The main legislation governing gambling in Hong Kong is the Gambling Ordinance (Cap. The general position is that gambling is unlawful unless the act falls within one of the exemptions under. Mahjong is the only legal form of gambling in Hong Kong that is not operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Casino games are all prohibited under Hong Kong gambling laws. If you want to play slot machines, blackjack, or poker, you will need to catch a ferry to Macau. Another option is to take a casino cruise. Of the law in the conduct of lottery activities, OLA will normally refer the case to the Hong Kong Police Force, who is the enforcement agency for the Gambling Ordinance, for action. A copy of this Guide can be obtained from OLA at Unit 2503-05, 25th Floor, AIA Tower, 183,Electric Road, North Point Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Gambling Laws and Regulations 2021. ICLG - Gambling Laws and Regulations - covers common issues in gambling laws and regulations – including relevant authorities and legislation, application for a licence, licence restrictions, digital media, enforcement and liability – in 37 jurisdictions.

Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai and a reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, in the Legislative Council today (June 28):
Question:
Quite a number of young entrepreneurs have relayed to me that with a view to promoting their products and services, they have introduced some lucky draw games and activities, so as to attract patronage to their physical or online shops. However, the law enforcement authorities have alleged them of operating gaming activities without obtaining the relevant licences, such as Trade Promotion Competition Licence or Amusements with Prizes Licence, and have indicated that they may invoke the Gambling Ordinance to institute prosecutions against them. Such entrepreneurs have also pointed out that while such games and activities are quite popular in the neighbouring regions and are not against any law in those places, the laws of Hong Kong are overly stringent, thereby hindering their business development and making them unduly worried. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the law enforcement actions taken in each of the past three years under the Gambling Ordinance against lucky draw games or activities organised in the course of trade promotion (including the respective numbers of cases in which verbal warnings were issued and prosecutions were instituted, and the punishments on the convicted persons); whether it knows the number of types of the games or activities involved which may be legally conducted in the neighbouring regions without obtaining a licence;
(2) when the current requirements of the relevant licences and the penalties were made; whether it will, from the perspective of business facilitation and in the light of the development pace of information technology and the actual situation of online commercial and trading activities, review the regulation of lucky draw games or activities organised in the course of trade promotion, including examining if the relevant licensing requirements and penalties still suit the present circumstances; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) as some small business operators have pointed out that the application fees for a Trade Promotion Competition Licence and an Amusements with Prizes Licence are $1,590 and $3,200 respectively which, together with other licensing conditions (e.g. the former requiring licensees to publish details of the draw results in one English and one Chinese newspaper circulating in Hong Kong, while the latter requiring licensees to obtain a Places of Public Entertainment Licence) are a cost of a considerable amount of money for them, whether the authorities will consider relaxing the conditions and lowering the fees for such licence applications?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the question raised by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai is as follows:
Given the great variety of games and variation in related legislation and regulatory approaches in various places, it is hard to make a direct comparison. With the possible differences in such objective considerations as socio-economic development, cultural background, customs and mindset in these places, it follows that their practices are not necessarily applicable to Hong Kong directly.
In Hong Kong, the Gambling Ordinance (Cap. 148), which regulates gaming activities, was enacted in 1977 and was amended several times between 1980 and 2006.
It is the Government's policy not to encourage gambling. This is because unregulated gambling may lead to such serious social problems as frauds, underage gambling and loan sharking, and may become a source of income for triad and criminal activities. Related penalties under the Gambling Ordinance are precisely introduced to deter non-approved gambling, and protect the public from the threats of these activities.
In the past three years (from 2014 to March 2017), there was one case that was prosecuted under section 9 of the Gambling Ordinance (i.e. organisation of unlawful lottery), but the person being prosecuted was eventually acquitted.
Activities such as Trade Promotion Competitions and Amusements with Prizes involve gaming, holding of which without permission is liable for the same maximum penalties as those gambling crimes which are perceived as more serious by the general public. Such arrangement is to deter people with ulterior motives from making use of these items to pursue gambling activities in disguise, and we consider the existing penalties as appropriate. The Court will make judgement based on the seriousness of individual cases. For examples, there has been a case in which a merchant conducted online lucky draw to promote his business without applying for the Trade Promotion Competition Licence, and hence was prosecuted under section 9 of the Gambling Ordinance for organising unlawful lottery. While it was set out in the Gambling Ordinance that a person, on conviction, is liable to a maximum fine of $5,000,000 and to imprisonment of at most seven years; the merchant, after the case was assessed, was offered no evidence on condition of being bound over in the sum of $1,000.
Similarly for the formulation of licence conditions, the Government has been following the principle of not encouraging gambling. Some examples of the licence conditions include not allowing the offering of money prize for amusements or competitions, the opportunity to win a prize being not the only inducement to participate in Amusements with Prizes, no fee being charged for entering Trade Promotion Competitions, and the competitions being not the core part or main attraction of a business.
In addition, there are licence conditions that are formulated to protect the safety and rights of the participants. For example, one of the conditions for the Amusements with Prizes Licence, as mentioned by the Councillor, is that relevant licence under the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance shall be obtained for premises in which such amusements are conducted. This is because amusements usually draw crowds. We prescribe that the licenced premises concerned shall meet relevant safety requirements so as to safeguard public safety and order.
As for another condition mentioned by the Councillor, i.e. a condition for the Trade Promotion Competition Licence, it requires a promoter to publish, within 10 days from the date of draw or judging, results of the competition in one English and one Chinese newspaper circulating in Hong Kong and to forward a copy of the relevant newspaper cuttings to the Office of Licensing Authority (OLA). This licence condition serves to ensure that draw results will be published in an open and transparent manner by licensees for protecting the interest of members of the public who have participated.
The Government will also review related arrangements in light of actual circumstances so as to strike a balance between business facilitation and protection of public interest. For example, the requirement of publishing competition results in newspapers, as mentioned above, was amended in 2002. The original condition prescribing that 'competition results shall be published in two English and two Chinese newspapers within seven days from the date of draw' was relaxed to 'competition results shall be published in one English and one Chinese newspaper within ten days from the date of draw'. Keeping abreast with times, OLA nowadays also accepts publishing of draw results by promoters in online newspapers. However, some members of the public are still not used to reading newspapers online, OLA requires promoters to publish draw results in at least one printed newspaper.

Hong Kong Gambling Laws Legal

Regarding licence fees, it is the Government's policy that fees should in general be set at a level sufficient to recover the full cost of providing the relevant services. Fees for various licences under the Gambling Ordinance are charged in accordance with the 'user pays' principle, with a view to recovering the cost of licence issuance from applicants. OLA will review the level of licence fees on a regular basis.

Hong Kong is home to only four forms of legal gambling. Mahjong is one and operates under special exemptions from our gambling laws when certain conditions are met. Horse racing is what we are most known for and is practically a religion here. The same company that facilitates horse racing bets also has the government-granted monopoly on lottery, and football betting. Their website is extremely comprehensive and available in English at www.hkjc.com/home/english. As everything you’d want to know and more about gambling in Hong Kong can be found from that site, in this article I will focus only on the laws.

Gambling Laws Explained

There are two legal documents that cover the bulk of our gambling law. These are the Betting Duty Ordinance Cap.108 (first passed in 2003 and was last amended in 2006) and the Gambling Ordinance Cap.148 (first passed in 1977 and last amended in 2006). While a lot of words to read, the law is very easy to understand.

Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) holds a government-granted monopoly on all gambling involving horse races, football matches, and lottery. Bets made through HKJC approved channels are legal. Mahjong is covered separately in the law and poker is a gray area (mostly considered illegal). All other forms of gambling are unlawful and carry the harsh penalties listed below.

First conviction: fine of $10000 AND up to 3-months imprisonment.

Second conviction: fine of $20000 AND up to 6-months imprisonment.

Third conviction: fine of $30000 AND up to 9-months imprisonment.

It is also important to note that due to the Gambling (Amendment) Ordinance of 2002 these laws fully apply to internet and telephone betting with foreign sources. At virtually all HKJC approved betting channels reminders are plastered all over informing players they can go to prison for up to 9-months if they use foreign bookmakers.

For reason Hong Kong is a global economic power, has extradition treaties with much of the world, and has extremely harsh penalties for gambling operators found in violation of HK law, most every foreign betting site blocks Hong Kong players from making deposits. There is however some offshore gambling sites (that while illegal) Hong Kong residents can use, but these are far and few between.

Mahjong Law

To help you better understand our mahjong law I need to first mention that Hong Kong was British colony from 1842-1997. Today we are one of two special administrative regions of China (Macau is the other). We have our own currency, unique history, passports, government and laws. In short we have not been subject to gambling law of Chinese Mainland for over 170 years. Back on topic here, the Colonial Government had banned all forms of gambling under the Gambling Ordinance of 1891. Cap.40 of 1931 allowed for limited forms of gambling and its 1950 rewrite expanded this to allow for licensed Mahjong Parlours.

From 1950-1976 Colonial Europeans issued licenses to approximately 140 Mahjong clubs. In 1977 this law was repealed. While no new clubs have been licensed since, those that held a license prior to 1977 are still allowed to operate legally. There are about 60 of these clubs left. They take 7.5% commission from player’s winnings and are fully legal under Section 22 of the Gambling Ordinance.

Modern Mahjong clubs are far more popular than the licensed ones and fall under Section 3 of the Gambling Ordinance. This allows social-occasion gambling on games involving dice, dominoes, mahjong or tin kau tiles, and playing cards only in licensed restaurants, premises licensed to sell liquor and clubs (as defined by 4-2 of the Clubs Safety of Premises Ordinance). To be legal: admission must not be charged to enter the premise and there must be no exclusive bank. It also must not be a trade of the business in any way. This means no promotion of the games, no employees playing the games, and no cut taken from the winnings.

Hong Kong Poker Law

Hong Kong Gambling Laws Act

Poker is a very popular in Hong Kong, both with Chinese players and expats. Until 2010, poker clubs operated out in the open feeling they held the same legal exemption as Mahjong. A series of police raids put an end to this. The Blue House was raided and shutdown in March 2010, a high-stakes game involving a Merrill Lynch director was raided in July 2010, and the famous PokerStars co-sponsored Hong Kong Poker House in August 2010.

These raids sent poker underground. Today, it still exists but for reason being caught involves a 3-month prison sentence for a first offense it is difficult to get into the game without knowing someone. It’s worth noting gambling in Macau is a one-hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong and here poker and casino games are offered in HKD currency.

Hong Kong Gambling Laws Definition

Holders of a Hong Kong Identity Card, Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card or Re-entry Permit are allowed to enter Macau without even needing a passport. Macau tourism figures show this is a popular option. In 2012, Macau’s visitor arrivals from Hong Kong were 7,081,153, which is slightly than the total population of Hong Kong. This is because each visit is counted separate, and for some serious gamblers Macau is an every weekend trip.