News

Monday, July 02, 2007
Hong Kong to accept US bettors

The Hong Kong authorities approved an arrangement by which US bettors can bet on Hong Kong races in the Hong Kong pools. The arrangement is not reciprocal, meaning that Hong Kong bettors remain limited to betting in their own pool, even on foreign races.

Although the deal still needs to be approved by the US government, it is expected that the first US betting in Hong Kong pools will start as early as September this year. Initially, the American bets will be channelled into the more simple pools such as win, place and quinella, gradually expanding to include exotic bets like the triple trio.

Early projections are that the American bets could amount to between HK$10 million and HK$20 million each raceday, adding about HK$1.2 billion to total season turnover. The American bets will be handled by the Las Vegas Dissemination Company.