Illegal Gambling Computers Crushed In Malaysian Crackdown

Posted: January 18, 2017

Updated: October 6, 2017

The Asian gambling market is large and diverse and there’s a variations between the gambling laws to which one much adhere from country to country some of which allow some forms of gambling whilst almost guaranteeing the continuation of illegal gambling by omitting others or prohibiting their populations accessing the options available on Bet365. The police might be in the midst of a crackdown, but is it beating back the criminals or just a bit of theater for the cameras?

Malaysia Permits

• Horse racing
• Casino
• Slot machines
• Lottery

Malaysian gambling laws are not quite as draconian as you might at first think. There’s legal casino gambling if that takes your fancy, slot machines, the ubiquitous lottery and, of course, horse racing which gives plenty of options, however the rather glaring omission of sports betting, the ban on online gambling and the prohibition on the Muslim population participating at all has meant there is a lucrative illegal gambling scene hidden away from the bright lights of the legitimate gaming sphere.

Malaysian police after raiding casinos in 2017

Great capture for the Malaysian police (Photo: thestar.com.my)

Fed by a portion of society unable to openly gamble and a lack of an easily accessible online gambling outlet such as Bet365 illegal gambling in Malaysia is constantly being fought by the local authorities and in recent well publicized crackdowns they have had some small measure of success, closing down an illegal casino is Sabah and making a song and dance about destroying the tools of these illegal gambling dens before the media’s hungry gaze. That said, look closer and it’s not all it might be.

Bet365 Unavailable In Malaysia

Malaysian gambling news headlines might scream of an illegal casino being busted in Penampang and crow about how it was only open a matter of hours before the police swooped in, arresting 33 people including fifteen staff, but whilst Datuk Salehuddin Abdul Rahman, Sabah CID chief, can rightfully chalk it up as a win in the war against illegal gambling, the fact that the police so quickly found out about it and raided it rather demonstrates this was hardly the operation of a mastermind criminal gang.

Malaysia Prohibits

• Muslims gambling
• All sports betting
• Any online gambling

Perhaps the greatest misfortune on the night, however, might be said to have befallen the five people in a nearby shop who found the surrounding area full of anti-gambling police just as they were playing a friendly game of Mahjong for money and all of whom were promptly arrested for gambling offenses. See what happens if you don’t have access to the likes of Bet365? Properly regulated online gambling in Malaysia could have prevented this tragedy, but alas the government is not ready for that just yet.

Illegal Gambling Crackdown Pleases Police

Not to be out done by their colleagues in Sabah the force in Kajang decided to stage a publicity exercise of their own and destroy 5,000 computers used for illegal gambling in Malaysia as the press looked on. At first glance there is something rather definite about a JCB smashing machines used in illegal gambling dens, but then Superintendent Mohd Sabri stated the value of the computers and the whole thing ceased to be credible as a pile of already out of date junk was valued as if brand new.

Bet365 and its ilk may well be hard to reach however if you like to bet on sports in Malaysia you’ve little choice but to circumvent the ridiculous prohibition to do so, and not everyone possesses the computer skills one might need to employ, thus as the police trumpet their small victories one instinctively knows that illegal gambling in Malaysia is unlikely to be so easily stopped as people are arrested for Mahjong or computers are crushed under the hydraulics of an earth mover.

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