China carrot in cross-bet deal

The cross-betting arrangement between Hong Kong and Macau will offer the Hong Kong Jockey Club indirect access to gamblers in the mass population centres of southeast China.

Casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun has estimated a $100 million-a-day handle for Macau as a conduit for bets into Hong Kong pools. The major benefit for Hong Kong is likely to come through the five licensed bookmakers, or betting agents, at Taipa racecourse who have been running telephone betting on Macau racing for off-course clients since May last year.

'I don't think it's any secret that quite a bit of the money they hold over the phone is from over the border in China,' said Macau Jockey Club (MJC) director of racing Ian Paterson yesterday. 'That money has been the driving force behind the lift in Macau Jockey Club holdings in the past year.'

Those holdings, almost halved to $25 million a race meeting after amendments to Hong Kong's Betting Ordinance in May, 2002, are now around $120 million a meeting on a normal Macau raceday.

'Now, I'm not sure if you can directly translate that $95 million a day difference to what's coming from over the border, because the agents bet to balance their books more on some horses than others and so on,' Paterson said when pressed on a figure for Macau's mainland-sourced turnover. 'It's hard to really put a figure on it, but I would not be surprised if our true turnover now coming from China is a multiple of two or three times what our turnover was before the agents were licensed.'

Paterson said the agreement would be signed by both sides this week, then go to each government for approval of the scheme, from which Macau will derive its income by a commission on bets handled.