Hong Kong is one of the few areas in China where gambling is legal. However, with laws forbidding online gambling, how does it fit into the global map?
Sha Tin is one of the most famous horse racing tracks in Asia, and possibly the world. It is one of the few places where citizens in China can go to gamble. Yet with gambling tourism on the increase, Hong Kong is still quite archaic when it comes to its laws. It has no licensed online operators, and physical casinos are accessible only through international waters. So how does this bode for the future of gambling in the country?
Gambling in China and Hong Kong
The Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing gambling market on the planet and is a major player when it comes to the $480 billion global industry. Part of this has not just been down to the acquisition of more players, but the legalization of the pursuit in various countries and sectors.
Hong Kong is a unique proposition when it comes to gambling, and to understand it, you must look at its position as a special administrative region (SAR) of China. This means that despite being part of the country and protected by it militarily, it has its own laws and governance. China itself does not allow gambling except in two of these regions: Hong Kong and Macau. This means both gain tourism from gamblers who are based elsewhere in China.
There are no legal facilities for online gambling, although this is not enforced. Thus, many people in Hong Kong choose to use offshore casinos. This brings benefits and disadvantages. Firstly, consumers must ensure they use the most trusted online casinos in the Hong Kong region. This must not just be based on game selection and bonuses, but also security factors like payouts, customer service, and the transparency of games. This can ensure a safer gambling experience.
In Hong Kong, all gambling has to be licensed, yet there is only a single organization that holds one: The Jockeys Club. They can provide betting on horse racing, football, the playing of lotteries, and games of mahjong. These must be done in one of six legal gambling establishments.
Statistics for Gambling in Hong Kong
Data collection on how many people gamble in Hong Kong is sparse. The last real survey was conducted by the Social Sciences Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong in 2021. At this time, around 39.5% of the population gambled in some form, a decrease from previous studies in 2016 and a huge drop from the 80.4% recorded in 2005. There was also a decrease in school-aged gambling.
The rate of gambling disorder also fell to 0.45 from a previous record of 1.4%. The most popular forms of gambling were the lottery and social gambling games such as mahjong and poker. When it came to sports betting, 11.3% of those in the survey said they had bet on horse racing in the last year, with 6.3% taking part in football betting.
How Does Hong Kong Compare to Others Around the World?
The most obvious place to start with comparisons is the United States. Yet its gambling laws are just as complex, if not more so, than Hong Kong's. There are just over 7 million people living in Hong Kong, meaning the states of Arizona, Washington, and Massachusetts have a similar population size. None of these allow legal online casinos, but Arizona and Massachusetts allow sports betting online. However, Washington is possibly the best to make a comparison with, as its laws have a similar setup to Hong Kong. For example, betting on horse racing is allowed at tracks, with online betting able to take place if you are at one of the designated locations.
If we compare its statistics to Hong Kong, we can see how the two align. Around 73.1% of the population here takes part in some form of gambling activity, much higher than in Hong Kong. Around 20% of these were identified as problem gamblers, a figure on the increase, as opposed to Hong Kong's declining figure below the 1% mark.
When it comes to revenue, $93.6 million is made in Massachusetts in its highest month through sports betting alone. It is harder to get figures for Hong Kong, though champion jockey Joao Moreira has claimed that a weekend horse racing meeting can garner US$200 million alone. This shows a considerably higher revenue, if this figure is true.
When it comes to casino trends, figures are almost impossible to come by, and reliable ones do not exist. This is because there are no catalogs of how many people are logging on to casinos outside the SAR and playing games. This is also true of Massachusetts.
Across the world, gambling laws are changing. Countries have shown that a one-company, state monopoly on gambling simply leads to proliferation offshore. This may be an issue Hong Kong is choosing to ignore, and it may not be long until it becomes an issue it can no longer afford to avoid.
