HK$200m annual windfall for Hong Kong government in betting change

After more than six years of Jockey Club lobbying, the Home Affairs Bureau yesterday backed the two-way combining of betting pools with foreign jurisdictions, allowing overseas punters access to the larger and more attractive pools here.

The system, known as commingling, would mean a boost of HK$200 million a year in revenue for the government on top of more than HK$10 billion it currently receives in duty from the Jockey Club.

At the moment, racing fans in Australia, for example, can watch and bet on Hong Kong's races, but their money goes into a small Australian pool. Under a commingling agreement, Australian betting operators would send those bets to the much larger and more attractive pools in Hong Kong. The same would apply to jurisdictions around the globe.

The Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill will be put to the Legislative Council in the second quarter of this year, with the new set-up to start in time for the 2013-14 season in September.

The countries that now wager on Hong Kong races pay the Jockey Club a 3 per cent fee on holdings. According to Jockey Club officials, these small, localised holdings total HK$3 billion to HK$4 billion a year globally. This figure would at least double if the same bets were commingled into the larger pools here.

Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Raymond Young Lap-moon said the amendments would help in the fight against illegal bookmakers. "Any local bettors who used to patronise illegal bookmakers would have legal means to bet on races in overseas territories [or vice versa]," he said. He believed the new rules would not attract new gamblers on overseas racing due to language barriers and other issues.