When we talk about sports betting in Asia, it becomes an extensive topic as 60% of the entire global population resides within this particular region.
Most of the historical references pertain to China as the Ancient Chinese produced a significant amount of games that are still around today. One of their oldest dates back to 3000 BC with Wei-qi a game played on a square grid with stone playing pieces.
Chinese dominoes arrived somewhere around 700 BC and were used for gambling purposes, and evidence of playing cards as well as today’s Baccarat game were also products thought to be developed by the early Chinese.
Roulette and some other casino games arrived in Shanghai in the 19th century, and sports betting became prevalent with wagers on Jai alai in the early 1900s. Jai alai wagering was a French influence and gambling in Hong Kong took its lead from the British. Hong Kong was a Crown Colony of the British Empire until 1997, and the United Kingdom has always enjoyed prevalent gaming and sports betting.
Let’s talk about Macau, though. We’ll be referencing Macau quite a bit as it has surpassed Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world. The interesting thing about Macau is that it’s a resident addition to the big business of gambling. Macau belonged to the Portuguese until 1999 when it was also handed back to Chinese sovereignty similar to Hong Kong.
Macau, being a special administrative region with different government and laws, is the only place in China that allows for legal sports betting and in-house gambling. Its gaming revenues surpassed Las Vegas after just its first few years in the industry. As China strictly prohibits gambling, players travel to Macau to get their fix. Macau holds the top eight casino revenue sports followed by Singapore.
As far as online betting in Macau, though, it’s a bit of a different story. Macau does not license any online sportsbooks or other casino and gambling sites. In fact, it doesn’t even really acknowledge the web based end of things, but simply allows it. It’s not regulated, and it’s not banned.
We’ve just discussed a bit about China and the role that Macau plays in the gambling industry as a whole. It’s a top player for land-based casinos and sportsbooks, but a bit more standoffish when it comes to online wagering.
Asia is a big territory, though, and just like China has the anomaly of Macau, each region has different points of views and different legislation.
Let’s look at a few of the other prime regions in the area:
1. China – Hong Kong specifically 2. India 3. Malaysia 4. Philippines 5. Thailand
Hong Kong is the other special administrative region in the country but, of course, without the incredible presence that Macau maintains with casinos and sportsbooks.
Hong Kong has a legalized gambling presence through the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC). The HKJC is government sponsored and is technically a non-profit organization that serves as an overseer and regulator of gambling activities in Hong Kong.
Don’t expect the big casinos here, though. Hong Kong allows for pari-mutuel horse racing, the Mark Six lottery, and overseas football wagering. As long as residents are placing these bets through the HKJC, they are perfectly free to do so as Hong Kong houses about a hundred betting locations.
Sports betting is strictly regulated aside from the HKJC Football action. It is deemed illegal for bookmaking in Hong Kong, not only for residents but visitors to the area, even if the bookmakers are offshore operators. There are some stiff penalties associated with illegal gambling including a $30,000 fine and up to nine months of prison time.
If you’re looking for some definitive information regarding gambling in India, you’re probably not going to find it here. India is a bit like the United States in that it has some vague laws on the books, but they can be interpreted in a number of ways. When we primarily look at the online gaming industry, legislation like the Public Gambling Act of 1867 seems more than a bit antiquated.
How could ancestors have ever anticipated something like the internet more than 100 years before its existence? That Act states that it is illegal to run a gaming house or be found in one. It seems to us, anyway, to be quite a bit of a stretch to interpret that to mean that someone’s computer being used for online betting is in a house and therefore subject to the terms of this Act.
A few other pieces of legislation in India include the Prize Competition Act of 1955 that bans all prize competitions if the award exceeds a thousand rupees a month and the Information Technology Act of 2000. The Information Technology Act seems like it would be more up to speed with today’s forms of betting. However, the act does not even mention online gambling.
It says:
“Sending offensive message through electronic means – Sending any information through an electronic message that is grossly offensive or has menacing character and might cause insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, etc. or sending such mail intended to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages.”
And we thought the Public Gambling Act of 1867 was a stretch.
Because of the perceived vagueness of these three referenced regulations, the topic of gambling remains a mystery in India.
Two states, Goa and Sikkim, do have a limited number of land-based casinos that are licensed and approved. The other states have outlawed in-person betting, poker and other forms of gambling.
Staking a bet on horse racing, though, is a different story. India’s Supreme Court deemed it to be a game of skill in 1996 and, therefore, allowable.
But, back to the online situation as it’s still up for interpretation. There’s no question that brick and mortar casinos and sportsbooks, outside of Goa and Sikkim, are illegal and disallowed but there is no way to prosecute online bettors as it’s still yet to be determined if it’s against any laws. In the meantime, sportsbooks are starting to cater more to the vast Indian market.
With over 1.2 billion residents, there’s a huge target market for gambling services. Bet365 has started offering its service to India with transactions conducted in Rupees.
Malaysia is a country that’s divided 60/40 on the subject and legality of gambling.
On the one side, there is the Muslim population that comprises 60% of all Malaysian residents. They are under Sharia law that is legislated hand in hand with secular courts making it a dual justice system.
The 40% are the non-Malays who are primarily Chinese and Indian, and they are the not bound by Sharia law.
If you look at gambling as a whole, land-based casinos and sportsbooks are absolutely illegal. The Betting Act of 1953 outlaws all forms of gambling including telecommunications between sports bettors and bookmakers. That law, combined with the Common Gaming Houses Act of 1953 thoroughly covers the subject of in-person wagering. The Common Gaming Houses Acts states that operating a gaming house or even being inside of one is a criminal act punishable by a fine of 5,000 ringgits and up to six months in prison.
The sticky area with these laws in conjunction with online gambling is that even though they came on the books well before the idea of a world wide web was even conceived, the Betting Act says:
A betting house is defined as:
“Any place used by a bookmaker for the purposes of receiving or negotiating bets or wagers on any such event or contingency as aforesaid, whether such bets or wagers reach the bookmaker by the hand of the person placing the best or his agent or the bookmaker’s agent or through the telephone or the post or by telegram or by any other means;”
It bears repeating “or by any other means.”
Laws in many countries relating to the legality of online gambling are so vague and can be shrugged off as online gambling didn’t exist when the legislation was passed, but Malaysia’s Betting Act could, in essence, cover online means as well.
Now, having said that, there is still an online betting community in this country. Malaysians are placing bets every single day, and international sites are even allowing for Ringgit transactions. Online gambling seems to be ignored for the bettors as it’s difficult to monitor and regulate. However, Malaysians who do put their money down on sports, casino or poker should be sticking to the global providers and not the local operators who are clearly in violation of the law, both Sharia law and secular.
The Philippines is also divided up, but it’s split into two gambling regions, both allowing for legal sports betting.
– PAGCOR – CEZA or FCLRC
PAGCOR or the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation is a state-owned organization that provides casinos, sportsbooks, and bingo sites for its residents. It’s designated as the sole authorized gambling operator for all land based betting establishments and provides legal gambling services for anyone who wishes to participate.
CEZA or FCLRC – These are abbreviations for the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corporation. Cagayan is the only region of the Philippines not under the authority of PAGCOR.
Cagayan specializes in licensing for online operators like Dafabet and AsianBGE as well as dozens of others. Owners find CEZA licensing to be appealing as, despite the $40,000 annual license fee, the area provides a tax system that benefits gambling providers and offsets the licensing costs.
The odd thing about this region is that although it’s providing licensing and regulation for online gambling operations, it’s illegal for a Philippines-based provider to offer online betting to locals aside from the limited online services provided by PAGCOR.
There is no law preventing citizens from participating in online wagering, but the law states that operators who have licensing in the country need to market their services elsewhere.
We’ll take a 180 from the Philippines and discuss Thailand. It is one of the stricter regions in Asia despite the fact that locals love to bet. They enjoy all sorts of gambling and frequently travel to casinos in Cambodia, Burma, and Laos.
Horse racing and the national lottery are the only two forms of legalized gambling allowable right in the country. The races are in Bangkok, and the lottery is nationwide, and both are popular and highly wagered.
Online gambling, although technically not allowable, is difficult to enforce and Thai citizens do participate in all kinds of online gambling, especially sports and poker. Some Philippine and UK-based sportsbooks do cater to the Thai punters although they have the issue of account funding to overcome, as it’s not easy to transfer money from Thailand to a betting account.
Because of the funding issue and the great enthusiasm for staking bets outside of horse racing, many Thai locals use the services of a local bookmaker. We wouldn’t advise doing so, though. Whereas online action is most likely to be ignored, there have been raids resulting in both the bookies and the bettors being hit with fines and even prison time.
Asia, like so much of the world, gravitates toward football (soccer) betting. In fact, as we have previously mentioned, Hong Kong allows for some overseas football betting whereas it bans every other type of sports action.
Asian punters follow football globally and enjoy staking bets on the largest tournaments as well as the smaller games from remote locations. They’re just all around fans and love the additional excitement of putting money down on the outcomes.
The Asian Football Confederation was formed in 1954 and organizes several tournaments for national teams including qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup so you can imagine what type of betting is going on toward these events from bettors throughout the region.
Cricket is the number two game in the area and is most enjoyed in South Asia. With tournament wins by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in the Cricket World Cup, sports enthusiasts keep their eye on this game and enjoy placing some bets wherever they can.
You’ve probably inferred that horse racing attracts big attention as well and betting on races is even allowed in areas like Thailand and India where they have strict laws toward other types of sports wagering.
Other favorite sports include:
Sports betting has become part of the culture in Asia, though, and there really isn’t any sport that isn’t being bet in the area. Even American Football packs in the bars and local hangouts for sports enthusiasts thereby prompting them to want some skin in the game.
You’d better sit down for this because it’s quite shocking, but the most popular way to bet on most sports is through the good old Asian Handicap. Surprised? We think not.
The Asian Handicap originated in Indonesia and really came into its own with international popularity in after the turn of the 21st century.
An Asian Handicap is a way of betting on the point spread with handicaps in increments of half or quarter goals. It’s used primarily in football (soccer) but also gained popularity in NHL hockey. This type of bet eliminates the third option, being the draw. Each betting choice then has a 50% chance of success.
It creates a smaller margin for the bookmaker by balancing the odds to that 50-50 mark. The stronger team needs to win by more goals for a punter to end up with a win.
Bookmakers in Asia refer to this particular bet as hang cheng betting, but a journalist coined the Asian Handicap designation in 1998 as a general translation.
Most Asian sportsbooks will offer a variety of odds formats:
Additionally, they may provide the option of fractional and decimal, but those are more widely used by UK, US, Australian, and Canadian punters.
Other favored ways to place bets in the region include:
You don’t see as much Proposition betting in Asia, but you do see a good amount of virtual sports as well as e-sports. Both are becoming increasingly popular in the area and provide non-stop betting action.
Funding a betting account can sometimes be a sticky situation especially if gambling is not given the nod of acceptance by local government. Areas like the United Kingdom have a good number of options including e-wallets, prepaid cards, and virtual cards as well as credit, debit, and bank transfers. In essence, though, most UK punters should only need a few from which to select as gambling is entirely legal and most banks in the Britain will ok any gambling transaction.
Move over to a region like the United States where gambling is fuzzy, though. There are a few states with legalized gambling, and then online gambling isn’t really accepted, but it’s not technically illegal for Americans to participate. Banks, though, are stringent on approvals for fund transfers in conjunction with online gambling. Additionally, US residents don’t have the big menu of financial options. PayPal is available but not for betting purposes and Skrill and NETELLER are both not very prevalent, and allowance and usage are insufficient.
An area like Asia, the biggest region of the entire world has a mixed bag of approved and illegal gambling, but it does offer a massive menu of financial funding possibilities available in most countries.
Let’s start with some of the regular possibilities that are featured through most sportsbooks, regardless of the location like bank transfers, credit cards, Skrill, PayPal, and NETELLER. Before we delve deeper, though, here are some of the currencies that Asian sportsbooks are likely to offer for transactions as they deal with a broad clientele.
Credit and debit card use is prevalent on most sports betting sites. However, depending on the region the players are located in within Asia, they may or may not work. For strictly regulated regions or even areas that have vague regulations regarding gambling, traditional financial institutions may decline any debit requests being sent to a gambling operator.
The books still offer these as options though, but on some, like Dafabet, Skrill is specifically noted as being used as an intermediary between the card company and the sportsbook. There are also Asia-specific financial providers who cater specifically to customers who need an intermediary to facilitate their deposit requests.
Credit and debit cards are typically Visa and Mastercard just like betting sites outside of Asia, but Diners Club is also a viable option in this area. When credit and debit cards are selected, customers are usually limited in their available currencies.
Right behind Visa and Mastercard, China Union Pay is the 3rd largest card service of its kind. We didn’t include it with Credit and Debit cards simply for the fact that, even though it’s available in nearly 150 countries, it’s not typically offered by bookmakers outside of Asia Pacific.
Bank transfers are widely utilized around the globe as every area has traditional banking available, and transfers are always a service provided to their customers.
These types of transactions are most popular in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines
Along with NETELLER, not only is Skrill one of the most utilized ways to fund an online betting account, but it’s available around the world. Skrill is ideal for gambling transactions as it puts itself in-between the banks or card providers and the sportsbook to ensure that deposits will be easily facilitated. Skrill is widely used in India and is also a popular e-wallet service in China but cannot be used for any type of gambling in China.
We’ll follow Skrill right up with NETELLER as it’s the same service for all intents and purposes. They’re both usually offered by online betting sites, and they both provide for safe, private and comfortable player account funding. NETELLER does not provide service in China, but it does offer limited options in Hong Kong.
PayPal has a significant presence in Asia as well as in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. PayPal not only provides a similar e-wallet service as Skrill and NETELLER but charges much lower fees. For deposits into and withdrawals out of the PayPal account, there are no charges assessed if a bank transfer is used. Skrill and NETELLER both charge for those transactions.
PayPal, however, does require a debit card, credit card, or bank account to register for the service whereas the other e-wallets have some alternative funding options. PayPal is especially popular in Malaysia and Hong Kong. The downside to PayPal is that it strictly monitors its use in conjunction with gambling. It paid a hefty price in its early years with US players and online betting, and it has tightened its grip on what’s allowable or not.
As we said, there are numerous options for players throughout Asia. The following are some other popular and non-traditional methods along with the particular currency for which they use to conduct transactions:
Asiapay88 has become a great alternative for Asian-based bettors especially in the east and southeast Asia. It’s a service provided by the bookmaker whereby players select it as their payment method and then they choose their bank and the amount they wish to deposit. The sportsbook will redirect the customer over to their bank to conduct the online transfer. Then, players take a screenshot of the deposit confirmation and send it back to the book’s cashier or customer service department to have the funds credited quickly to the betting account.
The Asiapay88service is available in Chinese Renminbi, Indonesia Rupiah, Malaysian Ringgit, Vietnamese Dong, and Thai Baht. The Asiapay88 service is a valuable one in that it does offer these currency options, whereas a service like Skrill may only allow for US Dollars or Euro transactions.
UK and European sportsbooks tend to rely on e-wallet solutions to accommodate their customers as well as traditional credit and debit card processing.
In Asia, Bank transfers in various formats, are more widely accepted, and their use is encouraged. There are several other options especially for Malaysian bettors, but they are all dedicated to one particular country whereas outside of Asia, Skrill, NETELLER, paysafecard, ecoCard, and some of the other similar providers are more globally prevalent.
SBOBET is a well-known name in Asian sports betting despite having launched only 13 years ago. In its short time, it has won back to back Asian Operator of the Year awards from eGaming Review Magazine and was ranked number 11 on the list of Power 50 companies in eGaming’s 2011 ranking of the most influential operators.
Compared to some of its competition, it stands out for a good in-play area that also features some live video streaming of popular games and matches. Most direct rivals like Dafabet, 188bet, and Bodog88 have not yet launched any type of video feeds, and they’re a great benefit for players.
SBOBET also stands out for having one of the highest payout limits amongst Asian betting providers as well as being one of the top bookies for Asian Handicap betting.
More than 1500 events are covered on a weekly basis, and SBOBET is not one of those bookmakers that are being called out for restricting or even banning experienced or high winning players. A maximum £100,000 bet is generous even for high rolling bettors, especially if they’re welcome to return, again and again.
The sports menu is not unusual, as you’ll find a focus on football with every Asian book. SBOBET does have quite an extensive menu overall, though, with 33 sports and non-sports available for action and approximately 20 live feeds offered daily.
Their hosted sports betting main menu:
SBOBET promotes that it offers different minimum and maximum bets depending on the sport, the match, and the market. The caps should show up on the betting slip every time a wager is being placed. The overall minimum bet is £1, though, and up to £100,000 may be staked on certain events.
SBOBET conducts transactions in 16 different currencies to accommodate its international players. It accepts:
AUD – Australian Dollar CAD – Canadian Dollar EUR – Euro GBP – Great Britain Pound HKD – Hong Kong Dollar IDR – Indonesian Rupiah JPY – Japanese Yen KRW – South Korean Won MYR – Malaysian Ringgit NOK – Norwegian Krone NZD – New Zealand Dollar RMB – Renminbi SEK – Swedish Krona THB – Thai Baht VND – Vietnamese Dong ZAR – South African Rand
There are no fees attached to deposits or withdrawals, but there also isn’t a standard menu of options either as everything is tied in with the money being used. We’ll look at a few different ways to deposit and withdraw based upon currency to illustrate the vast differences.
Malaysian Ringgit Only one option available
PayOnline – internet banking Minimum deposit – 100 Maximum deposit – 50,000
Hong Kong Dollar
Visa – Credit or Debit Minimum deposit – 350 Maximum deposit – determined by payment provider
Mastercard – Credit or Debit Minimum deposit – 350 Maximum deposit – determined by payment provider
Skrill – e-wallet Minimum deposit – 350 Maximum deposit – determined by payment provider
Skrill 1-Tap – mobile e-wallet Minimum deposit – 350 Maximum deposit – determined by payment provider
Telegraphic Transfer – Bank transfer Minimum deposit – 850 Maximum deposit – determined by payment provider
Entropay – virtual card Minimum deposit – 350 Maximum deposit – determined by payment provider
Indonesian Rupiah
GoATM – ATM / internet banking Minimum deposit – 100,000 Maximum deposit – 25,000,000
PayOnline – internet banking Minimum deposit – 100,000 Maximum deposit – 200,000,000
Thai Baht Only one option available
PayOnline – internet banking Minimum deposit – 1,000 Maximum deposit – 500,000
When a player opts to withdraw funds, they typically use the same approach as they selected for their original deposit.
Minimum cashout amounts are imposed based upon the currency used. The maximum withdrawal amount is not posted on SBOBET but should depend on the financial provider being used.
Malaysian Ringgit Minimum Withdrawal – 200
Hong Kong Dollar Minimum Withdrawal – 850 for telegraphic transfer; 350 for all other methods
Indonesian Rupiah Minimum Withdrawal – 300,000
Thai Baht Minimum Withdrawal – 1,500
An overall picture of SBOBET:
Dafabet is part of the AsianBGEGroup that’s licensed and regulated by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corporation, the Philippines licensing authority that we discussed earlier.
AsianBGEGroup has a list of holdings that also include Nextbet Sportsbook, Platinumbet, BetFrontier, Zipang Casino, 777Baby, Casino Jamboree, and Dreamspin88.
Although Dafabet now caters to a large number of players from the United Kingdom (even retaining dual licensing with the UK Gambling Commission), in 2004 when it started out, its primary markets were Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Dafabet offers an overall decent basic sports betting service. The available sports are not as extensive as some others, but there is that all important focus on football and it does cover some lesser known teams as well as the big guys.
One thing that does stand out about this particular bookmaker is its focus on American sports. Compared to some of its other lines, MLB (baseball), NHL (hockey), NFL (American football), and NBA (basketball) offer better odds. Dafabet is one of the top bookies for basketball and stands up to its rivals with baseball and hockey as well.
Dafabet doesn’t impose an actual betting limit but does have payout limits based on each sport and level of competition. Minimum bets are set at one unit meaning one Euro or one Ringgit, etc..
The following are the payout limits for each sport in US dollars: Football (Soccer) – The following payouts are in conjunction with goal-related bets on Asian Handicap, Total Goals, WDW (Win-Draw-Win), and long term Outright winner markets.
$150,000 – Men’s full international matches and English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga I, French Ligue I, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League competitions
$100,000 – Australian A-League, Scottish Premiership, English Championship, Dutch Eredivisie, German Bundesliga II, Belgium First Division, Danish Superliga, Norwegian Tippeligaen, Japanese J-League, South Korea K-League, Portuguese Primeira Liga, Swedish Allsvenskan, Turkish Super League, and US Major League Soccer competitions
$50,000 – For all other soccer competitions, and for qualifying rounds of all competitions including UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds Europa League qualifying rounds (except for Men’s Internationals qualifying rounds)
$25,000 – For any other soccer markets not previously listed
Basketball $100,000 – for NBA any Head to Head, Handicaps, and Totals for the match period. Also for any NBA championship outrights
$50,000 – for any other NBA markets; also for Euroleague/Spain ACB Match Head to Head, Handicaps, and Totals, and Outright winner markets
Baseball
$100,000 – for all MLB Head to Head Handicaps and Totals for the match period; also for World Series Outrights
Ice Hockey
$50,000 – for all NHL Head to Head, Win-Draw-Win, Handicaps, and Totals for the match period; also, for Stanley Cup Outrights
Tennis
$50,000 – for full ATP/WTA tour match winner and outright tournament winner
Other sports, tournaments, and markets
$25,000 – for any other bet not accounted for above
Dafabet conducts transactions in 12 different currencies to accommodate its international players. It accepts:
RMB – Chinese Yuan USD – United States Dollar GBP – Great Britain Pound RM – Malaysian Ringgit EUR – Euro THB – Thai Baht VND – Vietnamese Dong IDR – Indonesian Rupiah INR – Indian Rupee KRW – South Korean Won PLN – Polish Zloty RUB – Russian Ruble
Dafabet doesn’t list any additional charges in conjunction with deposits or withdrawals and has the following options available to players with the corresponding currency availability.
Currency – MYR
GoCash88 Minimum Deposit – 30 Maximum Deposit – 50,000 Processing – Instant
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 30 Maximum Deposit – 10,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – THB
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 30 Maximum Deposit – 50,000 Processing – five minutes
EasyPay168 Minimum Deposit – 30 Maximum Deposit – 50,000 Processing – five minutes
eCash Asia Minimum Deposit – 300 Maximum Deposit – 50,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – VND
GoCash88 Minimum Deposit – 200,000 Maximum Deposit – 100,000,000 Processing – Instant
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 200,000 Maximum Deposit – 100,000,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – IDR
GoCash88 Minimum Deposit – 100,000 Maximum Deposit – 100,000,000 Processing – Instant
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 150,000 Maximum Deposit – 100,000,000 Processing – five minutes
eCash Asia Minimum Deposit – 150,000 Maximum Deposit – 10,000,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – INR
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 1,000 Maximum Deposit – 300,000 Processing – five minutes
Skrill Minimum Deposit – 500 Maximum Deposit – 1,500,000 Processing – five minutes
Credit Cards – via Skrill Minimum Deposit – 675 Maximum Deposit – 67,500 Processing – five minutes
Currency – RMB
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 200 Maximum Deposit – 50,000 Processing – five minutes
EasyPay168 Minimum Deposit – 100 Maximum Deposit – 50,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – KRW
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Deposit – 20,000 Maximum Deposit – 10,000,000 Processing – five minutes
Skrill Minimum Deposit – 16,000 Maximum Deposit – 100,000,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – EUR
Skrill Minimum Deposit – 10 Maximum Deposit – 75,000 Processing – five minutes
Credit Cards – via Skrill Minimum Deposit – 10 Maximum Deposit – 1,000 Processing – five minutes
Currency – GBP
Skrill Minimum Deposit – 10 Maximum Deposit – 60,000 Processing – five minutes
Credit Cards – via Skrill Minimum Deposit – 8.29 Maximum Deposit – 829.07 Processing – five minutes
The above mentioned are not all of the methods available to Dafabet customers. It has a massive list of financial providers from with to select, particular for a player using Chinese Yuan. Some are available for withdrawal, but a bank transfer should suffice when unavailable.
GoCash88 – Withdrawals not available with this method
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 50 Maximum Withdrawal – 1,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 500 Maximum Withdrawal – 1,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
EasyPay168 – Withdrawals not available with this method
eCashAsia – Withdrawals not available with this method
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 200,000 Maximum Withdrawal – 100,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 100,000 Maximum Withdrawal – 100,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 300 Maximum Withdrawal – 340,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Skrill Minimum Withdrawal – 1,000 Maximum Withdrawal – 1,500,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Credit Cards – via Skrill – Withdrawals not available with this method
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 200 Maximum Withdrawal – 1,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Local Bank Transfer Minimum Withdrawal – 50,000 Maximum Withdrawal – 100,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Skrill Minimum Withdrawal – 16,000 Maximum Withdrawal – 100,000,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Skrill Minimum Withdrawal – 10 Maximum Withdrawal – 75,000 Turnaround time – two hours
Skrill Minimum Withdrawal – 10 Maximum Withdrawal – 60,000 Turnaround time – two hours
For other removal methods, customers can refer to the main list of options. As mentioned, some of the deposit methods, like gocash88, NETELLER, paysafecard, easypay168, Union Secure, AstroPay, and many of the alternative ways to deposit are not available in reverse for cash outs, but bank transfers or Skrill powered bank transfers, depending on the area, should fit the bill.
As you can see, a two-hour turnaround is one of the fastest out there. Dafabet pays its players and pays them quickly.
An overall picture of Dafabet:
We’re going to quickly detail one more sportsbook that specifically caters to Asian punters as it’s primarily known as one of the earlier online bookmakers that provided service to Canadian and American players. Bodog has been accepting bets since 1994 and Calvin Ayre, its founder, built up quite a reputation for himself and the Bodog brand.
Bodog has been associated with partners like Playboy and Maxim, with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, the Arsenal FC, and the Aston Villa FC, as well as the NHL, CFL, and EPL leagues.
Bodog88 was launched in 2011 as the Asian arm of the brand. It primarily services Malaysia, China, and Thailand.
Bodog88’s sports menu is quite abbreviated in comparison to some competitors, but it puts its focus on providing a huge number of those highly sought-out football events as well as e-sports and virtual sports that are more and more popular with Asian punters.
Bodog88’s sportsbook menu:
Futures, parlays, and mixed sports parlays are Bodog88’s forte, but it also offers the Asian Handicap. It would have to when you consider the clientele to which it’s catering its services.
As far as their betting limits, they don’t publicly post any betting or payout limits, but Bodog88 is a bit different than the original Bodog sites in that it caters to players beyond recreational. It’s not as quick to limit or ban its high rollers as its sister providers.
Bodog88 promotes that there is a daily maximum payout for each player of RMB1 million and players have been known to stake as high as RM15,000 at a time
Although Bodog88 isn’t the best site for disclosure of their payouts or even their financial methods, we were able to deduce that they primarily conduct deposits and withdrawals using either Bitcoin or bank transfers.
This list of ways to fund an account is much different than the previous two books that we’ve detailed. The menu is quite limited, but Bitcoin is a great option to cover a vast customer base. It’s not currency specific regarding the transactions in and out of the betting site to it’s easier for the bookmaker to process straight across the board.
Bodog88 offers three currencies with the following minimum deposit requirements:
Chinese Yuan – 20 Malaysian Ringgit – 10 Thai Baht – 100
Chinese Yuan Minimum withdrawal – 100 Maximum withdrawal (daily) – 250,000 Processing time for bank transfer – 30 minutes plus another 30 minutes for receiving time
Malaysian Ringgit Minimum withdrawal – 50 Maximum withdrawal (daily) – 25,000 Processing time for bank transfer – 30 minutes plus another 30 minutes for receiving time
Thai Baht Minimum withdrawal – 500 Maximum withdrawal (daily) – 250,000 Processed four times daily at 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, and 8 pm (GMT +8:00) and then another 30 minutes for receiving time
Bitcoin withdrawals are promoted to be processed within 30 minutes of the request 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
An overall picture of Bodog88:
We’ve outlined three of the bigger bookmakers that service this ever-growing betting region but there are much more like 188bet, Chinese Bookie, and Vietbet. Although we provided some illustrated examples, players will need to research the laws and the services available depending on where they live but, rest assured; there are plenty of sportsbooks with betting options that touch every area of the globe.
Is sports betting, or gambling in general, legal in Asia?… is a loaded question.
On the one hand, you have Macau that has recently elevated its status to be the gambling capital of the world. Players from everywhere around the globe flock to this peninsula to experience some of the biggest and most trafficked casinos and sportsbooks available today.
Then, you have mainland China that considers both online and in-person wagering to be strictly illegal and punishable by both fines and or prison time.
You’ve also got Malaysia that is predominately Muslim and considers all forms of gambling to be against the law and their faith, but there are also some limited forms of gambling available to the Chinese minority as well as tourists.
Singapore is another strictly regulated area and recently passed a new law mainly targeting online activity through the Remote Gambling Act of 2015. This law says that online wagers can only be taken by approved non-profits. This region blocks offshore operators from providing their services to Singapore locals, and these bookmakers or casino owners are subject to criminal prosecution if they market or find a way to cater to this region.
Japan allows for lottery, scratch cards, soccer toto wagers, and pari-mutuel betting on bicycle, motorcycle, powerboat, and horse racing, and betting is hugely popular in this region despite the fact that it’s not widely available. Outside of the few opportunities we just mentioned, gambling and betting are restricted, but Japanese punters do make use of online bookmakers from other regions.
The ins and outs of gambling and sports betting are very region-specific and, even then, it may be tough to interpret some outdated legislation put on the books before there was even dial-up access to the newfangled invention called the internet.
Singapore’s government clearly intended for their relatively new regulations to specifically target online betting without question, but most of the other regions are still run by dated rules that were obviously about brick and mortar shops.
As Asia is so vast in size and different restrictions and allowances accompany every country and, in some cases, even parts of a country are broken down into different laws regarding gambling, we can’t really do it justice by giving an overall view of gambling in this area. It would take an entire book to detail all of the ins and outs of specific gambling legislation, especially regarding online sports betting.
One thing is clear, though, this is a region where its inhabitants enjoy gambling. They love action on sports regardless of the location of the event, as well as casinos and poker rooms. Some of these players or wannabe punters are satisfied in their home locations, and some need to travel to places like Macau or even Las Vegas to stake some bets or spin those reels.
We didn’t previously get into bonus offers as bonus and award programs in this enormous and spread out region are also location-specific, which makes it difficult for the bookmaker to promote them as the enticing offers originally intended properly. Currency restrictions, as well as the different laws that correspond to the various currencies, typically compel betting providers to limit customer acceptance based on how they’ve opted to fund their account.
That’s not to say that there aren’t bonus offers, though. In fact, SBOBET overcomes the restrictions by rotating bonuses to include players from different regions each month. Dafabet offers some fun contests as well as an unlimited parlay rebate and, whereas most of their bonuses require RM transactions, the unlimited parlay rebate will allow for other participants.
Regardless of gambling restrictions, limited funding methods, or lack of bonus programs, Asians are staking real money on sports, table games, slots, and other gambling opportunities. In a 2017 article in The Economist, four Asian countries appeared on the top 12 list of nations with the biggest gambling losses.
China and Japan took spots two and three, under the US that came in with a whopping 116.9 billion, and that’s a country that also has strict gambling legislation. China was noted as 62.4 and Japan at 24.1. South Korea and Singapore were numbers 11 and 12, respectively, with 7.4 and 5.9.
The entirety of Asia and the Middle East account for nearly half of the gross global betting in the world. Needless to say, this large region is highly desirable for sports betting providers that recognize the demand and are willing to provide the services required to expand their betting community.
