Dead cert: the $25m black market betting on how long patients will last

Entrepreneurs in the town of Taichung have created a thriving underground betting industry worth more than $25 million, based solely on how long the old, the cancer-ridden and incurably sick can cheat death. Some dying patients, regaining consciousness, have been stunned to find at their bedsides not only devoted relatives but also small groups of high-rollers, there to inspect their vital signs.

Local media say a sinister cult has evolved as gambling organisers secretly make their rounds of select clients in the wards of Taichung hospitals, muttering to each other that it will soon be time to ‘‘pay the bill’’ or ‘‘close the case’’ on particular patients.

The death gambling market has proved a runaway hit in recent months. On one Taichung street, 60 ‘‘senior clubs’’ lurk behind ordinary-looking shopfronts, all of them posing as charitable groups for the elderly — while challenging punters to take a bet on the precise moment members will draw their final breaths. Doctors, nurses and other hospital staff are eager for a piece of the action, as are many families and guardians of the unwitting human roulette wheels.

The families are promised about 10 per cent of the total amount wagered should their loved ones live more than a month after the bet is laid. Many poor families, according to Taiwanese media, have chosen this route to pay for a decent funeral.

As each terminally ill person is put into play, a gambling pot is established. Minimum bets are about $50, but some punters have reportedly placed stakes as high as $265,000.

If the patient dies within a month, the house takes the entire pot. If they survive beyond that, the winning payouts to punters climb with every day and week that the Grim Reaper remains at bay, for up to six months. Some pots are reported to have run to more than $1.2m.

Police are said to be investigating the industry. Families are thought to have been offered special bonuses by organisers if they instruct doctors to withhold life-prolonging treatments.

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx