Last month, the Grand Ho Tram casino in Vietnam launched live phone betting to VIP players, a senior executive informed GGRAsia.
Under the new program, high rollers can phone in their bets to a proxy agent seated at a table in the resort’s casino. A number of tables have been set aside to accept the bets. Video cameras at the tables will transmit the games in real time via the internet.
Stephen Shoemaker, chairman and CEO of the resort’s owner and developer Asian Coast Development Ltd., said customers would not be allowed to bet on the games being streamed online.
“It will be streamed on the internet, but it won’t be online betting,” he said. “It’s truly phone betting. A player can watch the feed of the table, and then they can place the phone call to the proxy.”
Mainland China prohibits websites from offering online betting to its citizens. In October, Singapore’s parliament passed the Remote Gambling Act, banning online gaming and banning banks from processing any payments by Singapore citizens for online gaming.
“Our legal guys have said it’s legal in Vietnam and there are no issues,” Shoemaker stated. “It’s already being done at other casino properties in Vietnam.”
Proxy betting could attract more Mainland Chinese players who are avoiding Macau following the anti-corruption crackdown.
