Odds on for increase in Hong Kong illegal gambling over Euro 2024, addiction service warns
- Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Even Centre says young people ‘not aware of risks’ of illegal bookmaking and admit ‘gambling brings more excitement’
Gambling addiction help service the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Even Centre said almost a third of respondents said their stakes would be three times higher than usual over the contest, to be held in Germany.
Thirty-one per cent of them said the amounts gambled would go up from about HK$100 to HK$300 (US$38) over Euro 24, which kicks off in Munich on June 14 and ends with the Berlin final on July 14.
Illegal online gambling platforms have already kicked off a marketing blitz in the run-up to the tournament.
“We have concluded that teenagers are not aware of the risks of illegal bookmaking while gambling brings more excitement to them,” Ching Fung-yee, a clinical psychologist at the Even Centre, said.
Brenda Chung Yin-ting, a senior section manager for youth & family services at the hospitals group, appealed to parents to teach their children the value of money and stop them picking up the gambling habit at a young age.