Select Page

Vietnam’s Fake Sports Betting Legalization

by | Sep 29, 2018 | Uncategorized, Sports Betting News

Vietnam’s National Assembly passing a new bill legalizing sports betting has been the talk of many media outlets this past week. As Vietnamese continue to be arrested for running illegal sports betting rings during World Cup, one can’t help wonder if government rules for sports betting will keep the Vietnamese gambling underground.

The main problem with legal sports betting in Vietnam are outlined by the Vietnam Brief quite clearly:

Maximum bet allowed is VND1 million (US$ 44) per day

During the five-year pilot program, only one betting operator will be provided the investment registration certificate.

and

The government only allows international soccer games recognized by FIFA, the international governing body, which includes the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, Copa America, Champions League, and Europa League.

This is a country that still gambles on cockfighting for anyone unfamiliar.

More than 600 billion dong (US$26 million) was earned by one betting ring in Hanoi according to state media.

With the increased popularity of bitcoins and altcoins in Vietnam, our guess is that gambling on bitcoin casinos and sports betting sites will become more popular than it already is in the country. As mentioned on the popular VPN site private internet access, the banning of Facebook in Vietnam increased Tor use by 10% in the country. Perhaps the regulation of crypto mining in Vietnam will be more problematic as Vietnamese citizens continue to find ways around the financial and internet blocking the government is trying to force people to live under.

US Sports Betting Ban Lifted

by | Sep 29, 2018 | Sports Betting News

The state of Nevada’s sports betting monopoly has come to an end in America. The US Supreme Court ruled 6:1 to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA) of 1992. This opens the door for states to pass sports betting legislation, since PAPSA was the federal bill preventing legal sports betting across the country for over two decades.

 

When is Sports Betting Legal across the US?

It will still be a long time for many states to pass legislation for legal sports betting. Some states like New Jersey (who filed the motion against PAPSA), could have legal sports betting offered as soon as two weeks from now.

Where to Bet on Sports in New Jersey?

Unfortunately, this is only planned at Monmouth Park initially, as the racetrack built a sports betting facility anticipating this change. Even more unfortunate, they partnered with William Hill as a bookmaker.

Considering the £6.2 million fine they received for lacking proper money laundering controls in February, this should come as good news to the shareholders of their stock. Let’s hope they aren’t ranked one of the worst companies to work for in America like they have been in the United Kingdom.

Other States offering Sports Betting?

Oregon, Delaware and Montana already had exceptions written into PASPA to allow wagering on individual games. None have announced plans to pass further legislation regarding sports betting. West Virginia and Pennsylvania have actually passed legislation to prepare for this change.

It is estimated that 32 states will allow legal sports betting within 5 years of the federal ban being overturned.

Where can US sports bettors bet currently?

Thousands have been betting on sports for the past decade for real money and now bitcoin even. Perhaps some sports sites and bettors in the US were well aware how unconstitutional the act was and decided to gamble anyways.

Kenya to Lower Gambling Tax by 20%

by | Sep 29, 2018 | Sports Betting News

Kenya to Lower Gambling Tax by 20%

After increasing the tax gambling sites were paying in Kenya to 35% in January of 2018, now in August the government has finally decided to back off and lowered the taxed rate back to 15%. SportsPesa, one of the largest sponsors of the Kenyan Premier League and Football Kenya Federation were about to see huge reduction of sponsorships as the betting sites would have been unable to profit offering bets to the market.

The betting sites were already paying a 30% corporate tax and 25% of sales went to social causes like sports sponsorship as legal requirements previously, the addition of 20% more tax was enough to have the betting sites remove their services from Kenya altogether.

This would have created a large underground market for sports betting that would go untaxed, much like the bitcoin sports betting sites available to Kenyans offer gamblers in the country. The reduction in tax revenue along with sports sponsorships would have caused some teams to be without funding previous to the MP’s changing the tax rate.

Since we have been covering how Kenyan’s buying bitcoin are going to potentially have a better store of value than the Kenyan shilling currently offers, we are also very interested if football betting in Kenya with bitcoin is going to increase or stay with M-Pesa.