But with few other options, gamblers looking for a bigger, better, and more luxurious thrill were forced to head abroad. Whereas in the past, this pursuit had been limited to small games of chance in street-side stalls, usually with dice or cards, this would no longer cut it for Vietnam’s thriving upper-middle and wealthy classes. With disposable incomes the likes of which Vietnam had never seen before, entertainment spending rose dramatically, a subsector of which was gambling. Manufacturing was just taking-off and in the years after, average incomes rose dramatically, and Vietnam’s consumer class bloomed. Officially established in 2011, the national lottery provider, Vietlott, came about right when Vietnam was on the precipice of a mighty economic boom. Indeed, though gambling in Vietnam is common, legal gambling for Vietnamese citizens has for a long time been limited to the lottery. It’s not a huge income, but it’s income nonetheless and it’s legal. Tickets are sold for around VND 10,000 a piece with the lottery vendor pocketing about VND 1,000 and the rest being returned to their distributor. On a good day, individual lottery ticket vendors in Vietnam can reportedly make VND 300,000 (US$12.67) selling tickets on the streets of Vietnam’s cities and towns. Here’s what foreign firms should know about legalized gambling in Vietnam and what to watch moving forward. Gambling has been illegal in Vietnam for the bulk of its modern history.

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