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With little notice, the United Kingdom’s largest bookmaker, Ladbrokes, will stop accepting bets online from those living in China and Hong Kong.
Affiliates for Ladbrokes were among the first to receive the notice:
Dear Affiliate,
We hope all is well.
Due to technical problems, as of tonight Ladbrokes has taken the decision to
suspend our operations to Chinese and Hong Kong cutomers across all channels
and products until further notice.
This news is now highlighted on the Chinese and Hong Kong websites and the
relevant players have been informed.
If you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Kind Regards,
The Ladbrokes Affiliate Team
Affiliates in particular were somewhat alarmed by the news as the Asian market has proven especially lucrative due to the high volume of bets placed from this region.
Ladbrokes had initially begun pushing the China market in the summer of 2007.
Ladbroke's group finance director, Brian Wallace, at the time expressed interest in the expanding Macau market: "It's an extraordinary growth story, but we're not looking to open casinos in Macau - the real thrust for us in that region is sports betting."
It was not immediately clear as to why Ladbrokes pulled out of the China and Hong Kong markets.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
