In South Korea, the Kangwon Land Casino has reportedly bowed to government pressure after agreeing to close its casino floor two hours earlier every day in order to reduce the time customers can enjoy its range of games on a daily basis to 18 hours.

According to a report from CalvinAyre.com, the venue located in eastern Gangwon Province is the only casino in the nation that allows locals and foreigners to gamble alongside each other. The change purportedly means that its 293,757 sq ft casino floor will be closing at 4am every day from April 1 before recommencing activities some six hours later.

Opened in 2000, Kangwon Land Casino boasts around 180 gaming tables alongside approximately 1,360 slots and is reportedly the most profitable casino in South Korea after November saw it declare (pdf) a third-quarter operating profit of about $126.5 million thanks to some $346.5 million in casino sales alongside nearly $17 million in revenues from non-gambling activities. The start on Friday of the 2018 Winter Olympics from the nearby Alpensia Resort is expected to see the venue become even more lucrative thanks to the thousands of tourists turning up to see athletes compete in 102 events spread across 15 sports.

However, CalvinAyre.com reported that Kangwon Land Casino has become a victim of its own success with local politicians often targeting the venue over problem gambling concerns. The casino purportedly recently consented to the introduction of ‘cooling off’ measures while the government has moreover asked it to shrink its complement of mass-market gaming tables to 160.