In the real world, Hong Kong residents spend over HK$100 billion annually on horse racing betting, an amount equivalent to the total annual gambling revenue of the Eagle Empire.
Li Ling could easily become a billionaire just by buying horses.
He is a prophet, which is equivalent to winning the jackpot every time you buy a lottery ticket in mainland China. Isn't that as easy as picking up money?
Unless the butterfly effect takes hold on a large scale, replacing all the horses and jockeys in every race, the powerful historical inertia will delay the butterfly effect. He judged that his plundering of the horse racing club would not be affected at least until the Sino-British negotiations ended.
After reviewing the materials, Li Ling felt somewhat relieved. Fortunately, when researching materials about Hong Kong during this period, he did not seek in-depth understanding but rather read a wide range of related books without making distinctions.
Fortunately, he has a photographic memory, which enabled him to record so much information. If he had relied on his previous memory, he would never have been able to earn this money.
It's clear that the "academic superstar" persona can always unexpectedly lead to opportunities to make money!
Li Ling's first pot of gold was easily secured, but his joy quickly turned to worry.
Because there is a huge loophole in horse racing, namely the issue of identity.
The process for claiming prizes in horse racing is similar to that in mainland China. If the prize money exceeds a certain limit, you must present your ID card. In the real world of mainland China, you must present your ID to claim a prize exceeding 5,000 yuan. The process is similar in Hong Kong.
Unable to obtain Hong Kong residency, Li Ling can only earn a little money for the time being.
It's okay. Once Brother Hao sorts out my identity issue, Hong Kong Island's Ma Sai will be able to provide me with a steady stream of funds. For now, I'll just make a little money to pay back the money I borrowed from Ah Weng and Brother Hua.
The Hong Kong Island horse race is not held every day; it only takes place two days a week.
If they're replaying last night's Marseille now, it means there's a Marseille game today.
Since 1968, ATV has broadcast "Horse Racing Predictions" on the night before each horse race. The program includes footage of the horses' morning training and barrier trials, analysis of each horse's pre-race condition, and provides pre-race tips and scientific and reasonable betting analysis.
When the horse race starts the next day, ATV will broadcast the entire race live. This is ATV's exclusive cooperation with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The live broadcast started in 1975 and continued until ATV went bankrupt in the 21st century.
Therefore, ATV's horse racing program lasted longer than "Enjoy Yourself Tonight".
The host of this program is a big star named Dong Biao, Hong Kong's top horse racing commentator, and also a veteran actor. In real life, he played the leading male supporting role in "Rumble in the Bronx," portraying Uncle Bill, the international dragon.
Dong Biao grew up in a horse racing family, and his ancestors were jockeys for two generations. He can analyze the rankings of each horse race from a professional perspective. However, he often states his views on the show. He says that he doesn't talk about horses to make you gamble, and he doesn't comment on horses to predict race results. He talks about morality and life. He is a little old man who likes to show off.
Dong Biao famously said, "Even citizens who don't bet on horses enjoy watching my show, because I'm not just reporting; I'm starring in a horse racing program!"
Commonly known as: stand-up comedy.
Uncle Biao is the pioneer of Hong Kong talk shows. His shows have always been popular, with consistent viewership ratings for each episode.
When Li Ling saw Dong Biao's hosting program, he suddenly had a brilliant idea. He thought to himself, "If I were to host a horse racing commentary program on ATV, without any showmanship, and only predict the champion, runner-up, and third-place winners of each horse race, I estimate that it would trigger a ratings bomb, attracting all horse racing fans in Hong Kong to ATV screens."
Haha, just think about it. If that were to happen, the butterfly effect would be huge.
Today is Saturday, and ten horse races will be held at Sha Tin Racecourse. After finishing their meal, Li Ling and his wife took a taxi to Sha Tin Racecourse.
Sitting in the taxi, Li Ling closed his eyes, and he recalled Dong Biao's famous saying: "No one can lift up a person without strength, and no one can defeat a person with strength!"
"My strength isn't time travel, it's photographic memory, it's my knowledge!"
Li Ling ran his fingers across his sword-like eyebrows; at this moment, he looked incredibly flamboyant!
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Chapter 91 Visiting the Set (Fifth Update)
There are two racecourses on Hong Kong Island.
Happy Valley Racecourse, located in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island, has a history of over 130 years. Horse races are held here only on Wednesday evenings, known as 'night races'. The first race starts at 7:15 pm and lasts for six to eight races.
There is also a new racecourse located in Sha Tin District, New Territories. It is built along the Shing Mun River and is adjacent to the estuary. The location is excellent, and the scenery is no less beautiful than Victoria Harbour. The key is that it is far away from the city center, making it suitable for revelry.
Sha Tin Racecourse was established in 1978 and currently can only accommodate 35,000 spectators, which is smaller than the old Happy Valley Racecourse, but it will be expanded soon.
By 1985, the number of spectators will reach 80,000, making it the world's premier horse racing venue. The equestrian events of the 2008 Olympic Games were held here.
Every weekend, Sha Tin Racecourse hosts an afternoon horse race, sometimes on Saturday and sometimes on Sunday.
The competition consists of ten sessions, each lasting half an hour. The first session starts around 13:00 and the last session starts around 18:00, and they are called 'daily sessions'.
At noon, Li Ling took a taxi to Sha Tin Racecourse and went straight to the prize redemption window in the betting hall.
He inquired with staff about his eligibility to claim the prize, only to be greatly disappointed by what he learned.
The Jockey Club has a clear rule that 10,000 dollars is the limit.
For prizes exceeding 10,000 yuan, you must present your ID card to claim the prize.
If the amount exceeds one million Hong Kong dollars, it is considered an extra-large amount and will not be cashed immediately. You must first call the Hong Kong Jockey Club, register your ID information, and then go to the Hong Kong Jockey Club headquarters at 1 Sports Road, Happy Valley, Causeway Bay to cash the cheque.
This greatly restricts his actions; he must accurately calculate the odds when placing bets, otherwise he won't receive any money if the amount exceeds the limit of 10,000 yuan.
He spent half a day at the racecourse, during which he bought tickets for ten races. Since the tickets were anonymous and no identity was required to claim the prize, winning all of them had no impact whatsoever.
By the end of the day's horse racing, he had earned over HKD 80,000. Since he didn't have an ID card, he exchanged the money directly from the Jockey Club. He couldn't deposit the money in a bank, so he exchanged it all for HKD 1,000 gold bulls, which were about the same size as a stack of RMB 10,000 bills and could easily fit into his travel bag.
Touching the thick stack of gold bulls filled him with a sense of security. Money gives a man courage; with money comes courage—this saying is truly wise!
The Golden Bull is a HK$1,000 note, and there is also a HK$500 note called the Big Bull.
There's a saying in Hong Kong: "They won't accept HK$1,000 bills, and they won't give change for HK$500 bills." This means that when taking the bus, they won't accept HK$1,000 bills, and they won't give change for HK$500 bills.
Leaving the horse farm, Li Ling felt no joy at making money; instead, he was preoccupied and worried about his current lack of identification.
He had roughly calculated that since there were only six to eight races at Happy Valley next Wednesday, he could receive around HK$150,000 in payouts from the Jockey Club each week, which would amount to HK$600,000 per month.