The tricky business of proxy betting

Proxy betting is seen as one of the fastest-growing revenue streams in Asian land-based casinos. The system allows players outside of Macau to legally place bets through a proxy, often someone in which they highly trust. The process, however, gets trickier when someone is placing a bet from a country where gambling is illegal.
Tony Tong, a Macau junket promoter investor, quoted by Forbes, stresses that proxy betting “is completely legal” in Macau. “However, it may be illegal in the jurisdiction where the player is placing their bet, for example, mainland China or Hong Kong. So while getting your action from over the phone, if you’re in the wrong place, there’s the risk that, boom, you could wind up behind bars,” writes Muhammad Cohen, in a Forbes article published on Sunday.
While speaking at the last Global Gaming Expo Asia (G2E Asia), Tony Tong recalled that proxy betting might account for about 10 percent of the overall VIP casino gross gaming revenue in the MSAR.
Proxy betting takes place inside casino VIP rooms, and players often resort to junket promoters. As the proxy needs to talk over the phone, they are often required to have a private table, which can cost around HKD3 million for a session.
Some players do not come personally to Macau due to visa restrictions, and therefore use the scheme to still place bets, trusting the credibility of Macau’s gambling system.
Even in proxy betting, baccarat seems to be the most popular game. However, players aren’t allowed to see the bets live, as Macau prohibits broadcast of casino play as well as the results. Players are left with no choice but to trust their proxies.
Other Asian jurisdictions like Vietnam, Cagayan in the Philippines and Cambodia, allow proxy betting operations to be streamed over the Internet. Still, players betting from jurisdictions where online gaming is illegal face a challenge when trying to pay.
According to Forbes article, junket promoter Jimei Group chairman Jack Lam tried to get Macau to allow plays to be beamed from Grand Lapa Hotel’s small casino to hotel guests. As such an attempt failed, he later set up a proxy betting business in the Philippines. The operation is “a studio casino” where women with cameras attached to their heads place bets for Jimei customers who are playing by phone or via the Internet. CP