Asia-Pacific News
Hong Kong gamblers get five extra horse racing days to bet on
Jul 5, 2009, 7:32 GMT
Hong Kong - Hong Kong will get five extra race days per season in an effort to reverse a fall in gambling revenue caused by the global financial crisis, officials announced Sunday.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club which organizes the city's world-famous races said the government gave permission to add five race days and 15 telecasts of overseas races for people to bet on.
The extra races come after total turnover for the 78 days in the season that finished last week was down 110 million dollars to 8.6 billion US dollars.
The twice-weekly horse races in gambling-mad Hong Kong are key sources of tax revenue for the former British colony's government.
Betting on horse races, along with betting on soccer matches through the Hong Kong Jockey Club and a weekly government-run lottery, are the only legal forms of gambling in the city of 7 million.
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