dining table in a Poipet casino, told Agence France-Press that Thais had flocked to Poipet because they ‘cannot play these games in Thailand now … the military has shut down illegal gambling.’
We can’t really blame the gamblers for fleeing in droves. Simply this week, the junta announced that, in the name of ‘establishing social order,’ it had arrested 1,677 people, including four ‘foreigners’, for the crime of betting or owning a book on the entire world Cup between June 9 and 21. It also claimed to own turn off 675 illegal gambling websites.
Police in Cahoots
‘Thais are quite addicted to gambling and the World Cup is a period when gambling spikes,’ deputy police spokesman Anucha Romyanan told Reuters. ‘People are still attempting to access gambling websites so we’re finding those websites and shutting them down.’
Early in the day this week, authorities swooped in on a large casino that is illegal it had even opened to the public. Police confiscated 27 baccarat tables, 1,000 packs of credit cards, and chips worth $89,000 from the ‘Number One Casino’ in Bangkok, and arrested 37 people, 23 of whom were Cambodians. Most unlawful gambling enterprises in Thailand lightning-link-slot have for ages been protected by the authorities, and in some cases regional police chiefs have been relieved of their duties.
Scores of illegal gambling enterprises have already been shut down elsewhere, some by accident. The junta’s strict prohibition of general public protest has resulted in regular raids in search of high-level opponents towards the coup; one raid that is such by 100 soldiers on a hotel basement, uncovered a casino operation rather than a den of sedition. It appears the gamblers had gotten prior warning, however, and had fled. Good for them. Maybe all of them went to Poipet!
Las Vegas Sands Files Trademark Infringement on Casino Sites
The nevada Sands Corp. is hoping to guard its trademark from use by unlicensed casino that is online. (Image: Company Insider)
You wouldn’t expect that the Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS)would be operating an Internet casino of its own if you know anything about CEO Sheldon Adelson’s stance on online gambling. And while you’d be right about this, the Sands is concerned that some groups out there want to use its name to promote the practice that is very company is fighting against.
LVS launched trademark infringement proceedings in a Nevada court that is federal Friday, in an effort to prevent an assortment of websites from having its subscribed trademarks without permission through the company. The Sands says that 35 Asian sites are using either its trademark that is registered a series of Chinese characters that spell out the trademark, in an effort to deceive potential prospects.
While that covers dozens of sites that the Sands calls ‘a community of Chinese language online websites,’ most of the sites appear to really connect to simply two casino sites. The sites were registered by proxy services, meaning that the Sands was not in a position to identify the owners for the sites at this time. Some of the web sites were numerical in nature, such as 368.com, 8227.com and 9770.com.
Use of Trademark ‘No Accident’
Web sites in question use either the Sands trademark, or two characters that are chinese translate to ‘golden sand,’ which is the way the Sands trademark is normally transcribed in China.
‘The use of plaintiff’s markings ended up being no accident,’ the Sands wrote in its complaint. ‘The website is clearly designed to make reference to plaintiff’s world famous resort hotel, as it shows a skyline view of Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore.’
That usage has led the business to sue for trademark infringement, false designation of origin, dilution and unfair competition. The Sands is searching for relief as well as damages, fees and court costs.
Usage Runs Countertop to Anti-Online Gambling Campaign
The Sands points out that monetary compensation alone wouldn’t be enough to allow this activity to continue, as it stands in contrast to the stated positions of Adelson and the firm as a whole on Internet gambling in the filing.
‘As just one example makes clear, while vegas Sands Corp. is a strong supporter of the Coalition to quit Internet Gambling, and is presently engaged in publicity and lobbying promotions aimed at defeating measures that would legalize online gambling into the usa and elsewhere, the Defendants’ use of the SANDS markings in the homepages of online casinos…threatens to dilute and detract from Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s message and its efforts to stop the proliferation of online gambling,’ the business continued.
Because of the owners for the web sites unknown and likely hosted international, it is unclear whether a victory that is legal the Sands would result in the shutdown regarding the sites or the removal of their trademarks.
Sands Loses Trademark Battles in Macau
Trademark law has been an active area for the Sands at the time of late. Previously this Macau’s Court of 2nd Instance published a ruling that steering clear of the company from registering the expression ‘Cotai Strip. month’ The business was trying to protect the phrase being a right part of its rewards system in Macau. Judges remarked that the Sands was not even close to the company that is only Cotai offering such services.
‘ If the registration of the trademark was to be permitted, it would make it difficult for customers to identify the product or services being provided,’ the court stated.
Study Finds Monkeys Believe in Following Winning Streaks
Rhesus monkeys in a recent study apparently believed in winning streaks, even though this one looks like he is telling his buddy the unavoidable beat story that is bad. (Image: odishasuntimes.com)
If you believe that you should always bet on the numbers being hot at the roulette table, then you definitely might be happy to hear you’re perhaps not alone in your belief in the ‘hot hand’ fallacy. New research shows that the belief that random events are following a pattern is far more widespread than previously believed. To be fair, though, these brand new subjects would probably say they will have faith in their paw that is hot instead.
A new study from the University of Rochester found that rhesus monkeys share what was thought to be considered a very human being belief in hot hands, or the proven fact that a bet which includes been having to pay off, will stay doing so. The research, led by doctoral candidate Tommy Blanchard, has added evidence that finding patterns in random data can be an evolutionarily inherited trait, rather than one we get from the tradition around us.
Monkeys Play Simple Guessing Game
In order to examine just how monkeys thought about gambling, researchers created a fast-paced computerized game in which the topics simply guessed whether the winning side could be kept or appropriate. They would receive a reward if they were correct. This had been enough to keep the monkeys playing for hours on end.
‘Luckily, monkeys love to gamble,’ Blanchard said.
The researchers then made the overall game play in a single of three straight ways. Sometimes, the game would actually hand out rewards at random, with no pattern whatsoever. Other times, the wins would are usually on one part. Finally, there was a version where the winning side usually alternated from left to right.
As soon as the game had one of the pattern sequences, the 3 monkeys in the scholarly study quickly figured them out and started winning their rewards. However in the games that are random the monkeys instead proceeded to try to find patterns, favoring one side in the expectation that recent streaks would continue. This behavior did not change with experience, either: it kept happening for weeks and tens of thousands of studies.
‘They had lots and lots of possibilities to have over this bias, to understand and change, and yet they continued to show the tendency that is same’ Blanchard said.
A Shared Bias Towards Pattern Recognition
While the analysis was not a perfect analogue for gambling, as the monkeys did not need to risk such a thing to make their rewards, it still made it clear that their brains have a similar tendency as human beings discover habits, even though you will find none. Researchers believe that this is probable tied into how primate minds developed to get meals into the wild, an extremely non-random process in which pattern recognition is key.
‘ in the event that you find a nice juicy beetle on the underside of a log, this is decent evidence that there is a beetle in an identical location nearby,’ said Benjamin Hayden, a coauthor of the study. ‘We have actually this incredible drive to see habits in the world, and we also have this incredible drive to learn…if there is a pattern there, we are on top of it. And when there may or may never be a pattern there, that’s also more interesting.’
Like in other studies of this type, it is hoped that the extensive research can help assist in the treating problem gambling, as this addiction is generally exacerbated by gambling-related fallacies.
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