Legislation passed in 2014 provided a much needed update and clarification of the gambling laws of Singapore. Unfortunately, the Remote Gambling Act of 2014 banned online betting in Singapore to the point where it is a crime to even play online at overseas betting sites.
The legal gambling age in Singapore is 21. Yet many offshore casinos accept players as young as 18. If you are underage, you can still enjoy free games at many gaming sites. It's worth noting that betting sites are required to verify your age. Online casinos are not legal in Singapore. The Remote Gambling Act of 2004 prohibits any form of online casino gaming. However, players can still access online casino games and other services from offshore online casinos. In order to meet the needs of gambling enthusiasts, online casino Singapore has appeared and developed rapidly with many online games like land - based casinos. With the tremendous growth of the Internet, more and more people are able to join online casinos.
The most recent gaming laws in the country represent a drastic attempt to crackdown on offshore gaming. It is now an offense for residents to bet on sports, play casino games or participate in online poker at any Singaporean betting site. The 2014 Act also includes provisions that allow the government to block access to gaming websites and deposits to gaming operators.
Now, the closest thing Singapore has to legal online gambling is a single government owned website called Singapore Pools. The website does not offer actual online gambling, but it does allow customers to sign up for accounts, place bets by phone, track transactions online and receive payments to the online account.
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Please note that there ARE criminal laws in place that ban individual gamblers from signing up and playing at Singaporean betting sites. Despite the prohibition, there are dozens of gaming sites to choose from for online sports betting, poker and casino games. I do not recommend playing online at this time, but I will provide an overview of what it’s like strictly for information purposes.
If you feel the legal risk is worth it, I strongly urge you to stick with the biggest names in online betting. There’s no need to play at small, unknown sites with questionable backgrounds when there are dozens of established operators who have proven over the long term that they know how to put on a safe and fair game. These sites tend to be based out of European countries where online gambling is legal, licensed and regulated.
In addition to questionable legality, the other downside to playing online from Singapore is dealing with currency exchanges. Since there are no legal Singapore online casinos, every site based out of elsewhere deals in different currencies. You can still deposit in Singapore dollars but you can’t actually play the games using SGD. All deposits are converted into the USD, EUR or GBP at some point.
If you play at a site that does accept SGD deposits, you can fund your account with credit cards, direct bank transfers and e-wallets such as Neteller, Skrill and Click2Pay. If you play at a site that does not accept SGD, you can use an e-wallet to convert your money before depositing. Currency exchange fees are annoying, but it’s better than paying 100 SGD just to walk in the door of any land-based casino in Singapore.
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Gambling Law in Singapore
The gambling laws of Singapore are badly outdated and apply to brick-and-mortar gambling only. The only pieces of legislation to come out in recent years include a 2006 law that allowed for the construction of two major casinos and another regulating lotteries.
Five pieces of legislation regulate all gambling in Singapore. These are:
- Remote Gambling Act 2014 (summary)
- The Betting Act of 1960 (full text)
- Common Gaming Houses Act of 1961 (full text)
- Private Lotteries Act of 2011 (full text)
- Betting and Sweepstakes Duties Act of 1948 (full text)
- Casino Control Act of 2006 (full text)
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These bills comprise the totality of gambling legislation in Singapore. Only one of these address online gaming specifically and none provide a licensing mechanism by which gambling sites could ever open on Singapore territory. That leaves us with the current situation in which it is illegal to operate a gaming site inside Singapore or visit one as a customer.
The Casino Control Act of 2006 represents a major missed opportunity by Singapore officials. The Act set up a licensing mechanism for brick-and-mortar casinos but made no mention of the internet even though online gaming was widespread by 2006.
The Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA) was created by the same act. Its primary function is to monitor Singapore casinos to ensure they remain fair, free from criminal influence and do not exploit the vulnerable. Its secondary function is to issue licenses to land-based casinos. So far, it has issued two licenses: one to Marina Bay Sands near Marina Bay and one to Resorts World at Sentosa on Sentosa island.
As a part of the licensing agreement, these casinos are required to tailor their products to tourists and not encourage locals to play. Both casinos are required to allow foreigners in for free but charge $100 per day to Singapore residents. In 2012, each casino was fined $385,000 for letting citizens in for free, allowing citizens to stay too long and not properly preventing minors from entering.
Singapore also has a state-operated website that allows citizens to bet on certain sports. Singapore Pools provides both online and in-person betting on football and auto racing. It is fairly limited in what it offers but remains popular nonetheless. Singaporeans interested in betting on other sports should look to offshore betting sites.
One other option for wagering is the Singapore Turf Club. This organization was formed in 1842 and acts as the only legal form of horse racing and betting in the country. Citizens can place horse wagers with the Turf Club in person, over the phone and via mobile smartphone apps.
In 2013, Singapore announced that it was preparing legislation to crack down on internet gambling. The CRA noted previously that online gambling was more addictive than land-based betting and found it to be a danger for citizens. The proposed legislation would include web censorship of gambling sites, new regulations requiring the banking industry to block transactions to offshore betting websites and additional restrictions on advertising.
The proposed legislation was passed in 2014 and Singapore’s government continues to discourage citizens from gambling to this day. The anti-gambling campaign was embarrassed in 2014 after running a barrage of ads which depicted a sad-looking boy saying he hoped Germany would win because his dad had bet his life savings on the Germans. When Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 and went on to win the tournament, Singaporeans had a field day mocking the ads.
At the time of this writing, internet gaming is still a bit of a murky subject in Singapore. Gaming laws clearly state that it is an offense, but there seem to be few legal mechanisms in place to enforce the law. Even so, the risk is real and I would recommend Singaporeans be very careful if you decide to play online today.
Last Updated: October 12, 2014 – Singapore Parliament issued a ban for online gambling in citing protectionism of their youth in this “Remote Gambling Bill”. The bill has now passed and is requiring ISP blocks to betting sites. It is now considered illegal to play casino/poker/sports style betting on the internet with a S$5,000 fine and/or up to 6 months in jail. The following text below was prior to this Act, online gambling is now illegal aside from certain lotteries.
Before Gambling Became Illegal
Singapore is a gambling friendly country although it offers limited legal gambling options. The country’s gambling laws, being old and outdated, do not apply to online gambling and gambling experts say that the country has to legalize and regulate online gambling to protect vulnerable people such as gambling addicts, underage players, and problem gamblers, to discourage criminal activities, and to create a safe and fair gambling environment for its citizens. So far, Singapore has not created such laws.
Legal Gambling in Singapore
The lack of effective gambling laws in Singapore does not mean that its citizens are deprived of the pleasures of gambling in a licensed and well-regulated environment. Those fond of betting on sports events can avail of the services of Singapore Pools, a bookie service operated by the government. Singapore Pools accepts bets on national as well as international sports events either online or through telephone or mobile devices.
The Singapore Turf Club, which was launched as the Singapore Sporting Club in 1842, is another exciting option for sports bettors as it accepts bets on a wide range of international and national horse racing events.
Singapore also has a couple of licensed casinos, which offer a wide range of casino games, including poker.
Gambling Laws
Singapore has two important gambling laws — the Common Gaming Houses Act and the Betting Act. Both make it illegal for private companies and individuals to operate online as well as land-based bookie businesses within the country. According to these laws, the only legal way to bet on sports and horse racing events is to do so at either The Turf Club or The Singapore Pools.
The Betting Act was enacted in 1960 to curb illegal bookie businesses and to make the act of sports betting in public places illegal. The Common Gaming Houses Act was passed in 1961 with the same objective. Seven years later, the government created a monopoly called The Singapore Pools, which began offering lottery games, sweepstakes, and Toto. In 1999 and 2008, the government began permitting betting on football matches and Formula One racing events, respectively.
Casinos in Singapore
Casinos were legalized in Singapore only in 2006. Before that, Singapore had a small government-owned casino in Changi International Airport, which was launched to generate revenue from foreign tourists who had to pass through the airport.
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In 2006, Singapore enacted its Casino Control Act, which permitted the establishment of two full-fledged brick-and-mortar casinos in the country. These casinos, called the Resorts World and the Marina Bay Sands, are regulated by the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore.
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Online Sports Betting
Though legalized, online sports betting is heavily restricted in Singapore, as a result of which the country’s only legal online sportsbook is The Singapore Pools. Interestingly, there is nothing to stop citizens of Singapore from registering at offshore online bookies such as Bet365, William Hill, and Ladbrokes.
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The two major gambling laws of Singapore, the Common Gaming Houses Act and the Betting Act, were enacted long before the days of the Internet. They, therefore, do not apply to any form of online or mobile gaming. There is no statement in Singapore’s law books, which specifically says that it is illegal for residents to bet on sports events at offshore online sportsbooks. This leaves citizens free to use the services of offshore online bookies.