ARF finds 61% of online gambling sites illegal, with junkets fuelling growth
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
ARF report finds 61% of online betting sites are effectively operating illegally. Less than 40% are licensed and regulated. Online gambling is booming in Asia, where junkets are playing an increasing role. The report examined 262 of the most popular websites with global monthly visits of more than one million over the two-year period from 2019 to 2021. It also took a random sample of 93 websites and 179 from a list of websites that were likely to be illegal.
Curacao, Malta and the Philippines are responsible for licensing almost two-thirds of the sites deemed as underregulated. Visits to online betting websites are up 37 percent in 2020/2021 compared with 2019/2020. The number of unique visitors was up 97 percent over the period. The illegal sector saw its traffic gain by 64 percent. It is growing faster than the regulated sector. In Asia, bettors often do not interact directly with a website, but place wagers through agents. They employ more aggressive marketing techniques and are not subject to the same operating costs.
ARF finds 61% of online gambling sites are illegal. Macau's junkets are dominated by triad groups. Alvin Chau and Levo Chan are in jail accused of organizing illegal online betting. China's crackdown on capital outflows for gambling may exacerbate the problem. AGB will bring more insights from the ARF report in coming days.
