For several millennia, horse racing has remained the sport of choice for royalty and the elite alike. Horse racing in its competitive form is believed to have originated in central Asia, where tribal nomads first domesticated the animals approximately 6,500 years ago. Since then, the continued popularity of the sport is largely attributed to our love for gambling, as Jonathan Doubilet finds out...

Horse racing as we know it today originated during the Crusades, when European soldiers returned from the Orient, bringing with them the incredibly versatile Arabian stallions. These stallions were then bred with the best of the local stock, producing a breed of horse that possessed endurance, agility and speed. This new breed of horse would soon afterwards be lined up in races, where noblemen would wager on outcomes, thus introducing the advent of modern horse racing.

In contrast to the sometime semi-negative view of gambling in the western world, gambling is a widely acceptable pastime among the majority of east Asian countries. Luck and chance are especially intriguing among these countries, and it is not unusual for gambling to take place at family functions and social events. The Chinese New Year, in particular, is believed to be a time when the bad luck of the past year is replaced by the good luck brought with the New Year.

Horse racing is one of the most popular activities for travellers to Hong Kong, and is also one of the region’s most popular sports. Behind Hong Kong’s world-class horses and jockeys is the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which was established in 1884 as a non-profit organisation. It is also the region’s biggest tax payer, drawing nearly 11 per cent of Hong Kong’s tax revenue each year, as well as a charity donor, giving roughly HK$1bn every year to charitable causes.

The Hong Kong Cup - known previously as the Hong Kong Invitation Cup - first took place in 1988, and limited overseas entries to just Singapore and Malaysia.

A tradition under threat

Internet gambling is quickly spreading across the Far East, offering a vast variety of applications, the convenience of playing from home and stakes large enough to attract players from the higher classes of society.

But while the Asian market is undoubtedly growing at a faster rate than most other regions in the world, this rapid growth has not benefited everyone, as it has inadvertently resulted in the revenues of gambling commissions and clubs across the Far East plummeting within a very short period of time.

Hong Kong has been particularly affected, seeing one of the hardest declines in gaming revenue to date since the internet really took hold in Asian households. It has been estimated that the amount wagered through the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which was reported to be close to US$10bn in 2003, has been dwarfed already by that of illegal gaming operations. These illegal operations consist of both online gambling sites, and the underground betting rings within the country itself.

Hong Kong has put in place strict measures to defend itself, however. In 2002, the Hong Kong Judiciary passed a strict law rendering all bets placed by citizens with anyone other than the Hong Kong Jockey Club illegal. The law charges violators a HK$10,000 fine and three-month prison sentence.

Less than a year later, in order to prevent further funds from escaping Hong Kong’s shores, the Jockey Club was granted permission to accept bets on football. The move was initiated to curb profits being made by internet operators and the underground gambling industry, whom officials blamed for a sharp decline in wagering.

However, whether the actions of these offshore operations constitute a felony or simply a creative and profitable use of technology depends on who is asked.
Many web-gambling site operators have been accepting bets from Hong Kong residents for years already. Since the Hong Kong Judiciary passed its restrictive bill, however, gambling site operators have become craftier with regards to their acceptance of bets from Hong Kong’s citizens.

Most of the larger operators previously profiting from the wagers of Hong Kong residents never ceased the acceptance of bets. Rather, they relied on the tried and tested advisory for players to check the legality of online gambling within their respective jurisdictions.

Others were apparently unshaken, offering their sites in both of China’s main dialects, and even allowing their players to place bets using Hong Kong dollars.

Facing a bright future?

Looking at various past examples of governmental intervention in gambling matters, it seems only logical that whatever legislations or barriers are put in place, there will always be a certain amount of dissidence among gamblers.

These past examples also show, however, that when government regulation is implemented, it can be an extremely effective and even profitable method of curbing the amount of offshore and underground gambling taking place.

With a population of over one billion and socially adept demographic, it is only a matter of time before we see a true showdown in the online betting battleground of China and its administrative regions.