In October, GKL — which operates three foreign-visitor-only casinos under the “Seven Luck” brand in South Korea (Seoul’s Gangnam and Dragon City, and Busan) — reported a month-on-month drop in casino sales of around 11%, declining to KRW 30.54 billion (≈ US$22.2 million). Although this represents a sequential decline, the result was still up about 6.6% year-on-year compared to October of the prior year.
Google has quietly updated its global advertising policy, moving to classify sweepstakes-style casino platforms as online gambling rather than “social casino” games. According to its October 28 2025 amendment to the Gambling and Games Advertising Policy, the newly added line reads: “Examples of games that are not social casino games: Sweepstakes casinos.”
South Korea’s foreigner-only casino operator Paradise Co Ltd posted casino revenue of approximately US $51 million for October, building on the recovery momentum seen earlier in 2025.
On 4 November 2025, Cambodian authorities announced the suspension of licences and closure of four casinos in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, citing involvement in “crime of concealment and fraud through technology”. The establishments included two casinos branded under Jin Pei Group LLC (Jinbei-branded) and two under G.C. Media LLC (GC-branded).
The National Immigration Administration of China announced on 3 November 2025 that it will widen its pilot programme allowing mainland “talent” to travel to and from Hong Kong and Macau under more relaxed visa and border-control conditions.
Author: Janice Chew • Tuesday, 04/11/2025
