China cracking down for World Cup

With the World Cup being rumored to be the most popular event in terms of betting of all-time, it should be no surprise that China is cracking down on online gambling.

The biggest bust occurred last week, as authorities broke up what they called the largest ever online gambling ring in Hong Kong.

From The Washington Post:

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China's anti-gambling police unit will closely monitor online betting activity during the World Cup, the Ministry of Public Security said, following the joint campaign by Hong Kong and Shenzhen police in China which netted 70 people.

The gambling ring had taken more than HK$100 million in football-related bets, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"We will put the highest priority on smashing football gambling on the internet during the World Cup," ministry spokesman Gu Jian was quoted as saying. "We will continue to exert great pressure and take severe measures against gambling."

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I respect China for their decision. I certainly do not agree with it, but I respect it. I think each country should be able to decide and take action for what's best for their society. I could be wrong, but from what I understand of China, they are not being hypocritical.

Do they allow online dog races, horse races, and lotto? Do they allow special (finantial) interest dictate their laws? I'm sure there has got to be some degree of that going on, but nothing like that of the US.

most popular event in terms of betting of all-time. Bigger than the superbowl?

HK$100 million is a drop in the bucket. That's about US$12.5 million.

As for most popular betting event - the Superbowl doesn't hold a candle. More money is being wagered on any *single* World Cup match than the Superbowl. Any of Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand individually can surpass the total betting of the Superbowl, for that matter.

Asian authorities always promise to crack down on World Cup gambling, but ultimately they never even get the tip of the iceberg. This particular instance is just about enough propaganda to show that they've done their jobs.

More money is being wagered on any *single* World Cup match than the Superbowl. hmmmm.

Shouldn't the Chinese be worried about other things, like Exports ?

World Cup is huge business.
China wouldn't be stepping up their enforcement efforts if it wasn't.

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Originally Posted by MediaPlexaKris

most popular event in terms of betting of all-time. Bigger than the superbowl?

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Well, the term "being rumored to be" is applied, so it may be just a rumor. But for a safer assumption, World Cup is indeed one of the most popular events in terms of sports betting. In my opinion, whichever event is currently happening, then it attracts the most attention for the time being, that is in terms of sports betting. But for the World Cup betting online to be cracked down by China, it's not a good news to hear. After all, World Cup betting is a very huge business, as Anthony has pointed out.

Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China are very different, pls don't mix up two regions.

i believe Hong Kong SAR is under pressure to do something for The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

>> just about enough propaganda to show that they've done their jobs.

agree

The crackdown was a result of HK and Shenzhen police working together to shut down a gambling ring in China - most likely meaning that the ring was operating out of Shenzhen and taking a lot of bets from HK.

So realistically it has little to do with the Jockey Club - whose jurisdiction does not include Shenzhen. The Shenzhen police just relied on info provided by the HK police.

As for the betting on the World Cup - or for that matter, betting on one MATCH - I was not referring to the total betting worldwide on any particular match. I was referring to the betting by any ONE country such as Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, OR Thailand - being more than the total WORLDWIDE betting on the Super Bowl. You can of course add China to that list but I thought that was already assumed ;)

This is not just a rumour - it is as close to fact as you can get without providing actual numbers (impossible to do as 99% of the betting is underground).

(excuse the caps, they are for emphasis, not shouting - bold or italics are not that noticeable).

>> So realistically it has little to do with the Jockey Club - whose jurisdiction does not include Shenzhen

why not if it is hurting Jockey Club's revenue ?

The Jockey Club is not going to increase its revenue through enforcement - there is already way too much underground betting which they are unable to do anything about. The only way for them to improve revenues is to offer competitive odds.

The whole point is to show that the police in both HK and China are doing their bit to crack down on illegal online gambling at the request of the Chinese government.

I would be highly surprised if any more large arrests are announced between now and the end of the World Cup.