Where to Play in Asia

Welcome to ExpatBets. If you are living in Asia, working here, or just passing through, and you want to know what you can actually play, where, and what it costs, you are in the right place. We cover gambling across 12 countries, from the casino floors of Macau to a lottery ticket bought for 80 baht on a Bangkok street, and every fact we publish is sourced from regulators, operators and the press.

Where you can play, country by country

Asia is not one gambling market but many, and the rules change the moment you cross a border. In Macau you can walk into more than 30 resort casinos that stay open 24 hours a day, with baccarat as the main game on every floor. In Hong Kong there are no casinos at all, but the Hong Kong Jockey Club runs horse racing at Sha Tin and Happy Valley, football betting and the Mark Six lottery through branches across the city, and licensed mahjong parlors add a local game.

In Vietnam, nine resort casinos are open to foreign passport holders, and a nationwide Vietlott lottery offers jackpots starting from VND 12 billion. Vietnamese citizens can enter only pilot casinos, after income checks and an entry fee. Cambodia clusters its foreigners-only casinos in Phnom Penh, Poipet, Bavet and Sihanoukville, with everything from baccarat and poker to the lottery, plus payments and practical entry rules. South Korea has 17 casinos, a national lottery with weekly televised draws, state-run sports betting on soccer, basketball and baseball, and pari-mutuel betting on horse, cycle and motorboat racing.

Japan has no casinos open yet, but it has four public racing sports, a national lottery, thousands of pachinko parlors and a busy poker tournament scene. Singapore has two big casino resorts plus Singapore Pools, the state-run lottery and sports betting operator, jackpot machine rooms in private clubs, and home games among friends. Malaysia has one mountain casino at Genting Highlands, three licensed number-forecast lotteries and horse racing at three turf clubs. The Philippines offers casino resorts in Entertainment City, Clark and Cebu, the PCSO lottery from P25 a ticket, horse racing, sabong, bingo halls and licensed online gaming.

In India you can play on floating casinos on the Mandovi River in Goa, buy state lottery tickets with bumper prizes up to INR 3 crore, and watch horse racing at historic turf clubs, with card games like Teen Patti and rummy in the mix. China has two big state lotteries with tickets from CNY 2, a nationwide network of sports betting shops, a few licensed poker clubs and a deep culture of mahjong and card games. And Thailand runs a twice-monthly government lottery at 80 baht a ticket with a 6 million baht top prize, digital tickets on the Paotang app, horse race betting at state-licensed racecourses, and tournament poker, newly opened up in 2025.

The games themselves

Once you know where you are going, the next question is what is on the table. Our casinos in Asia section tours the region's land-based casinos and integrated resorts, from Macau to Manila, covering who can walk in, what games are on the floor, what it costs, and the rules inside. If you want to know how a specific game works, our casino table games rules and odds pages explain baccarat, blackjack, roulette, sic bo and craps in plain language, including the rules, the payouts, and the house edge on each bet.

Poker in Asia covers where you can sit down, how Texas Hold'em and its variants work, what live tournaments and tours run, and how deposits and withdrawals operate. Lotteries in Asia walks through the state and licensed lotteries of the region, including Japan's takarakuji and toto, Singapore's TOTO and 4D, Vietnam's Power 6/55 and the Thai government lottery, with prices, prizes, draw days and claiming rules. And slots in Asia explains how spins, paylines, RTP and jackpots actually work, from casino floors in Cambodia and the Philippines to Japan's pachislo parlors.

Some of the most interesting games in Asia are the ones you will not find in a Las Vegas rulebook. Our Asian gambling games section covers the games the region actually plays for money: pachinko halls in Japan, mahjong tables, fan-tan, teen patti and rummy in India, sabong in the Philippines, keno in Vietnam and Japan's racing sports, with how each works, what it costs and what it pays.

Betting on sport, horses and esports

Sports betting in Asia centers on state operators, and our sports betting in Asia section explains how each of them works: Hong Kong's HKJC on football and racing, Singapore Pools with a S$1 minimum online stake, Japan's WINNER at JPY 200 a ticket, and South Korea's Sports toto, capped at KRW 100,000 per program.

Horse racing betting in Asia covers the JRA's 10 racecourses in Japan, KRA racing in Seoul and Busan, Hong Kong's Sha Tin and Happy Valley, and Philippine racing, with the bet types, minimum stakes and race-day details you need for a first visit. Esports betting in Asia explains how real-money wagers on Dota 2, CS2, League of Legends and Mobile Legends work, with markets from match winner to first blood, and how the rules differ across the region. If the numbers themselves confuse you, our how betting odds work in Asia guide covers decimal prices, the stake times odds payout formula, pari-mutuel pools, keirin and boat race payout boards, and how bookmakers set a price from probability.

Money, law and staying safe

The practical side of gambling in Asia matters as much as the games. Our gambling payments in Asia section explains how to deposit and withdraw at casinos and betting sites across the region, covering cards, bank transfers, e-wallets and crypto, why payments get blocked, and what to do when a withdrawal is stuck. Gambling winnings tax in Asia lays out how prizes are taxed country by country, including China's 20% lottery tax, Japan's temporary income rules, India's 30% TDS, Vietnam's 10% prize tax, and where players pay nothing at all.

For the rules themselves, gambling laws in Asia gives an overview of where casinos are legal and for whom, which countries allow online play, what players risk where it is banned, entry levies, minimum ages and tax on winnings. Gambling regulators and licensing in Asia explains who licenses casinos, lotteries, betting and online gambling across the region, which offshore regulators license sites serving Asian players, and how to check any license before you play. And online gambling in Asia covers which countries license it, which ban it outright, how offshore sites are treated, and what the rules mean for residents and visitors.

We also publish 225 brand pages for online operators, casinos and lotteries, each with sourced risk labels so you can see at a glance what is known about an operator before you hand over money.

For expats and travelers

If you are living here rather than visiting, our gambling in Asia for expats section maps the whole picture for foreign workers and residents: 24-hour casinos in Macau, foreigners-only floors in Seoul, horse racing in Hong Kong, lotteries in Thailand, plus entry prices, stakes and where to get help if gambling becomes a problem. Planning a trip around it all? Our gambling trips in Asia guide covers where you can play, what ID and cash rules apply, and what to avoid, from Macau mega-casinos to foreigner-only gaming in Seoul and island casinos in Jeju.

Culture, news and help

Gambling in Asia is older and deeper than any casino resort. Our Asian gambling culture section covers Macau's round-the-clock floors, Hong Kong's Jockey Club betting, Japan's horse and boat racing, Philippine cockfighting and the region's lucky numbers and superstitions, and how locals and visitors are treated differently.

We also run a news section that follows developments across the region, from Thailand's newly opened tournament poker scene to Japan's long wait for its first casino. And because things go wrong, our gambling scams in Asia pages describe the scams that target gamblers, from fake casino sites and rigged games to refused withdrawals and job offers into scam compounds, plus how to check a site and where to report. If gambling stops being fun, our gambling help in Asia section lists helpline numbers, self-exclusion schemes, family exclusion orders and counseling services, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and explains what happens to your account when you exclude.

In two languages

Everything above is written in English, about 1,380 pages of it, and we publish a full Chinese edition alongside it. Whether you read in English or Chinese, the approach is the same: plain language, sourced facts, and the whole of Asia's gambling world in one place. Pick a country, pick a game, and start reading.