Bookie-tiam? World Cup fever turns illegal at Geylang coffee shops
PUBLISHED ONJuly 08, 2014 11:45 PM
SINGAPORE - The streets of Geylang were almost like a ghost town after midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Except at some coffee shops, where the crowds were spilling into the lorongs.
World Cup fever has come to Geylang.
And where there's football, there's money to be made - and lost. It's a temptation that bookies and punters alike cannot resist.
BOOKIES' TABLE?
When The New Paper checked out a coffee shop showing the quarter-final match between Germany and France, it was initially not obvious that illegal betting was going on.
We approached a man and discreetly asked if he knew where we could place a bet. He looked at us, shook his head and said: "I'm here to watch."
Then, with his arms folded, he tilted his head in the direction of a table occupied by five middle-aged men.
After several minutes of observing them, it became obvious that we had hit the jackpot.
Other people, nearly all men, kept popping by their table. They were seen whispering into one particular man's ear.
They then passed him money and he in turn scribbled something on pieces of paper and handed them to his visitors.
Just as the match kicked off, the man could be seen sticking a thick wad of notes into his shirt pocket.
Some distance away were two men who kept looking around the lorong, as if they were looking out for anything unexpected, such as an approaching police patrol car.
Their attention was briefly diverted when a beer "auntie" shouted at some men who were watching the match without buying drinks from the coffee shop. They seemed to be foreign workers.
Most men in the coffee shop looked like locals.
Not even the sight of pretty women in figure-hugging outfits walking past the coffee shop could get their attention. Their eyes were glued to the action unfolding on TV.
But some men occasionally fiddled with their mobile phones or tablets. Were they placing bets online?
We then noticed another table closer to the road that was occupied by a group of younger men. They, too, were receiving money from people who went up to them.
An elderly man, who appeared to be drunk, approached a young man and said aloud in Hokkien: "How many balls you give, I will eat." He was quickly dragged away by his friends.
After the match ended with a 1-0 win for Germany, most of the customers dispersed, some cursing under their breath.
A few of them were seen heading to the two tables where money changed hands again, except that it was now the visitors receiving the cash, probably their winnings.
TNP's check on another coffee shop screening World Cup matches showed similar scenarios taking place there.
SMALL BETS
However, a regular in Geylang said that only "old school" punters placed bets at coffee shops.
Giving his name as Ah Ken , the 35-year-old said: "The heavy punters use illegal betting runners or stay at home in front of their laptops to lock in bets. The ones who bet at coffee shops are ah peks (older men in Hokkien) or foreign workers who don't use technology. "These people bet small, in the hundreds. Or maybe at most a few thousand," he said.
On June 21, the police arrested 15 people in connection with illegal bookmaking on World Cup matches.
The Singaporean suspects, aged between 23 and 70, were nabbed in multiple raids across the island.
The police also seized about $350,000, computers, mobile phones, betting records and bank transaction record booklets. It was believed the suspects had received illegal bets amounting to about $800,000 in the past two weeks.
Responding to queries from TNP, a police spokesman said that they take a serious view of all forms of illegal betting and will prosecute bookmakers and bettors alike to the fullest extent under the law.
He added: "Anyone with information of such activities is advised to report to the police immediately. Information provided will be kept strictly confidential."
Anyone convicted of betting with a bookmaker can be fined up $5,000 and jailed up to six months.
Convicted bookies can be fined from $20,000 to $200,000, and be jailed up to five years.
tnp@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on July 07, 2014.
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