Dec 9 - 15, 2003
KAMPALA - Quick Pick International Sports Betting opened its doors to Kampala punters in late November, becoming Uganda's first betting shop.
Kampala City Council licensed Quick Pick, which also operates in South Africa.
In the past two weeks, owner John Jenkins has had some 600 customers through his doors in Kabalagala.
Jenkins plans to open two more betting shops, one in Makerere University and the other in Old Taxi Park in February 2004. Altogether he plans to open up to 40 shops in and around Kampala.
Owner John Jenkins has spent thirty years in the sports betting business in Europe. Jenkins's company Quick Pick owns more than 500 betting shops in Europe, where people gamble on the outcome of boxing matches, horse races, football and rugby.
Currently, people can gamble on the results of international football matches. Soon, they will be able to gamble on the results of beauty contests and boxing matches.
Jenkin's investment has been high, in the expectation of high returns. He spent more than $30,000 on buying the plot and three decoders. He has also bought three TV screens, which cost him $4,500. Three matches are broadcast at any one time. Customers pay entrance and betting fees.
The minimum bet is Shs 1,000. So far, he has had two big winners. One gambled Shs 80,000 and won Shs 800,000. A second won Shs 600,000.
A gambler bets a certain amount of money that a team will win - the betting shop calculates the 'odds' depending on the likelihood of that team winning.
The greater the chance the team has of winning, the lower the multiple. The greater the chance the team has of losing, the higher the multiple.
The profits from gambling can be high - for the betting shop owner. During the World Cup of 1998, he earned $7 million a week in England.
The most a gambler ever won from his company was 720,000 pounds. Joel Muganga, a shopkeeper in Bunga, won Shs 200,000 at Quick Pick. He used the money to restock his shop and said he plans to gamble again. Jenkins' interest in gambling has been life long.
He says his interest grew because when he was still young, he had many English friends who were gamblers.
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bwanika
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