World Cup "hidden" storm: Part 1: Entering the vortex

(Baonghean) - Unlike previous World Cups, with the support of high technology, bookmakers and gamblers this World Cup season are hiding themselves quite well to avoid legal punishment. To have a close look at the gambling game of the 2014 World Cup, we are forced to "join the game" like "real" gamblers...

INTRODUCTION

In the province, Vinh City is always the most bustling place during the World Cup season. At 11pm, when the matches start, it is not difficult for us to recognize the gamblers in the big coffee shops. However, most of them are attentively watching, expressing joy or disappointment, but do not bet on each other like in previous World Cups. If anything, they are sometimes engrossed in their phones...

Ph's message sent about the match between Argentina and Switzerland on July 1, 2014.

After many night trips, until the end of the World Cup group stage, a few hours before the Portugal vs Ghana match, we were lucky to be introduced to Ph by Đ, a young man from Hue, who works as a barber on Đinh Công Trang street, a bookmaker with "warranty". Meeting at a coffee shop on Hồng Bàng street, Ph is about 45 years old, from Vinh city, with a rather scholarly appearance. Đ introduced: We work at company B, love football, so we want to "do a little" to "increase our emotions". Hearing that, Ph was quite excited. He said: "The cadres and civil servants also participate a lot, they play very sophisticatedly so they rarely lose. You "blue collar" people also play very well". Then Ph introduced each betting method. From betting on the whole match, betting on each round, betting on the vibrating ball (betting on goals in the last minutes of the match), betting on the score...

In short, there are countless forms of "bets". At the same time, Ph did not forget to instruct us on how to "turn" the bet to "lose less when the team we bet on has a chance of losing completely". Seeing that we had absorbed the rules, Ph said: "What are your needs? Playing with me is guaranteed. Win or lose will be paid at the end of the next day. I only work for the boss and do not dare to be greedy for too much...". How much can you play each time? "Depends on your ability. The lowest is 1 "cu" (one million VND - PV) per match. But it is best to play moderately, do not let it affect your family, it is very annoying. We do not want to have any complications. It is different with "social" people..." - Ph seemed to sincerely advise. And we agreed to bet 1 "cu" on Portugal with a handicap of 3/4, 10/8 for Ghana. That is, Portugal wins 1 - 0 and gets half the bet (500,000 VND); Win 2-0, get full money (1 million VND); if both teams draw, lose all money.

That night, we lived in the excitement and anxiety of gambling addicts until the last minute of the match. And, thanks to Ronaldo's frustrating and somewhat careless shot at the end of the match, Portugal beat Ghana 2-1, which meant we won half the money, 500,000 VND. Right at the end of the match, Ph texted from a junk phone number: +500. ok. The next afternoon, Ph called: You got 500,000 VND, when you want to get it, make an appointment so I can have someone bring it to you. We replied: Leave it there and continue playing tomorrow. Ok. Ph said and hung up.

After a day off, when the World Cup entered the round of 16, we continued to text Ph to receive bets and play 5 more matches, including Brazil vs. Chile, the Netherlands vs. Mexico, France vs. Nigeria, Argentina vs. Switzerland, and Belgium vs. the United States. The result was 2 wins, 3 losses, and a total loss of 650,000 VND. At this point, our relationship with Ph had become much "saltier". In the conversation before the World Cup entered the quarter-finals, Ph said: "If you guys like to play directly, I'll give you the password to my network and play. If you have any close friends, invite them to play together, because this is not convenient for both you and me." What does that mean? "There are all kinds of bets on my website. If you like to play, just fill in your points (the amount of money to play), click on it, then Enter.

Win or lose, transfer to the account. Later, the English Premier League, Italy, Spain will still be played like that when the season comes..." Then Ph said: "My boss is in Hanoi, they create an account and always push a full 100 million VND into it. Players who win more than that amount will be transferred. And if the player loses, every few days I will transfer it to them. In short, it's very fair, convenient and safe. You can play, but if you want to earn a little, I will divide the table for you." How do I get it? "If the player wins, whoever is kind enough will give them a little bonus, but I don't get anything from the house. But if the player loses, for every million, I get 20,000 VND. Like we did this World Cup season, every match has at least a few dozen players. In the qualifying round, there are people who play all 4 matches/night. Every time they win a match, they lose a few tens of millions, so our work every night of staying up all night is worth a couple of million dong...". What if they run away? Moreover, what if the police find out? While they were having fun, when they heard about the police, Ph's voice suddenly became cold: "There are rules to playing, uncle...".

Hearing Ph say that, knowing we couldn't get involved any further, we pretended to regret that we had to go to the South for training soon so we couldn't accept.

99% "OUT OF THE WAY"

Many people have confirmed that if you don't gamble, you're "safe", but if you're involved in gambling, most of you will "go to hell". And we have verified this story in Dien Chau town from the "instructions" of a breakfast shop owner. On a trip to Dien - Yen - Quynh, when we stopped by a breakfast shop near the Dien Chau District People's Committee, we heard the shop owner sigh and say: "World Cup, World Cup. Their business is all sluggish". I asked why, everything looks fine, right? "It looks calm but in fact it's boiling, man. Staying up all night, spending all the money on gambling. No need to worry about working or eating..." - the shop owner was annoyed. Then she clicked her tongue: "But it's like that everywhere, especially Dien Chau. Every World Cup season, everything is "dead" like straw. Only the bookies and pawnbrokers "get fat". If you don't believe me, just go to the pawnshop and you'll see, the motorbikes are packed tightly in the lot...".

SH pawn shop in Dien Chau town.

Thanks to a member of the Dien Thanh Commune Police, we got the address of SH Pawn Shop, located right in the center of Dien Chau Town. Entering the shop, it looked like a mobile phone store. Seeing that there were customers coming by car, the shop owner was eager: What do you need?

- Is this a pawnshop?

- Yes, we mainly do pawn services.

- Let us pawn some things to get some money. But why don't I see any pawned items here?

- The garage behind the house is full of cars, there is no more space. Now if someone comes to take our motorbike, we have no place to park it!

- How do you hold it here?

- Then hold valuables.

- I want to ask how much profit.

- One million a day 3,000 dong.

- Let us hold the vehicle registration.

- No. No papers here, but cars are fine.

- Oh well. Let us keep the 10 million dong. This afternoon, when the money is transferred to the card, we will come back to get the car back.

- Borrow 10 million VND per day, have to pay 200,000 VND!.

- Interest rate up to 60% per month. Why are you forcing each other?

- That's how it is for a quick loan. If you don't want to borrow, then decide now so I can do the paperwork...

The first piece of receipt for a hot loan with an interest rate of 2% per day at SH shop, Dien Chau town.

Cao Trong Tai and the exhibits seized by Dien Chau police.

Money and exhibits seized by Dien Chau Police in Cao Trong Tai's betting case.

While the owner of SH shop was busy writing the receipt, we asked a lot of questions to confirm the consequences of the World Cup that have been happening in this area. According to the owner of SH shop, at pawn shops in Dien Chau area, gamblers have had to pawn many valuable items such as motorbikes, mobile phones... and affirmed that many people will not be able to redeem them. To prove her words, she showed us a storage room of about 40 square meters that was packed with motorbikes of all kinds. "There. When pawning, everyone has to sign a commitment paper. If the loan is overdue, we have the right to sell..." - the owner of SH shop said. A few hours later, when we returned, the SH shop owner "generously" gave us a discount of 50,000 VND, returned the bike, and did not forget to borrow the receipt, tear off the loan content and said: "If you guys need to buy a pawned bike, after the World Cup season, just call the phone number at the top of the receipt. Then you can choose freely...".

Internet cafe in Hung Xuan hamlet, Tay Hieu commune, Thai Hoa town, where Nguyen Van Cong organized football betting.

Working with Dien Chau District Police, officers and soldiers here said that football betting in this area is quite complicated and the situation of people participating in betting having to pawn their belongings and borrow money at "exorbitant" interest rates is not uncommon. Also at this time, we received information that in the area of ​​​​town 3-2 of Quy Hop district, the police forces had uncovered a fairly large gambling ring in the form of football betting...

(continued)

Ha Giang - Le Viet