If the United States government thinks they are going to keep organized crime
out of the online casino gambling industry (because yes, it is an industry),
they should take a closer look at the recent murder of 777Betz.com CEO, James Po
Ho Cheung. The forty-five year old Cheung was found shot to death outside of his
home in Vancouver, Canada.
Although the police investigation is yet to turn up any specific leads, it is
highly probable that Cheung's death was no accident. Considering he was shot
multiple times while sitting in his car, I definitely smell foul play in the
air. Whether or not this is related to Cheung's online gambling affairs remains
to be seen.
As I mentioned, Cheung was CEO of 777Betz.com, which is a Costa Rica-based
online sports betting website. Primarily offering sports betting and horse
racing wagers, the website also forayed into multi-player casino card games like
poker, with Texas Hold'em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud and Chinese Poker all on the menu.
A relatively young website, 777Betz has been in operation since 2005 with
over 100 investors involved with the company. U.S. pink sheets show 777Betz with
over-the-counter stock valued at nineteen cents per share. This put the market
cap on the online betting site at approximately $6 million, which is impressive
considering how newly formed the company was. Contrary to what some people might
mistakenly believe, the fact that the website is licensed to do business out of
Costa Rica, does not mean it is subjected to regulation under laws in Costa
Rica.