Gambling Help in Hong Kong

If gambling has stopped being fun for you, or for someone close to you, Hong Kong has a straightforward system of help: one phone number, four centers, and one fund behind it all. This page explains what each part is, who it is for, and what happens when you pick up the phone. If you are new to how gambling works in the city generally, see our guide to gambling in Hong Kong.

Problem gambling helpline: 1834 633

The number to remember is 1834 633. This is the Ping Wo Fund problem gambling helpline, and all four of Hong Kong's counseling and treatment centers support it¹. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which runs the city's legal betting, lists the same number on its responsible gambling pages as the Problem Gambling Helpline⁵.

When you call, you reach a central gambling counseling service rather than a single organization. The line exists so that nobody has to work out which center is nearest or which one speaks their language before asking for help. One call is the entry point to the whole system.

The helpline offers immediate initial counseling to problem gamblers and their families, and can refer callers on to treatment⁶. It is not a recorded message or a switchboard that only takes details. A person answers, and that person's job is to talk with you about what is going on and point you toward the right next step.

Ping Wo Fund: what it funds

Behind the helpline sits the Ping Wo Fund, the pot of money that pays for gambling help in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club contributes to the fund, working with the government and welfare bodies to provide counseling, treatment and support for people affected by gambling and their families⁷.

The fund's purpose, in the Jockey Club's own words, is contributing to the delivery of counseling service, treatment and support to problem gamblers⁸. In practice that means it pays for the four counseling and treatment centers, the professionals who work in them, and the helpline that connects people to them.

The name comes from the Chinese 平和, which carries the sense of peace and balance. The idea is that the betting industry that profits from gambling also pays to help the people harmed by it. Every responsible gambling warning the Jockey Club prints, every information leaflet, and its betting websites all carry the treatment and counseling hotline information, so the number follows the betting wherever it goes⁹.

The four counseling and treatment centers

Hong Kong has four problem gambling counseling and treatment centers, and all of them support the 1834 633 helpline¹. The Jockey Club's help pages direct callers to the websites of the four centers for face-to-face counseling³.

The centers are run by established welfare organizations rather than by the government directly. Two you can identify by name from public materials:

• Caritas Addicted Gamblers Counselling Centre, run by Caritas Hong Kong. Its gambling counseling hotline is 1834 633, and you press "2" to reach its service⁹.
• Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Even Centre, run by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. You reach it through the same number by pressing "1"¹⁰.

The centers grew out of a decision in the early 2000s. Two counseling centers established by the government in September 2003 began operating in October of that year¹¹, and the network has since expanded to the current four.

Each center also has its own direct phone line for people who already know where they want to go. Calling the main Ping Wo Fund hotline 1834 633 first is fine; the staff there can point you to the center that suits you best.

There is also an independent option outside the Ping Wo Fund system: the Hong Kong Gamblers Recovery Centre, which lists its own hotline at 2426 6262¹². It is a separate organization, not one of the four funded centers.

Who the helpline is for

The helpline is for two groups of people, and both are named explicitly in official announcements: people with gambling disorder, and their family members¹³. You do not have to be the person doing the betting to call.

You also do not need to have hit any particular threshold of loss or distress. The line offers immediate initial counseling⁶, which means it is set up for early calls as well as crisis calls. If you are worried about your own betting but not sure it counts as a problem, that uncertainty is itself a good reason to call.

The service is free to the people who use it, because the Ping Wo Fund covers the cost⁷. And the counseling is provided by trained professionals, with all information treated in strict confidence³. That last point matters to many callers: nothing you say on the line is passed on.

What happens when you call

When you dial 1834 633, you get immediate initial counseling⁶. In practice the call works like this:

1. You reach the central line. All four centers support it, so the call is answered as a general gambling counseling service rather than by one specific organization¹.
2. You may be routed by menu. Some centers are reached through the number by pressing a digit: press "1" for the Tung Wah Even Centre¹⁰, press "2" for the Caritas Addicted Gamblers Counselling Centre⁹.
3. A trained counselor talks with you. The counseling is delivered by professionals, and everything you say is confidential³.
4. You are referred on if needed. The line provides counseling and referral for treatment², so if ongoing sessions at a center would help, the call sets that up.

If you prefer to self-check before calling, the Jockey Club publishes a gambling self test on its responsible gambling site³. It is a short questionnaire about your betting habits and how they affect your life, and many people use it to decide whether a call is warranted. The Even Centre also hosts its own self test¹⁰.

Support for family members

Family members are not an afterthought in this system. Official announcements state plainly that people with gambling disorder and their family members may call the gambling counseling hotline to receive counseling and referral for treatment¹³. The Ping Wo Fund's own materials say the same: problem gamblers and their families can receive counseling and referral by calling the Ping Wo Fund hotline².

This means a spouse, parent, adult child or friend can call without the gambler's knowledge or consent. If you are watching someone close to you lose money to betting and you do not know what to do, the call is for you as much as for them. Counselors can talk you through what the gambler is experiencing, what treatment looks like, and how to protect yourself and the household.

The confidentiality rule covers family callers too. All information given to the counseling services is treated in strict confidence³, so a call about a relative does not travel back to that relative.

Ways the number is written: 1834 633, 183 4633 or 1834633

You will see the same number printed three ways around Hong Kong: 1834 633, 183 4633 and 1834633. They are identical digits, just spaced differently.

None of these is a different line. If you dial any of them, you reach the same service. The spacing is a printing convention, nothing more, so do not worry if a leaflet in a betting branch shows one form and a website shows another.

Where you will see the number

The number is deliberately hard to miss if you gamble legally in Hong Kong. Treatment and counseling service hotline information is included in all of the Jockey Club's responsible gambling warning messages, its information leaflets, and its betting websites⁹. If you bet on horse racing in Hong Kong or football betting through the Jockey Club, the number appears alongside the betting itself.

The Jockey Club's event pages carry the same instruction: call the Ping Wo Fund hotline 1834 633 if you need help or counseling¹⁷, and its racing pages repeat it in Chinese¹⁸. The message is placed where bettors actually look, on the theory that the moment someone realizes they need help should not require a search.

A little background

Gambling in Hong Kong is legal only in narrow forms: the regulated horse racing, football betting and Mark Six lottery run under government approval, licensed activities such as mahjong parlors, and exempted social gambling¹. Everything else is illegal, as our page on gambling laws in Hong Kong explains in more detail.

Because the legal betting market is concentrated in one operator, the response to problem gambling is concentrated too. The Ping Wo Fund model, with the Jockey Club financing counseling and treatment alongside the government and welfare bodies⁷, has been the city's approach since the early 2000s. The first two government-established counseling centers opened in October 2003¹¹, and the network of four centers and the single shared helpline grew from there.

The result is a system with one door. Whether you are the person betting, a family member, a visitor who has been gambling while in the city, or a resident who bets on offshore sites, the entry point is the same: call 1834 633, and a trained counselor picks up.