Online gambling websites lure punters with cheap bets

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - As if placing bets with a click of the mouse is not easy enough, gambling websites are now luring Malaysians by offering wagers from as low as RM8 (S$3.2).

While online betting on sports has become a norm among punters, with football being the main draw, brash gambling websites have widened the field for bets, including areas such as politics and entertainment.

Links on social media sites lead to portals where users would have to register with a minimum deposit of RM50 via online transfer, ATMs, credit cards or cash deposit machines.

With the recent clampdown on betting houses in the Klang Valley, syndicates are now trying to hook punters online through popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Even teenagers are thronging cyber cafes as part of the growing trend because these websites allow anyone above the age of 18 to become members, although the legal age for gambling in Malaysia is 21.