By The
SUN
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| Runners of the gambling syndicate show off jewels they claim to have bought from winnings to entice bettors |
An
illegal online lottery involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in weekly
bets, is reportedly run by at least four groups of Filipino domestic helpers
who carry out their respective operations from their employers’ flats.
This is
according to another Filipina who told The SUN that each of the four operators
pays out more than $100,000 a week in winnings, indicating the popularity of
the lottery that reportedly uses both social media and ambulant agents to
collect money from bettors.
But since
it is a game of chance, and the odds against winning are very slim, the
operators obviously amass a lot more than what they pay out.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
According to the informant, the operators have made so much money from the illegal operation that they have already bought properties and cars back in the Philippines from just two years of operation.
The
illicit gambling is similar to jueteng, but bettors are not limited to putting
their money on just two numbers, but on multiple combinations of up to six
numbers.
This
limits the bettor’s chances of winning, and allows operators to make even more
money.
The
informant said she wanted to expose these operations out of pity for many of
her friends who are buried in debt due to their gambling losses.
“Alam ko po lahat. Kasi marami na akong
kaibigan na nalululong masyado sa pagtaya, at halos nalulubog sa kauutang para
may maibayad diyan,” the whistleblower said.
(I know
all about it because I have a lot of friends who got so addicted to betting
that they ended up getting buried in debt).
In one case, she says a friend had to borrow $5,000 from a
money lending company, hoping to recover what she had lost on past bets. But
she lost even this, so she is now grappling with more debts than she could
handle.
The
informant claims to know the big four operators, or bankers, saying they are all
helpers who carry out the illegal draws from their employers’ flats.
She named
them as RC, Anne, Fadora and Jane. Except for Fadora, who stages the draws
somewhere in the Philippines ,
the three others draw the numbers in Hong Kong .
She said there may be many other smaller operators.
The
online-based illegal gambling appears to be facilitated by apps that can be
easily downloaded on cellphones from the internet. A Google search showed
dozens of images of random number suite apps that anyone can download and
use.
The
informant said the four bankers rely on Facebook to grow their individual
operations. For instance, if somebody wants to bet, he or she must befriend any
or all four bankers on FB to get connected.
This is a
requirement because the bankers need to connect to the bettors’ Alipay or
Wechat or TNG account to collect their bets. Winnings are given out in the same
way.
But
friendship with the operator or with her bet collectors has a more sinister
purpose: to shame the bettor on Facebook if he fails to pay his bets within a
week.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love |
Many
workers are attracted to the illegal gambling operations because of the
relatively big payout of at least four or five times each $1 bet. The minimum
bet is $5, according to the informant.
This was
corroborated by Che, an occasional bettor who said she once won $2,700 on a $50
bet. She said she would bet on birthdays of her family members and win once in
a while.
But left unsaid is that the operators would only allow a
certain amount to be distributed as winnings, because they should always get a
bigger slice of the pie.
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| One operator puts up on Facebook her purported payout for the week |
Numbers are drawn three times a day
with the 11am and 4pm draws using a digital random number suite application or
a lottery wheel, called tambiolo in Tagalog. The
morning and afternoon draws use balls and a spinning wheel or apps.
The informant explains there are seven betting options for a
prospective player.
In the S2 rumble, a bettor can pick 2 numbers from 1 to 31 and his $5 bet wins $1,250 if his picks are drawn. Rumble means no matter which of the two numbers is drawn first.
In the S2 rumble, a bettor can pick 2 numbers from 1 to 31 and his $5 bet wins $1,250 if his picks are drawn. Rumble means no matter which of the two numbers is drawn first.
The S2 Pares rumble pays $1,500 per $5 bet on a winning pair
of numbers from 1 to 40.
In the S3 and 3D options, a bettor picks a number from 0-9
for each of S3 and 3D rumble. A $5 bet wins $500, a $10 bet wins $1,000 and $15
wins $1,500.
The morning draw at 11am is called P2 and its afternoon draw
at 4pm is P3. Six balls from a range of 1-49 are picked for these two options.
For P2, the winning 2 numbers pays out $450 for a $10 bet. The maximum bet is
$200.
In P3, a bettor picks 3 numbers for a minimum bet of $10
that will earn him $2,000. The maximum bet is $60.
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| Bettors on the 9pm draw put their money on the winning last digit in Mark Six Macau |
The 9’oclock evening draw is based
on the Macau Mark Six draw but bettors pick only the extra number and win $400
per $10 bet. The maximum bet is $500. A screenshot of
the draw is sent to the bettor via Messenger so he can check whether his
numbers won.
The informant said in pre-pandemic days, the operators based
their evening draws on Mark Six draws but shifted to the Macau
lottery draw when Mark Six was halted here due to the Covid-19 crisis.
With everyone in Hong Kong having a gadget, it is easy to
get hooked to this type of illegal gambling because betting is at their fingertips
anywhere they are in the city.
But bettors beware, because in any game of chance, the odds
are always stacked up in favor of the banker or the operator. For, why else
would casinos be as grandiose as those seen in Macau
if gamblers are allowed to win against them?
