Online Sports Betting in Vietnam

Road to Legal Betting

Gambling laws for Vietnamese betting sites are following a slow but steady road to progression. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported Hanoi’s Finance Ministry showed support for making betting on football legal.

Later, Vietnamese Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue visited Singapore to learn about online betting in Singapore. He concluded Vietnam could learn a lot from Singapore Pools (SG Pools) and could use legal gambling to curve problem gambling and raise tax revenues.

In 2017, Decree 03/2017/ND-CP, better known as Decree 03, was issued by the Vietnamese government. It allows casinos to open in specific tourism zones, but they need a substantial $2 billion to do so.

Decree 06/2017/ND-CP, or Decree 06, was introduced shortly after, allowing football betting and wagers on horse races. This was cemented the following year, when the National Assembly of Vietnam added new legislation that allowed local players to bet on international football matches – just in time for 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Legal Casino Gaming in 2021

In 2021, a three-year trial allowed local players to experience live casino play. One of the chosen destinations was the unfortunately named Corona Casino & Resort, housed in the $2.8 billion Phu Quoc United Center. It’s an all-in-one entertainment complex with hotels, shopping, a theme park, and around 1,000 slot machines and 100 table games.

PayPal

PayPal is a global brand used by over 340 million people across the world. PayPal is a mainstream outlet which makes it easy for you to pay a person or company online. You need a bank account linked to cash out. However, you don’t need a bank account to send or receive funds.

ZaloPay

ZaloPay is much more than just a regular payment method. Instead, it functions as a messaging app (hence the name ‘Zalo’) which is extremely popular in Vietnam. You can also pay your household bills and send money to friends, with around 1.6 million transactions taking place each day.

Momo

Momo is Vietnam’s largest e-wallet outlet, meaning it’s incredibly common to see betting sites in Vietnam offer it as an option for deposits and withdrawals. Having raised $100 million in funding in early 2021, Momo has a multi-year plan which will look to expand its user base and make it even more accessible.

Mobiamo

Mobiamo can be used all over the world, stretching across over 100 countries. It’s compatible across all devices including desktop, iOS and Android, which is perfect if you use different methods to access betting sites. In Vietnam, mobile payments are on the up – a J.P. Morgan survey in 2019 found that mobile devices and apps accounted for $4.9 billion in transactions. With many of you preferring mobile betting to desktop, this makes Mobiamo a smart option.

Football

No matter what continent you’re in, football is guaranteed to be a popular sport at the top betting sites. In Vietnam, you can bet on the V.League 1, which is home to 14 clubs and runs from February or March until September.

Controversy around match fixing marred V.League 1 until 2012, when six clubs threatened to break away. This led to the formation of the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company to help restore order. If you have any doubts about match fixing, you can also bet on international leagues like the English Premier League or Spain’s La Liga.

Sepak Takraw (Cầu Mây)

Hugely popular across Southeast Asia, sepak taraw is a mesmerising blend of football and volleyball, comprising of two teams (‘regu’) of three players, each knocking the ball over the net using their head, knees or feet.

You’ll find plenty of local markets at online sports betting sites in Vietnam, especially around the time of the Asian Games. Although Thailand is the most successful country at sepak takraw, Vietnam is also a strong performer, boasting two golds in a 15-medal haul.

Badminton

Badminton is a huge sport in Vietnam. Betting sites will usually make plenty of Asian markets available, including the option to bet on the Vietnam Open, which has been running since 1996.

From 1998 to 2005, there was an eight-year hiatus from the Vietnam Open before it was re-established, becoming a BWF Grand Prix event. Vietnam produces some of the world’s best badminton players, including Nguyen Tien Minh, who has ranked as high as seventh in the global rankings.

Volleyball

Another major sport in Vietnam following in the footsteps of badminton and sepak takraw is volleyball. The Volleyball Vietnam League is where you’ll find action from leading clubs like TP. Hồ Chí Minh and Sanest Khánh Hòa, with the winner qualifying for the AVC Club Volleyball Championship.

The national teams are well-recognised and successful in Vietnam. The women’s team famously came fourth at the 2012 AVC Cup, which was held in Kazakhstan, while the men’s team picked up six medals in the SEA Games from 2005 to 2019.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

In early 2020, MMA was legalised in Vietnam, opening the door for budding fighters across the country. The Vietnam Mixed Martial Arts Federation oversees all things MMA in Vietnam, and betting sites have been quick to add new markets so you can place wagers on local events.

If you already have existing knowledge on MMA outfits like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), you’ll find lots of markets for all major events featuring world-class fighters like Jon Jones, Kamaru Usman, and Alexander Volkanovski.

Esports

Esports is a market which is booming around the globe, and things are no different in Vietnam. The Vietnamese eSport Championship (VEC) hit the scene relatively early in 2008, with the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) being introduced in 2013. Both offer major e-sports events in Vietnam.

You can also bet on the University Esports Championship (UEC), which has regional qualifiers in South, North and Central Vietnam with the top three from each area qualifying for the LAN Finals.