Lucky Panda

About Lucky Panda

The ruling is the latest twist in a dispute dating to 2012 that has involved allegations of government interference, a failed settlement, and three international arbitration awards.

Baldwin and fellow casino entrepreneur Shawn Scott arrived in Laos in 2007 with ambitious plans to build a casino business aimed partly at customers crossing the country’s borders.

The pair established Sanum Investments and partnered with Laotian conglomerate ST Group. Baldwin later testified that the investors initially committed around $7.5 million to the venture, which envisaged two casino resorts and several slot clubs.

What is Lucky Panda?

The GMI, know locally as EEE, is described as a “residual payment to guarantee and legal minimum income for all residents”.

Anyone residing in Cyprus, with income not high enough to support their basic needs, is eligible for the benefit.

Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.

How to play Lucky Panda

Betting shops declining for the twelfth consecutive period, standing at 5,617, a 3.6% decrease representing a loss of 208 shops year-on-year.

Various tier one and two retail operators, such as William Hill and Betfred, have scaled back and closed hundreds of shops between them this year.

Non-remote betting was reported at £2.4 billion (down 3.3%) with non-remote casinos at £933.9 million (up 0.4%) and non-remote bingo at £703.8 million (up 8.2%).