Gambling Licence Hong Kong
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- Gambling License Hong Kong
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- Gaming License Hong Kong
- Gambling Licence Hong Kong Hong Kong
Hong Kong Court’s Guidance on Correction of Arbitral Awards, Additional Awards, and Applications to Set-Aside or Resist Enforcement. In review: licensing and taxation of gambling activities in. Understanding The Legality Of Gambling In Hong Kong. Legally, for gambling Hong Kong residents must play at approved outlets and sites. Residents must be over 18 to gamble. Under current Gambling Ordinance law, amended in 2006, gambling on lotteries and sports is legal if operated by approved providers.
All types of gambling are legal in Hong Kong but the government keeps a very close eye on what’s happening and regulations are tight.
That being said offshore operators do offer online gambling to residents of the country which we’ll detail below along with a full overview of the situation and rundown of all key laws relating to online and offline gambling.
Betting Sites Available In Honk Kong:
We only know of one betting site available to use if you’re a resident in Hong Kong and that’s 188bet.
Key Facts: Online Gambling In Hong Kong
- Online betting and gambling legal with licensed operators (since 2006).
- Football betting (soccer) is the most popular with punters.
- Legal gambling age is 18+.
- Overseas providers legal with a license (current non exist)
- Offshore operators continue to serve customers in the market.
Gambling Legislation & Laws
Often the best way to understand the legal situation surrounding gambling in any given country is to look back through the legislation passed over the years. The following timeline allows you to do just that for Hong Kong’s gambling industry:
1977 – The Gambling Ordinance
Gambling Licence Hong Kong Tourist
It was in 1977 under the Gambling Ordinance that gambling was first legalised and regulated in Hong Kong.
That piece of legislation determined that gambling was only legal in certain licensed gambling establishments and established a monopoly over lotteries, horse racing betting and other sports betting for the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
2002 – The Gambling (Amendment) Ordinance
In 2002, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Gambling (Amendment) Ordinance. This piece of legislation banned all offshore gambling, including offshore internet gambling but did allow for the Hong Kong Jockey Club to offer some online gambling services in the shape of selling lottery tickets and providing horse racing and football betting.
It was this legislation, too, which set down the potential punishments for anyone found operating or using illegal offshore and internet gambling services. These are that representatives of providers can be jailed for up to seven years and the company fined $5 million HKD, and that users of the services can be imprisoned for up to nine months and fined $30,000 HKD.
2014 – Home Affairs Bureau Announcement
In spite of the 2002 legislation, overseas online gambling operators continued to cater for Hong Kong citizens. Whilst this is illegal and the Hong Kong authorities do not condone it, the Home Affairs Bureau did state in 2014 that they would not seek to block access to unlicensed betting websites.
Tax On Winnings?
Another important element of any country’s legal stance on gambling is how the activity is viewed when it comes to tax. In Hong Kong, the situation is mercifully simple as there is currently no mechanism at all for punters to be taxed on their winnings.
In the case of legal gambling provided through licensed establishments and organisations such as the Hong Kong Jockey Club, it is those companies who are taxed and not their customers. When it comes to punters who use illegal online gambling sites, too, the Hong Kong authorities have no way of levying tax on winnings. They can, however, prosecute individuals who do take part in illegal gambling and impose prison sentences and fines.
Deposit Methods: What Works?
Most Hong Kong banks and credit card providers do not allow their customers to deposit to illegal overseas gambling providers. As such, credit or debit card deposits often have sporadic success.
Instead, many of those punters choose to deposit with their chosen sites through e-wallet services such as Skrill or Neteller. These services offer a kind of buffer between the gambling sites and a customer’s bank, and in many cases it is only the name of the e-wallet which shows up on a bank statement and not where the money ultimately goes.
Hong Kong is home to only four forms of legal gambling. Mahjong is one and operates under special exemptions from our gambling laws when certain conditions are met. Horse racing is what we are most known for and is practically a religion here. The same company that facilitates horse racing bets also has the government-granted monopoly on lottery, and football betting. Their website is extremely comprehensive and available in English at www.hkjc.com/home/english. As everything you’d want to know and more about gambling in Hong Kong can be found from that site, in this article I will focus only on the laws.
Gambling Laws Explained
There are two legal documents that cover the bulk of our gambling law. These are the Betting Duty Ordinance Cap.108 (first passed in 2003 and was last amended in 2006) and the Gambling Ordinance Cap.148 (first passed in 1977 and last amended in 2006). While a lot of words to read, the law is very easy to understand.
Gambling License Hong Kong
Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) holds a government-granted monopoly on all gambling involving horse races, football matches, and lottery. Bets made through HKJC approved channels are legal. Mahjong is covered separately in the law and poker is a gray area (mostly considered illegal). All other forms of gambling are unlawful and carry the harsh penalties listed below.
First conviction: fine of $10000 AND up to 3-months imprisonment.
Second conviction: fine of $20000 AND up to 6-months imprisonment.
Gambling Licence Hong Kong Official
Third conviction: fine of $30000 AND up to 9-months imprisonment.
It is also important to note that due to the Gambling (Amendment) Ordinance of 2002 these laws fully apply to internet and telephone betting with foreign sources. At virtually all HKJC approved betting channels reminders are plastered all over informing players they can go to prison for up to 9-months if they use foreign bookmakers.
For reason Hong Kong is a global economic power, has extradition treaties with much of the world, and has extremely harsh penalties for gambling operators found in violation of HK law, most every foreign betting site blocks Hong Kong players from making deposits. There is however some offshore gambling sites (that while illegal) Hong Kong residents can use, but these are far and few between.
Mahjong Law
To help you better understand our mahjong law I need to first mention that Hong Kong was British colony from 1842-1997. Today we are one of two special administrative regions of China (Macau is the other). We have our own currency, unique history, passports, government and laws. In short we have not been subject to gambling law of Chinese Mainland for over 170 years. Back on topic here, the Colonial Government had banned all forms of gambling under the Gambling Ordinance of 1891. Cap.40 of 1931 allowed for limited forms of gambling and its 1950 rewrite expanded this to allow for licensed Mahjong Parlours.
From 1950-1976 Colonial Europeans issued licenses to approximately 140 Mahjong clubs. In 1977 this law was repealed. While no new clubs have been licensed since, those that held a license prior to 1977 are still allowed to operate legally. There are about 60 of these clubs left. They take 7.5% commission from player’s winnings and are fully legal under Section 22 of the Gambling Ordinance.
Gaming License Hong Kong
Modern Mahjong clubs are far more popular than the licensed ones and fall under Section 3 of the Gambling Ordinance. This allows social-occasion gambling on games involving dice, dominoes, mahjong or tin kau tiles, and playing cards only in licensed restaurants, premises licensed to sell liquor and clubs (as defined by 4-2 of the Clubs Safety of Premises Ordinance). To be legal: admission must not be charged to enter the premise and there must be no exclusive bank. It also must not be a trade of the business in any way. This means no promotion of the games, no employees playing the games, and no cut taken from the winnings.
Hong Kong Poker Law
Poker is a very popular in Hong Kong, both with Chinese players and expats. Until 2010, poker clubs operated out in the open feeling they held the same legal exemption as Mahjong. A series of police raids put an end to this. The Blue House was raided and shutdown in March 2010, a high-stakes game involving a Merrill Lynch director was raided in July 2010, and the famous PokerStars co-sponsored Hong Kong Poker House in August 2010.
These raids sent poker underground. Today, it still exists but for reason being caught involves a 3-month prison sentence for a first offense it is difficult to get into the game without knowing someone. It’s worth noting gambling in Macau is a one-hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong and here poker and casino games are offered in HKD currency.
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Holders of a Hong Kong Identity Card, Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card or Re-entry Permit are allowed to enter Macau without even needing a passport. Macau tourism figures show this is a popular option. In 2012, Macau’s visitor arrivals from Hong Kong were 7,081,153, which is slightly than the total population of Hong Kong. This is because each visit is counted separate, and for some serious gamblers Macau is an every weekend trip.