HK betting frenzy - Reuters

Z_Ho

Hong Kong may not have a team at the World Cup but that has not stopped interest reaching stratospheric proportions because of the craze for football
betting.

The current World Cup tournament in Germany is the first since Hong Kong legalised football gambling three years ago and the territory's already healthy appetite for betting is at fever pitch.

Alan Ho, a store manager, is impatient for Brazil's next game.

Confident the South Americans will go all the way, he is betting HK$800 ($A140) on the reigning world champions every time they play.

"I think Brazil will meet Argentina in the final and Brazil will win," Ho said.

Football gambling was legalised to curb illegal betting, which totalled at least HK$20 billion in 2001, the government estimates.

Taxation of legal football gambling meanwhile raised HK$2 billion ($A350 million) in fiscal 2004/05, helping push government finances into the black for the first time since the Asian financial crisis.

Gambling on matches has become so popular that even 10 percent of school children aged between 9 and 12 said they planned to bet on World Cup matches in a survey by Watsons Athletic Club.

Retailers and bars are keen to cash in on World Cup games, which begin at 9pm local time and go on until 5am.

Shopping malls are packed overnight with some installing massage chairs to encourage people to stay for late matches. One mall has sleeping bags and shower facilities available for shoppers who spend more than HK$1,000 ($A175).

At Olympian City, a suburban mall, crowds gathered in front of huge TV screens to watch Portugal play Iran.

Cheerleaders on a stage throw giant balls into a seated audience before the game begins. When it does, the crowd cheers both sides' efforts at goal in equal measure - Iran supporters say they want to back an Asian team.

Hong Congers are avid football fans thanks to 24-hour cable football channels that screen matches from the major European leagues.

"Every night there is some football news or game on TV," said Jonathan Lau, a personal trainer. "I love watching English football."

Manchester United and Real Madrid have big followings and Brazil and England are the most popular teams in this World Cup.

While late-night games are not deterring fans who have to go to work the next day, they have prompted the normally laissez-faire government to issue health guidelines. World Cup fans should eat fruit, avoid fatty foods and stretch while watching games, they say.

Local newspapers, meanwhile, reported the government fears some legislators may not turn up for a crucial vote on funding a new government headquarters because it coincides with the later stages of the World Cup.

In the Watsons Athletic Club survey 47 percent of girls said they planned to watch the World Cup.

At Olympian City, Katherine Chan, an office worker in her late 20s, has come along to watch the Portugal game with two girlfriends. They too are gambling, although at HK$10 ($A1.75) each per match their contribution is modest by local standards.

"We're not usually interested in soccer but it's fun to go out with friends and watch the World Cup. It's a big international competition and it's only every four years," Chan said.

All three friends are rooting for England.

"I don't think they'll win, but their players are handsome," Chan said.

沉睡的藍

Gambling on matches has become so popular that even 10 percent of school children aged between 9 and 12 said they planned to bet on World Cup matches in a survey by Watsons Athletic Club.

賭波賭到路透都寫埋…

Jason

原帖由 Z_Ho 於 2006-6-24  06:50 PM 發表
At Olympian City, Katherine Chan, an office worker in her late 20s, has come along to watch the Portugal game with two girlfriends. They too are gambling, although at HK$10 ($A1.75) each per match their contribution is modest by local standards.

"We're not usually interested in soccer but it's fun to go out with friends and watch the World Cup. It's a big international competition and it's only every four years," Chan said.

All three friends are rooting for England.

"I don't think they'll win, but their players are handsome," Chan said.

真失禮

Fantasista

AFP
June 26, 2006

HONG KONG (AFP) - More than 100 people have been arrested in Hong Kong for illegal gambling on football since the World Cup kicked off.

Police said Monday betting slips worth more than 50 million dollars (6.4 million US) had been seized in about 50 operations since the opening of the World Cup in Germany on June 9.

In the nearby gaming centre of Macau, police on Monday smashed a soccer gambling racket believed to be operated by a Hong Kong triad gang with bets amounting to about 10 million dollars. A Hong Kong man was arrested.

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This came after Macau police raided a Hong Kong triad-run betting racket on Saturday, seizing 100 million dollars (12.8 million US) in betting slips.

A Hong Kong man, a Macau man and five mainland Chinese men were arrested during the raid.

The World Cup finals are expected to prove a big draw for punters in Hong Kong where the government estimates 50-60 billion Hong Kong dollars worth of bets are placed with illegal bookies annually.

Legal soccer gambling was introduced in this gambling-mad southern Chinese territory in 2003 in a bid to drive underground bookmakers out of business.

But restrictions on the types of bets offered, coupled with the endemic nature of soccer betting here has meant the illicit trade continues to thrive.

Police said they have teamed up with forces in Southeast Asia and China to stamp out the problem.