Online Casinos in Hong Kong

What Is Authorised, and by Whom

Hong Kong does not authorise casino gaming, online or otherwise. The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for formulating gambling policy, states that under the Gambling Ordinance (Cap. 148) all gambling activities are illegal except those expressly authorised by the Government under the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108), those licensed by public officers appointed by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, and those exempted under section 3 of the Gambling Ordinance. The policy, in the Bureau's own words, is to restrict gambling opportunities to a limited number of authorised and regulated outlets.

The authorised outlets are specific. They are authorised horse racing, authorised football betting and the Mark Six Lottery as organised by The Hong Kong Jockey Club, together with gaming activities authorised by the public officer appointed by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs under the Gambling Ordinance, such as mahjong parlours. The Betting and Lotteries Commission, a statutory body established under the Betting Duty Ordinance, advises the Secretary on the regulation of horse race betting, football betting and lotteries, on the issue and revocation of those licences and their conditions, on complaints about compliance, and on financial penalties for licensees. There is no casino licence and no online casino licence in this framework.

Offences and Penalties

The Government's own account of the law is that the Gambling Ordinance explicitly stipulates that all unauthorised gambling activities, apart from those situations stated in the ordinance, constitute an offence. Taking part is an offence too: the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau told the Legislative Council in June 2025 that participating in illegal gambling, such as betting with an illegal bookmaker, is also an offence, and that on conviction an offender is liable to a maximum penalty of a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for nine months.

The heavier penalties fall on the operator, and they do not stop at the boundary. The Information Services Department's public announcement on illegal gambling states that under the revised Gambling Ordinance anyone who receives a bet by way of trade or business commits a criminal offence, whether the bet is received within or outside of Hong Kong, and that on conviction that person is liable to a fine of five million dollars and to seven years' imprisonment.

Basketball Betting: Legislated, Then Paused

The list of authorised products was due to grow, and then did not. The Government published the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 in the Gazette on 20 June 2025, seeking to amend the Betting Duty Ordinance to provide a regulatory framework for basketball betting, to give the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs power to licence it, to charge duty at 50 per cent of net stake receipts as for football betting, and to expand the functions of the Betting and Lotteries Commission accordingly. The Legislative Council passed the Bill on 11 September 2025.

Implementation was then halted. The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau paused the rollout of basketball betting, citing the rapid global rise of unregulated prediction markets, and the Chief Executive said in April 2026 that the Bureau should assess those risks thoroughly before proceeding. Basketball betting is therefore legislated for but not in operation, and nothing in that legislation concerns casino gaming.

The Legal Gambling Age

The Government has told the Legislative Council that the age of 18 is generally regarded as the indicator of adulthood in Hong Kong and is also the existing statutory age for legal gambling, and that the Hong Kong Jockey Club's licence conditions require it not to accept bets from juveniles and not to target juveniles in promotional activity.

Help With Gambling Problems

The Ping Wo Fund was established in September 2003 to finance preventive and remedial measures for gambling-related problems. It finances public education, counselling, treatment and support services for people with gambling disorder and those affected by them, and research into gambling problems, with the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee advising the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs on its use. The Fund publishes a gambling counselling hotline and funds four counselling and treatment centres; the hotline and the centres are recorded in the responsible gambling field on this page.

What Is Available Instead

Horse race betting, football betting and the Mark Six Lottery, all conducted by The Hong Kong Jockey Club under the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108), together with gaming licensed by public officers appointed by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, such as mahjong parlours. Casino gaming is not authorised in any form. Basketball betting has been legislated for but its implementation is paused.