Land-Based Casinos in Singapore
The construction, arrangement, organisation of the first casinos in Singapore took five years. Two prestigious institutions immediately opened in 2010: Casino Resorts World Sentosa - the largest gambling and entertainment complex of the country is built on the island of Sentosa. The gaming floor covers 15,000 square metres, the maximum area a casino is allowed to use in Singapore, and holds hundreds of gaming tables and thousands of slot machines. Guests are offered to book comfortable hotel rooms, visit water parks, an amusement park and a museum. Marina Bay Sands built on the coast of Marina Bay opened in a few months. The hotel-casino belongs to the company Las Vegas Sands. The famous architect Moshe Safdie worked on the design of the casino. The complex consists of three high-rise towers. There is a huge infinity pool, a park, a viewing platform, a museum at an altitude of about 200 meters. Over 600 tables and more than 1,500 slot machines are installed directly in the casino. It has several VIP halls for high rollers. In addition, guests can find hotel, restaurants, cinemas, bowling and other entertainment options on the territory of the complex Both casinos in Singapore are world famous and included in the TOP of the most expensive and prestigious casinos in the world. Currently, they occupy top spots in the ranking of the most expensive casinos in the world. Every year, a few million guests come here - fans of gambling. According to statistics, the opening of casinos increased the tourist flow by almost 30% and, accordingly, significantly increased the income to the budget. Both licences have been renewed since: the GRA renewed the licence of Resorts World Sentosa for two years from February 2025 (a shorter term than usual, because its performance as a tourism asset was found unsatisfactory) and the licence of Marina Bay Sands for the maximum three years from April 2025. In 2025 the two casinos together took in roughly 5.5 billion USD in gaming revenue, about a quarter more than a year earlier, with Marina Bay Sands accounting for most of the growth. Both resorts are being enlarged: Genting Singapore broke ground in November 2024 on the 5 billion USD Resorts World Sentosa expansion, and Las Vegas Sands started building a fourth Marina Bay Sands tower with a second gaming area and a 15,000-seat arena in July 2025, with completion planned for 2030-2031.
Gambling Legislation
Gambling in Singapore was legalised in 1823. At that time, the city was a colony of Britain, a country that allows participation in gambling. However, the permit did not last long. Only three years later, almost all types of gambling have been banned. The exception was the government lottery of Singapore Pools. This situation continued for several decades. The economic crisis that erupted in the country at the beginning of the 2000s forced the government to reconsider its opinion on this issue. The new act on gambling was introduced in early 2005. The process of consideration and adoption of the bill was accompanied by bitter discussions and disputes. Representatives of various religious cultures and employees of social organisations opposed the legalisation of gambling in Singapore. They noted the likelihood of the negative impact of gambling on the social environment, in particular, the possibility of increase in crime. The government pointed to the prospects for the growth of the tourism industry and, as a result, the possible increase in financial revenues to the budget. In 2006, a final decision to partially legalise gambling was made. The legislative framework was developed specifically for the creation of two large resort hotel-casinos. Provisions of the law define the licensing system, organise departments whose tasks include monitoring and regulating the activities of gambling institutions, determine restrictions and prohibitions.
Despite the success of the industry, gambling in Singapore is regulated very tightly and with all possible restrictions. Having opened access to gambling in the country for foreign tourists, the government tried to protect its own citizens from it. Until 2022 gambling was governed by four separate laws on gambling houses, private lotteries, betting and remote gambling. On 1 August 2022 the Gambling Control Act 2022 replaced them all - the Common Gaming Houses Act, the Betting Act, the Private Lotteries Act and the Remote Gambling Act 2014 - while the casinos of the two integrated resorts stayed under the Casino Control Act. In general, the provisions of these acts rather prohibit the organisation of gambling business and participation in gambling. But they have a reservation. Gambling can be allowed by a licence, by a class licence or by an exemption granted under the act. The legislation of Singapore has an interesting provision: apart from a licence, an operator may be granted the so-called "exemption from the law". The same reform legalised social gambling at home among family and friends, which had formally been an offence before.
Gambling Licenses
The terms of licensing are quite complicated. One of the clearest requirements set by the Casino Control Act is the exact limit for the number of issued licenses - up to two. And both have already been received by the mentioned institutions Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at Sentosa. Their exclusive right to run the only two casinos in the country was extended until the end of 2030 by the Gambling Duties Act 2022, so no new casinos are to be expected in Singapore before then. On the other hand, the Private Lotteries Act declares that the issues of issuing permits are considered individually in every specific case. The GRA - the regulator of the gambling business in Singapore, reconstituted in 2022 from the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) - can issue licenses if the applicants and their assistants are recognised as eligible. A potential operator is chosen with a great deal of attention. Regulators evaluate applicants on a number of criteria:
- Whether the applicant and his assistants have a worthy reputation
- Whether the operator and his partners have sufficient financial resources
- How "transparent" are the sources of the funds
- How successful the applicant is in the business sphere, whether he is capable of supporting the life of the casino
- With whom the potential organiser of the gambling business cooperates
- How worthy is the reputation of the applicant's partners
Any questions concerning the financial, professional and personal situation of the applicant can be considered. The entire process is accompanied by the provision of a package of documents confirming the credibility of the information provided. The board of the GRA considers the issues mentioned before collectively. A team of specialists includes three or more representatives of the department appointed by the minister. A clear procedure for applying for exemption from the law is also unavailable. The relevant application must be sent to the official responsible for issuing permits. The format of the documents, as well as the duration of the license, are determined by the responsible officer of the department. A casino licence is granted for up to three years at a time and is reviewed before each renewal.
Limitations on visiting a casino
Legislation clearly prescribes bans and restrictions on gambling:
- Citizens under 21 years are prohibited to visit casinos
- Foreigners can visit casinos for free; Singaporean citizens and permanent residents are required to pay an entry levy - SGD 150 for 24 hours or SGD 3,000 for an annual pass, the rates in force since April 2019
- People with low incomes or bad credit history are not allowed to visit casinos
- The restriction on playing in a casino can be imposed upon the application of the family members of the player. A specific limit of visits per month is allowed
- Players can independently write a statement on banning their participation in gambling. It is impossible to withdraw an application earlier than the deadline specified in the document
In addition, casinos are prohibited to build advertising campaigns aimed at attracting customers. The casino security service undertakes to closely monitor the conformity of visitors to the current requirements. Operators must report any suspicions of law violations. Failure to comply with requirements entails very substantial penalties.
Regulators
Several agencies fulfil obligations for observing the provisions of laws on gambling:
- GRA (Gambling Regulatory Authority) - since 1 August 2022 the single regulator for every kind of gambling, formed from the Casino Regulatory Authority and the gambling unit of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It issues licences and regulates casinos, lotteries, betting and online gambling
- Singapore Tote Board - an organisation that controls the activities of the main betting operator, Singapore Pools. The Singapore Turf Club, the other operator it supervised, held its last race meeting in October 2024 and horse racing in Singapore has ended
- Ministry of Social and Family Development, National Council on Problem Gambling. These offices are engaged in activities in the sphere of minimising potential problems caused by gambling
- MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs), MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) and IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority, the successor of the MDA) - these services deal with remote gambling and with the blocking of websites and payments, on orders issued by the GRA
According to the government, the division of responsibilities between several agencies allows achieving maximum efficiency in regulating gambling business.
Online gambling in Singapore
The situation with online gambling in the country is much more complicated. Officially, all kinds of remote gambling are banned. The first attempts to legalise online gambling were undertaken by operators in 2013. However, the government absolutely refused to adopt the corresponding law. The authorities tried to take the most effective measures to block access to online games including making bets from mobile devices. Among other things, regulators block gambling websites and prohibit payments. According to the leaders of the country, online gambling can serve as a good way of laundering money obtained as a result of illegal activities. In addition, banning access to online casinos prevents ludomania (Gambling Addiction). Another attempt to legalise online gambling was made in 2015. It ended in the same way: the Remote Gambling Act 2014 came into force in February 2015 and banned remote gambling outright, allowing only exempt operators. The Singapore government insists on banning gambling. However, in 2016, two companies still managed to obtain permits to conduct online activities. The licensees were well-known local operators: Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club. The permit was obtained according to the above mentioned "exemption from the law". However, both operators specialise exclusively in arranging lotteries and accepting bets. The possibility of playing table games and online slots on the websites of companies is not currently considered. In addition, companies undertake to comply with the numerous above-mentioned requirements:
- Serve players no younger than 21 years online (18 years in the physical betting outlets)
- Carefully check the information provided, mandatory verification of accounts
- Refuse to play on credit
- Set daily spending limits
- Refuse to conduct advertising campaigns
- Report any suspicious transactions and changes in behaviour to account holders
- Fulfil a number of other requirements
Operators received their permits for a period of 3 years and they have been extended since. Since 1 August 2022 they work under the Gambling Control Act, and Singapore Pools is now the only operator allowed to offer gambling online in Singapore - lottery draws, sports betting and betting on overseas horse races, which it kept after racing in Singapore ended in October 2024. Online casino games, slots and live table games remain illegal, whoever offers them. However, de facto Singapore citizens have access to online casinos. As representatives of the government explain, tracking all foreign platforms and blocking access to a website are quite problematic. The gambling participation survey published by the National Council on Problem Gambling in 2024 found that 40% of residents aged 18 and over had gambled in the previous year, down from 52% in 2017, while the share of probable pathological and problem gamblers stayed at 1.1%. To date, many foreign online platforms still accept visitors from Singapore, but none of them holds a Singapore licence, so using them is against the law and the GRA has their sites and payments blocked. Players from Singapore who visit NeonSlots.com mostly open slots in free demo mode, and the titles they launch most often come from Pragmatic Play, JILI, Microgaming and Habanero - Super Ace, Aztec Gems, Koi Gate, Fortune Gems and Gates of Olympus among them.
Development of the Gambling Market in Singapore
It is difficult to say how promising the development of gambling business in Singapore is. On the one hand, casinos bring a very notable income to the state budget and this is an argument in favour of the development of the gambling industry. Forecasts that the government would refuse to extend the existing licences did not come true: both licences have been renewed several times, and in 2022 the exclusivity of the two resorts was extended to the end of 2030 in exchange for new investment. The state tightened the conditions instead. Entry levies for citizens and permanent residents were raised to SGD 150 a day and SGD 3,000 a year in 2019, and casino tax rates went up on 1 March 2022 - to 18% of gross gaming revenue from ordinary players (22% above SGD 3.1 billion) and 8% from premium players (12% above SGD 2.4 billion), with the rates frozen until 2032. Revenue recovered after the pandemic and reached a record in 2025, while the two operators committed billions of dollars to expansions due around 2030. The further development of the gambling business depends on how the authorities judge the resorts at each licence renewal, and there is still no sign that online casino games will be allowed.
