France enjoyed a two to one victory over Italy in Euro 2000’s final match Sunday night—and local police didn’t stop Euro 2000 gamblers from placing a few final bets.
Though Phnom Penh police authorities allegedly called off all gambling on Euro 2000 last week, betting stands were in full swing for the last games of the football championship.
Last week, Deputy Police Chief Lek Vannak told Reuters news service, “I have sent my officers to gambling shops around Phnom Penh to order them to cease operations immediately.”
But bookies said Sunday that district authorities did not shut the gambling operations down. They merely told bookies to “avoid problems.”
The final match between France and Italy didn’t see as many bets as previous games, but that wasn’t because of intimidation from the police.
“This match has fewer bettors because people lost money on the last match,” one bookie said.
Gambling on Euro 2000 has formed a sizable black market over the past few weeks, but it is difficult to gauge how much money passes over betting stands.
Bookies near Phsar Thmei said that $3,000 to $4,000 per daywas common. At 5:30 pm the day before the final game, bookies said they received $2,000 in bets.
But there is reason to believe that, in many cases, much more money was involved. Last week, a bookie near Phsar Tmei absconded with a day’s bets—and had $20,000 to show for it.
A bookie said Sunday only $1000 had moved over his betting table that day. However, in the span of ten minutes, two gamblers placed $180 in bets.
Police said most of the gambling in Phnom Penh is overseen by Ly Hour Exchange Company but Ly Hour has denied any connection to gambling.
