Soccer betting will start today in 12 major cities and provinces and it looks set to take China by storm, riding the wave of the national team's success in reaching the World Cup for the first time and the popular passion for gambling.
Punters in Beijing, Shanghai and 10 other cities will be able to bet on the results of 13 games to be played next weekend in the Italian and English leagues, with each ticket costing two yuan (HK$1.88).
The sports lottery management centre, which is in charge of the pools, organised a trial run from October 10-13.
It sold 170,000 tickets on the first day in Shanghai, the Workers Daily said yesterday, and on October 15, it announced the first 166 winners.
Newspapers have started to print detailed analyses of the 13 games on the betting list, with team news and betting tips.
Management centre officials said they planned to include Chinese games in the future, but that the domestic league was too young yet.
