Having a secret flutter?

Gambling is illegal in Mainland China. So, of course, there's no money on the table in New York Deli in Shenzhen. Maybe, just maybe, there's money involved as the man on the right with his back to the camera was carefully keeping score in a small notepad.

There's an article about China's secret gambling problem in the Telegraph. But here in Shenzhen Macau the gambling capital of the world is just an hour's ferry ride away and it's the only place in China where gambling is legal.

A few months ago a Chinese colleague was telling me how he went to Macau with the equivalent of £20.000 in his pocket made an extra £10,000 and yes, you guessed it, lost the lot. He said it was extremely exciting and he almost cried when he lost. He's undaunted, the crazy guy is saving up for another trip to Macau later in the year.

The largest amount of hard cash I've ever seen in my life was passing through Shenzhen immigration after a trip to Macau. The unshaven late middle-aged man in front of me looking rather disheveled was carrying a sturdy cardboard box about the size of a small suitcase. Of course, the immigration officials made him put the box on the counter and asked to untie the string that was holding it together. As the cover came off me along with the immigration officials gasped. The box was absolutely bulging with Macau dollars. He and his money box were escorted into a side room me I got my passport stamped and headed home.

I may go to Macau later this year again not to gamble but to watch the Manny Pacquuai fight Brandon Rios. Never been to a boxing match before; this one's set for November 24.