Tuesday the police put out the number and it is a big one. 991 people arrested, HK$365 million in betting slips found, all of it tied to illegal World Cup gambling rings. Same week, a separate anti-triad operation hit the racecourse and pulled in seven more. Two raids, one message: if you have been putting money on matches through your cousin's guy instead of the Jockey Club, this was not a quiet summer for that business.

Here is the bit nobody at the press conference says out loud. Illegal betting only gets this big because legal betting is boring by comparison, worse odds, and the Jockey Club takes its cut before you ever see a payout. The underground book gives you better lines and no questions. So the government runs a sweep every World Cup, arrests get a headline, and the operation always comes back bigger next tournament. HK$365 million says the demand never left. It just went further underground, and it will surface again in four years unless somebody actually asks why the legal option loses every time.