Pursuits
World Cup Gambling Hub Lands Ambassador in Vegas Court
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When FBI agents went into Villa 8882 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on the afternoon of July 9, they found Wei Seng Phua and his son watching the World Cup semifinal between the Netherlands and Argentina.
Phua, a regular at the Poker King Club in Macau where seven-figure pots are common, had flown in from the former Portuguese colony on his private jet two weeks earlier. He travels on a diplomatic passport from San Marino, hobnobs with the world’s top professional poker players, and according to the FBI, he’s a high-ranking member of a Hong Kong-based triad.