1
Since late 1976, illegal bookmakers at the members' stands of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club have resorted to the use of tokens, codes and other devious means of placing and receiving bets, thus rendering positive Police action difficult; there is no evidence of similar operations at the public enclosures. Further improvement is possible, through the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club providing a better on-course betting service and pursuing more vigorously the eviction of suspect operators under section 25 of Gambling Ordinance 1977, which it had started to do in March 1978 and is being continued during the current season with some measure of success.
1
6
Illegal off-course bookmaking and telephone betting on horse racing are now confined to known clients only; these operations are mainly run by individual ex-employees of the largely defunct telephone betting syndicates.
7
On illegal off-course betting on Macao greyhound racing, the Police assessment is that the problem might not be as serious as it was thought to be. The average Canidrome tote figure for each meeting has remained fairly constant, at $1-2 million, for the past two years... There has been no significant increase, which there probably would have been if betting on greyhounds had become more popular in Hong Kong, as the illegal bookmakers would have been obliged to make some 'lay off' on the tote.
8
Notwithstanding these developments, some illegal betting still takes place. On the findings of special monitoring of illegal activities in selected areas conducted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption since the beginning of 1978, it appears that there has been an upsurge in casino gambling and in illegal betting on horse racing, both on and off course. The Commission's view is that although the level of unlawful gambling activities is much lower today than it was two years ago, the increase in 1978 should be noted. A Police estimate of the present total annual turnover of illegal book-making business puts the figure at roughly $100 million, made up of $50 million for on-course horse racing, $25 million for off-course horse racing and $25 million for off-course Macao greyhound racing. Compared with the situation in 1973, when the illegal annual turnover was estimated at $2,500 to $3,000 million, the Police figure certainly indicates a substantial reduction in the size of the problem. However, in view of the. Independent Commission Against Corruption findings, with which the Commissioner of Police is in broad agreement, it would appear essential that the overall situation should be carefully watched.
ཙཧ,, དྷན,
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