For years, high rollers from China have flouted their country’s ban on gambling by getting their fix online. Livestreamed games of baccarat, roulette, poker and more feature young women sitting behind tables, dealing cards and spinning wheels.
While the players are in China, the croupiers on their screens are often far away in studios in the Philippine capital Manila. Filipino officials say many of these operations are also run and staffed by Chinese nationals.
Now, the Southeast Asian nation is shutting them down, concerned that the businesses have become fronts for a host of crimes. The ban on POGOs—as the country’s gambling operations that cater exclusively to players abroad are called—was announced in a speech this week by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.It was a crowd pleaser that drew a standing ovation and raucous chants of “BBM! BBM!”—short for his nickname, Bongbong Marcos.
