The Phua Wei Seng Biography – What Will the Next Chapter Be?

Paul Phua Biography

• Arguably the biggest bookie in the world
• Arrested for illegal gambling several times
• FBI caught him, but eventually escaped 
• Worked for Malaysian national security
• Connections to 14K triads?

Paul Phua aka Phua Wei Seng might be the biggest gambler around the planet. He is regarded as the biggest poker player in Asia, allegedly the owner of the world’s largest betting company, provider of national security help for Malaysian national services and an infamous operator of illegal gambling rings. But what will be the next chapter in the Phua Wei Seng biography?

Paul Phua is one of the biggest players on the planet. He might have been into everything that is connected to land-based and online gambling Malaysia and worldwide at some stage of his life. He emerged as a Malaysian poker player and business man, yet he became world famous of the illegal betting activities he run throughout the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Las Vegas. Yes, that is the same story telling him walking away as a free man because the guys at the FBI screwed something up… But there are even more interesting stories in the Phua Wei Seng biography.

The Phua Wei Seng biography chapter I – Premier League Blackout

Do you remember when two Premier League games were suspended after the lights went off in the late nineties? One of them were a West Ham v Crystal Palace fixture with the other one being an Arsenal v Wimbledon clash – the days when the Dons were still in the Premier League… It was in 1997 and there was a third attempt to shut the floodlights in a Premier League game, but then the police were able to catch the guys manipulating with the electricity.

It is interesting because both blackouts came in the second half, meaning that Asian bookmakers were able to use the actual result when the match was suspended to settle bets. Two Malaysian and a Chinese man were prosecuted and locked up after the scandal back then. However, after many years, it surfaced that Paul Phua might have been the mastermind behind this operation. If prosecutors knew the Phua Wei Seng biography by then, they might have linked this betting scam to him…

The Phua Wei Seng biography chapter II – Euro 2004 betting ring

Paul Phua was arrested in Malaysia in 2004. The charges were similar to the ones that were pressed against him ten years later in the US: he was running an illegal gambling ring during the Euro 2004 football tournament. (Which ended with actually the biggest ever upset in football tournaments, if you have a thing for conspiracy theories…) He was convicted, paid a large fine and then fled to Vietnam from creditors and bettors. He was denied to return to his homeland during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The Phua Wei Seng biography chapter III – FBI catching him in vain

By the time of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he was back in the business. First he was arrested in Hong Kong for running an illegal sports betting ring. He left Asia to continue to gamble big-time during the tournament, operating a multi-million dollar illegal gambling ring in the most important City where US gambling laws allow sports betting: Las Vegas, Nevada. He did that from a Caesars Palace Villa, and the authorities picked up on the unusual data traffic that was generated by him.

FBI personnel disguised as wireless mechanics entered the villa after shutting down the internet and were called by Paul Phua to please fix it. They obtained all the evidence needed to lock up Paul Phua for long years, but unfortunately they acted without a warrant. So, after all the evidence went into the dustbin, Phua, who was actually bailed out by his poker buddies, Phil Ivey, Andrew Robl and co., was able to walk away as a free man.

Chapter IV – My name is Phua. Paul Phua.

But who is Paul Phua Wei Seng? This overly adventurous Paul Phua biography is getting excessive… Later in 2014, as the prosecution against him was still ongoing, it came to light that he worked for the Malaysian government, actually the national security services. And the Malaysian James Bond is obviously also recognized by many who play online poker in China and worldwide as the biggest poker player on the planet.

But there is more. He is allegedly the biggest bookmaker in the world, being the principal owner of MAXbet, formerly known as IBCBet. It is also speculated that he is a high ranking member of the 14K triads, Hong Kong’s biggest criminal group, but he denied that several times of course. His name also surfaced when the tennis betting scandal at the Australian Open broke and I think that you are not surprised, reading the Phua Wei Seng biography, that he was in Australia during the tournament indeed.

Any big online betting scandal or other gambling scam would appear in gambling news, many would think of Paul Phua. And the Phua Wei Seng biography is not finished yet. I am sure that we will get to know some other interesting chapters in the future. Paul Phua is arguably the biggest gambler in the world and the Phua Wei Seng biography is one of the most hilarious gambling stories you’d ever read.