Gambling has never been easier in Vietnam. Thanks to the Internet and modern technology, local gamblers are at present able to join a game at the click of a mouse.

To access an online betting site, players only need to connect to the Internet, log on to their favorite site, and create an account.

An administrator will generally contact new players via an online chatbot to explain the basic rules, as well as how to add money to their accounts with an online banking tool.

After this, gamblers are able to ‘play’ around the clock, or for as long as they have money in their virtual pockets.

A variety of games including keno, baccarat, cockfighting, and virtual football, among others, can easily be played on any number of sites.

Following the instructions of one local gambler, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters logged on to a virtual football site.

A moderator then asked the journalists to wire money into a bank account owned by the website in order to start playing.

This bank account detail often changes to avoid suspicion, the gambler explained.

Starting with a deposit of VND300,000 (US$13.15), each player receives 300 game points into their account.

In the game, players are required to guess the overall result of a football match, as well as the scores, within just one minute.

A minimum of six points, or VND6,000 ($0.26), and a maximum of 10,000 points, or VND10 million ($438), are able to be played in any game.

If a gambler wants to exchange his or her points for money, he or she informs the administrator and the cash will be wired directly to his or her bank account.

On a similar website, live cockfighting matches are available to bet on.

At around 9:30 am one morning, one such match was open for betting.

The match was broadcast live on the site, including everything from the preparations to the real fight.

Before every match, one of the cocks is tagged with a blue ribbon while the other gets a red one.

Gamblers must pick the blue side or the red side. They can also bet on a draw, which happens when both cocks die or are unable to fight.

Punters are then asked to gamble anywhere from 10 points, or VND10,000 ($0.44), to 30,000 points, or VND30 million ($1,315).

Each game generally lasts about 10 minutes and other cockfights are continually broadcast from around 10:00 am until 5:00 pm every day.

A cockfight is broadcast live from the Philippines. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Fraud

Experts warn that organizers of the cockfight cards always have a few dishonest tricks up their sleeves.

Some cocks are put into fights as decoys, being neither raised nor trained for fighting.

During some matches, referees will pretend to ‘interfere’ with the fight, not long before one of the competitors, sometimes the decoy, starts collapsing and losing the fight.

Some of the live broadcasts also appear to be interrupted in the middle of a match, experts have said, claiming that this allows the cockfighting hosts the chance to directly influence the result of most matches.

Despite this, many gamblers genuinely believe that other games, like virtual football, for example, are purely games of luck, based on the fact that any team, weak or strong, can win.

One gambler did, however, recall an instance where he was nearly scammed by one of the sites.

After winning approximately VND300 million ($13,151), he was unable to withdraw his money after the website temporarily shut down.

The administrator told him that they would wire him VND50 million ($2,191) a day.

“If they had disappeared with my money, I would have had no idea where to find them in real life,” the gambler said.

Heavy debts

H., a gambler in the southern province of Dong Nai, said that he had lost his job as a public servant and was heavily in debt after becoming addicted to online gambling.

Threatened by creditors, H. was forced to sell his car and mortgage his house in order to pay his debts.

The man was then compelled to borrow the car of his older brother in order to work as a GrabCar driver.

Desperate, he recently tried his luck again with online football matches, and eventually lost another VND200 million ($8,767).

He now has to pay VND30 million ($1,315) per month to repay the money he lost.

“My wife will definitely leave me if she finds out,” he told Tuoi Tre.

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