Some online betting sites are offering COVID-19 betting markets in Southeast Asia. (Image: John Moore\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe New Paper <\/em>in Singapore reported Thursday that it had found several websites targeting local bettors by offering a variety of coronavirus markets.<\/p>\nCOVID-19 Betting Markets Based on Southeast Asian Reports<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn one case, the newspaper reported that a site was offering COVID-19 betting on the final digit in the number of new daily cases announced in Southeast Asian nations like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Bettors could also put money down on whether or not the number of reported cases would be higher or lower than the previous day, or if the next reported number would be odd or even.<\/p>\n
The markets are targeting Singaporean gamblers who don\u2019t have legal options to choose from. Local casinos have closed and other common gambling outlets in the country are also shuttered by the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n
They need this regular fix,\u201d<\/strong> Dr. Adrian Wang, a psychiatrist at Gleneagles Medical Centre, told the newspaper. \u201cLike an alcoholic who suddenly finds himself unable to afford whisky and has to settle for cheap rice wine, problem gamblers who can\u2019t bet in the casino or on suspended soccer games, they will take what\u2019s available.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nOther doctors interviewed by The New Paper <\/em>also worried that the COVID-19 betting market would attract problem gamblers, even if many others might find those wagers distasteful.<\/p>\n\u201c[Problem gamblers will] bet on deaths, or when a serial killer will be caught, a lot of strange things,\u201d Dr. Munidasa Winslow, senior consultant psychiatrist at Promises Healthcare, told The New Paper<\/em>. \u201cEven if they are gambling on people\u2019s lives, they will make that bet if someone is willing to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n