Singapore
By Lydia Lam 13 Apr 2021 03:41PM (Updated: 13 Apr 2021 03:50PM )
SINGAPORE: After losing money playing online poker, three friends decided to create their own club hosting poker games within their social circle.
They set it up with a mobile app and bought virtual coins to start games, which they took turns to host daily after their working hours. In a single day in November 2018, they facilitated 29 players in their "All in Poker Club" with a total bet value of S$11,682.
Serene Chan Li Shan, 35, Desmond Low Weimin, 36, and 31-year-old Benjamin Ong Jia Wei were each given three months' jail and fined S$20,000 on Tuesday (Apr 13). If they cannot pay the fine, they will each have to serve two months' jail in default.
The trio pleaded guilty to a charge each under the Remote Gambling Act of providing a Singapore-based remote gambling service, facilitating participation by others in remote gambling on the Pokerrrr2 mobile app.
The court heard that Ong introduced Chan and Low to online poker in May 2018 when he invited them to join his friend's online poker club.
A month after they joined the club, the trio suffered losses and decided to exit the club to create their own club.
In June 2018, Low registered a new club named "All in Poker Club" using the Pokerrr2 mobile app. All three of the accused were given roles of managers, with access and administrative rights as hosts to invite and grant approval to other account holders to join their club.
They used a function in the app for auto-generation of tips for each game, which meant a 5 per cent charge from the total bet amount to form a pool of funds for the accused persons. They shared the proceeds equally among themselves.
The trio volunteered to take turns to host the game daily after their working hours, from 6pm onwards. They invited friends and friends of their friends to join the online poker games using a club code and bought virtual coins that they used to start and host games.
They used a WhatsApp chat group to notify players of the games and update them on daily settlement of losses and winnings.
Chan was in charge of the settlement, tallying the wins and losses and receiving money from the losers via PayNow. She would transfer the winnings later on via the same method, while the two men took charge of hosting the game and watching to prevent huge losses.
They operated the club for half a year from June to December in 2018 before deciding to close it down. The club had at least 60 to 70 active and non-active players.
In a single day on Nov 9, 2018, the trio facilitated 29 players to gamble remotely on the app with a total bet value of S$11,682.
A party of police officers conducted a check on Mar 20, 2019 and arrested Chan at a void deck in Punggol for an offence under the Remote Gambling Act.
They later arrested Low and Ong after follow-up investigations and seized phones from the trio.
ILLEGAL GAMBLING TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER CRIMES: PROSECUTOR
Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Lim asked for at least three months' jail and a fine of S$20,000 each, saying that remote gambling is "especially pernicious" for three reasons.
Illegal remote gambling operators are typically associated with other types of crime, and such games "lend themselves to repetitive play and addictive behaviour", he said. Lastly, remote gambling is "ubiquitous and easily accessible" due to the growing reach of the Internet and widespread use of mobile devices.
Lawyer Sara Ng said a jail term is not warranted in this case, saying the High Court framework has left a possibility of imposing just a fine.
She said her clients are white collar workers who played poker because they enjoyed the game and set up the club just to play with their friends and acquaintances.
There was "no intention at all" to profit from this and the tips they received worked out to about S$193 each, which is "rather insignificant", she said.
She added that this is "different from usual gambling cases" involving illegal 4D bets or soccer bets due to the nature of the game, where the money "goes around" but is not "lost" to her clients.
For facilitating participation in a remote gambling service, the accused could have been jailed up to seven years, fined between S$20,000 and S$500,000, or both.
Source: CNA/ll(rw)
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Jail and fine for trio who set up online poker club using mobile app
(Photo: CNA)By Lydia Lam 13 Apr 2021 03:41PM (Updated: 13 Apr 2021 03:50PM )
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SINGAPORE: After losing money playing online poker, three friends decided to create their own club hosting poker games within their social circle.
They set it up with a mobile app and bought virtual coins to start games, which they took turns to host daily after their working hours. In a single day in November 2018, they facilitated 29 players in their "All in Poker Club" with a total bet value of S$11,682.
Serene Chan Li Shan, 35, Desmond Low Weimin, 36, and 31-year-old Benjamin Ong Jia Wei were each given three months' jail and fined S$20,000 on Tuesday (Apr 13). If they cannot pay the fine, they will each have to serve two months' jail in default.
The trio pleaded guilty to a charge each under the Remote Gambling Act of providing a Singapore-based remote gambling service, facilitating participation by others in remote gambling on the Pokerrrr2 mobile app.
The court heard that Ong introduced Chan and Low to online poker in May 2018 when he invited them to join his friend's online poker club.
A month after they joined the club, the trio suffered losses and decided to exit the club to create their own club.
In June 2018, Low registered a new club named "All in Poker Club" using the Pokerrr2 mobile app. All three of the accused were given roles of managers, with access and administrative rights as hosts to invite and grant approval to other account holders to join their club.
They used a function in the app for auto-generation of tips for each game, which meant a 5 per cent charge from the total bet amount to form a pool of funds for the accused persons. They shared the proceeds equally among themselves.
The trio volunteered to take turns to host the game daily after their working hours, from 6pm onwards. They invited friends and friends of their friends to join the online poker games using a club code and bought virtual coins that they used to start and host games.
They used a WhatsApp chat group to notify players of the games and update them on daily settlement of losses and winnings.
Chan was in charge of the settlement, tallying the wins and losses and receiving money from the losers via PayNow. She would transfer the winnings later on via the same method, while the two men took charge of hosting the game and watching to prevent huge losses.
They operated the club for half a year from June to December in 2018 before deciding to close it down. The club had at least 60 to 70 active and non-active players.
In a single day on Nov 9, 2018, the trio facilitated 29 players to gamble remotely on the app with a total bet value of S$11,682.
A party of police officers conducted a check on Mar 20, 2019 and arrested Chan at a void deck in Punggol for an offence under the Remote Gambling Act.
They later arrested Low and Ong after follow-up investigations and seized phones from the trio.
ILLEGAL GAMBLING TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER CRIMES: PROSECUTOR
Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Lim asked for at least three months' jail and a fine of S$20,000 each, saying that remote gambling is "especially pernicious" for three reasons.
Illegal remote gambling operators are typically associated with other types of crime, and such games "lend themselves to repetitive play and addictive behaviour", he said. Lastly, remote gambling is "ubiquitous and easily accessible" due to the growing reach of the Internet and widespread use of mobile devices.
Lawyer Sara Ng said a jail term is not warranted in this case, saying the High Court framework has left a possibility of imposing just a fine.
She said her clients are white collar workers who played poker because they enjoyed the game and set up the club just to play with their friends and acquaintances.
There was "no intention at all" to profit from this and the tips they received worked out to about S$193 each, which is "rather insignificant", she said.
She added that this is "different from usual gambling cases" involving illegal 4D bets or soccer bets due to the nature of the game, where the money "goes around" but is not "lost" to her clients.
For facilitating participation in a remote gambling service, the accused could have been jailed up to seven years, fined between S$20,000 and S$500,000, or both.
Source: CNA/ll(rw)
Continue reading...