Business

World Cup highlights Asia’s illegal betting boom

By Kelvin Chan
Published June 18, 2014 12:11pm ET
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World Cup highlights Asia’s illegal betting boom
In this photo June 9, 2014 shows the officers from Hong Kong Police’s organized crime and triad bureau display stacks of cash seized after they launched an operation with counterparts in mainland China to smash a cross-border illegal gambling syndicate days before the start of the World Cup finals in Brazil. While teams battle for glory at football’s biggest event, the biggest winners may be Asia’s illegal bookmakers, who are thriving because demand from sports fans to place bets is surging but legal options are few. Government monopoly operators offer legal sports betting in a handful of Asian jurisdictions but there are thousands more black market operators. Asia accounts for just over half of the nearly $700 billion in illegal bets placed worldwide each year, according to a sports monitoring group. (AP Photo/Str) | AP

HONG KONG (AP) — As teams battle for football glory at the World Cup in Brazil, the biggest winners from the tournament may be illegal bookmakers in Asia.

Since kickoff, Chinese officer worker Chen has already wagered 2,000-3,000 yuan ($320-$480) through black market online bookies and plans to gamble more on big upcoming games.

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