Jockey Club betting on big game plan

Betting on basketball and tennis could be added to help combat illegal bookmakers and increase public revenue, the Hong Kong Jockey Club argues.

The move comes as illegal gambling has become increasingly active and the Jockey Club needing to enhance its competitiveness.

"With unregulated and a wide variety of betting items illegal bookmakers earn more than HK$15 billion in profits from Hongkongers every year," the HKJC says.

"Apart from football betting activities basketball is also popular.

"As legal betting activities are strictly regulated and we cannot compete directly with illegal bookmakers, we have to improve our competitiveness and flexibility, including introducing new betting items and allowing people with such demands to bet in legal ways."

Legislator Edward Lau Kwok-fan of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong agreed that introducing basketball betting could combat illegal gambling while increasing public revenue.

Both the mainland and Macau have basketball betting, Lau noted, adding that consultation and law amendment of such betting could be completed within a year.

Legislator Peter Koon Ho-ming, also a member of the Betting and Lotteries Commission, said legal basketball betting could deter people from engaging in illegal gambling.

Allowing more betting items could increase public revenue to help those in need, and the HKJC could donate its income to charities, he said.

But Ng Shuk-ping, a social work supervisor with the Caritas Addicted Gamblers Counselling Centre, said legalizing basketball betting may cause more youngsters to get addicted to gambling as basketball is popular among them.

Saint Francis University social science lecturer Joe Tang Yiu-cho echoed that view, saying introducing more forms of betting would have an impact on young Hongkongers.

He also questioned the way of fighting illegal gambling by legalizing more betting items, saying it is "no different from legalizing prostitution or illegal drugs."

In response, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau said authorities do not encourage gambling as "the policy objective of allowing the provision of legal and authorized gambling in a limited and regulated manner is to address the public demand for gambling, which may otherwise turn to illegal gambling." It added that the regulation of gambling activities should keep up with the times to curb problems arising from illegal gambling.

The administration will consider introducing new legal betting activities when "there is a huge and persistent demand from the public for a certain type of betting activities" while such demand is being satisfied by illegal means and cannot be fully tackled by law enforcement.

It will keep communicating with the HKJC and consider whether there is a need to introduce new betting activities, it said.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com