Gambling in Singapore

The gambling scene

Singapore keeps gambling on a short leash, but what exists is substantial. The legal forms are casino gambling at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, betting with Singapore Pools on 4D, TOTO, Singapore Sweep, football and horseracing, jackpot gambling in private clubs, and social gambling at home among family and friends¹.

Singapore Pools is the only legal lottery and sports betting operator in the country⁷. It is a company owned by the government, and with every dollar spent there, approximately 70% goes back out as prizes³. Its products, sold at outlets across the island and online through a Singapore Pools Account, include³:

• a 6 out of 49 lotto game
• a 4-digit lottery
• a 7-digit sweepstakes game
• football and motor racing betting
• horse racing betting

The two casinos sit inside huge integrated resorts that also hold hotels, shopping, dining and shows, so a casino visit in Singapore is usually part of a bigger night out. They are open 24/7⁸.

For the background of how this system came to be, read History of Gambling in Singapore, and for the rules in detail, Gambling Rules and Penalties in Singapore.

Casinos and resorts

The law allows exactly two casinos in Singapore, and both are inside integrated resorts: Marina Bay Sands on the waterfront downtown, and Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa island². Both are open 24/7⁸.

The big difference is who pays to get in. Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay an entry levy of S$150 for every consecutive 24-hour period, or S$3,000 for a valid annual membership of the casino⁴. Foreigners enter free, showing their original passport at the door. The levy is a deliberate deterrent: it was set high when the resorts opened to keep casual local visits down.

Inside, the games are what you would expect from large Asian casino floors: table games, slots and electronic versions of table games. Winnings on approved casino gambling are paid to a patron only in casino chips, unless the approved rules provide otherwise, and chips can be used for casino gambling or for tipping casino staff⁹. There are no ATMs inside the casino premises, so you need to sort out your money before you walk in¹⁰.

For more detail, see Casinos in Singapore, Singapore's Casino Entry Levy, and Casino Games in Singapore. The two resorts each have their own guide: Marina Bay Sands Casino and Resorts World Sentosa Casino.

A separate, quieter world is the jackpot machine rooms in private clubs, which are also legal¹. These are members' clubs, such as the SAFRA clubs and the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club, with rooms of slot-style jackpot machines. See Jackpot Machine Rooms in Singapore, plus the venue guides for SAFRA jackpot rooms and the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club Jackpot Room.

The lottery

Singapore Pools runs three lottery games, all sold at outlets and, with an account, online.

TOTO is a 6 out of 49 lotto game with draws on Monday and Thursday. Online you can place Self Pick bets for Ordinary, System Entry and System Roll for the current draw, or Quick Pick bets by bet type or bet amount¹¹. See TOTO.

4D is a 4-digit game. You pick a four-digit number and choose a bet type: Ordinary, System Bet, iBet or 4D Roll¹³. Draws are conducted on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday¹¹. Each draw produces 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prizes plus Starter Prizes and Consolation Prizes, so there are many winning numbers beyond the top three¹³. See 4D.

Singapore Sweep is a 7-digit sweepstakes game. Each ticket costs S$3, inclusive of GST, and carries a number between 1000000 and 4499999¹². You can select the last 4 digits of your number, with the first 3 randomly generated¹². The prize ladder is unusually deep:

A ticket can win more than one prize, and you are entitled to all of them¹². Tickets go on sale from the end of the previous draw until half an hour before the draw¹². See Singapore Sweep and the overview at The Singapore Lottery.

Sports betting and racing

Sports betting in Singapore means Singapore Pools. Football is the main product, with live betting on some events while they are in progress¹⁴. Odds are set by Singapore Pools and can change over time¹⁴. At outlets, stakes are in multiples of S$1; online, stakes can be any amount in whole dollars and cents¹⁴. Online, the minimum stake is S$1¹⁵. One rule worth knowing: players, officials and volunteers of clubs in the Singapore Premier League and Singapore Cup may not bet on those competitions, and football officials who could influence a match may not bet on it¹⁴.

Horse racing betting runs on a totalisator system, where winnings come out of the pool of stakes after deductions. Singapore Pools commingles its pools with overseas totalisators on overseas races, and its commission on Win, Place, Forecast, Place Forecast and Double betting is 18% where it receives pools from overseas partners¹⁶. Government tax and commission are deducted from each pool before winnings are calculated¹⁶. You can bet at betting centers, all branches and Livewire venues using bet slips, or online right up to the start of the race¹⁷. At betting centers, only cash is accepted¹⁸.

For detail, see Sports Betting in Singapore, Football Betting in Singapore, Horse Racing in Singapore, and the operator page on Singapore Pools retail betting.

Poker

Poker in Singapore is classified as a game of chance requiring strict licensing for commercial play, so live poker exists only inside the two integrated resorts, under the Casino Control Act⁸. Operating a commercial poker room outside the resorts is a serious offense under the Gambling Control Act⁸.

Home games are a different matter. A home poker game is legal provided it is spontaneous, conducted at a home, and no rake or house fee is taken by the host for private gain⁸. That matches the general social gambling exemption described below.

Online poker is illegal in Singapore. All forms of unlicensed online gambling, including online poker, are off limits⁸. The one exception to the online ban is the Singapore Poker Championship, which is held in international waters: its 20th edition ran March 6 to 8, 2026, on the MV Aegean Paradise cruise ship, departing from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal⁸.

Read more at Poker in Singapore and Online Poker in Singapore.

Local and traditional games

Social gambling among family and friends is permitted, but only within narrow conditions: it must take place in person, in an individual's home, among family members or people who know each other personally, be substantially spontaneous, and nobody may profit except by winning¹⁹. In plain terms, a home mahjong session or card night with people you actually know is fine; taking a cut as host is not.

Gambling in any public place is illegal, even among family and friends, and social gambling is not permitted on online platforms at all¹⁹. So the coffee-shop mahjong game is not legal, and neither is a friendly online card game with stakes.

For the local games themselves, see Ban Luck, the Chinese card game also known as blackjack's local cousin, and Traditional Card Games in Singapore. The full rules for home play are at Social Gambling and Home Mahjong in Singapore.

Online

The online picture is simple to state: the only legal online gambling in Singapore is through Singapore Pools. A Singapore Pools Account lets you place sports, lottery and horse racing bets and track your transactions online¹¹. Winnings are credited automatically into the account, and you can pull up records of your betting, deposits and payouts for up to 6 months⁶.

Opening an account requires being a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, or a foreigner with a valid FIN residing in Singapore, aged 21 or over²⁰. Registration is done through the official Singapore Pools website or mobile app, using an online form or SingPass MyInfo²⁰. Each person may hold only one account, which is personal and non-transferable²². Account holders may only place bets from Singapore; betting through foreign IP addresses is prohibited²².

Everything else online, from offshore casinos to poker sites, is illegal, and that applies to visitors and residents alike. See Online Gambling in Singapore, Online Betting Sites in Singapore, and The Singapore Pools Account.

Money and payments

At Singapore Pools branches, only cash and NETS are accepted⁵. Credit cards and credit facilities are not accepted for bet placements anywhere, retail or online, and betting on credit is not allowed at all⁶. Online accounts accept cash, NETS, eNETS and personal bank account debit transfers, and you can only use your own bank account, in your own name, for deposits⁵.

Prize claiming works on a tier. Prizes of S$5,000 or below can be collected in cash or by PayNow at any Singapore Pools outlet. Larger prizes go by PayNow at any outlet up to S$20,000, PayNow at head office up to S$200,000, or by check for prizes over S$5,000²⁴. Bring the winning ticket plus photo ID: NRIC for citizens and permanent residents, passport for foreigners, and the name on the ID must match your bank records²⁴. All Singapore Pools winnings are paid in Singapore dollars only⁷.

Winnings are not taxable. Money from 4D, Toto, football, Singapore Sweep, horse racing, fruit machines and casinos counts as a windfall, not income, and does not need to be declared in your Income Tax Return.

For more, see Gambling Payments in Singapore and Tax on Gambling Winnings in Singapore.

Who can play

The table below sums up who may take part, in person and online, for citizens, foreign residents and visitors.

The ages to remember: 18 for lottery tickets and betting at Singapore Pools outlets, including claiming prizes, and 21 for the casinos and for a Singapore Pools Account⁵. The general minimum age for gambling is 21, with Singapore Pools' physical outlets the exception at 18²⁵. It is a criminal offense for under-aged individuals to gamble, whether with legal or unlawful operators²⁵.

Visiting and living there

For a visitor, the practical entry point is the passport. Walk up to either casino, show your original passport, and you are in, with no levy and no membership. Locals queue differently, paying the levy or holding an annual membership. The full visitor walkthrough, including what to expect at the door, is at Gambling in Singapore as a Visitor.

If you live in Singapore, the Singapore Pools Account is the everyday tool: register once with SingPass MyInfo, deposit from your own bank account, and bet on sports, lottery and racing from your phone, with winnings credited automatically²⁰. Login requires a one-time password sent to your mobile phone⁵.

Singaporeans who travel to gamble abroad, on cruise ships or in nearby countries such as Malaysia, can read about that at Gambling Trips Abroad From Singapore.

Getting help

Singapore takes problem gambling seriously, and the support system is well developed. The National Problem Gambling Helpline is 1800-6-668-668, and the National Council on Problem Gambling can be reached at 6354 8154²⁶.

Exclusion is the main tool. You can apply to exclude yourself from the casinos, or from online betting and jackpot machine rooms, and family members can apply for an exclusion on behalf of a relative. Applications are free and can be made online with SingPass at the NCPG portal, or in person at 510 Thomson Road #05-01, SLF Building, Singapore 298135²⁷. Excluded individuals are not permitted to gamble or enter gambling areas across all platforms where NCPG exclusions apply, including fruit machine rooms and Singapore Pools' online gambling²⁵. You can also apply for a voluntary visit limit, capping how often you enter the casinos²⁸.

Casino operators themselves can issue exclusion orders, and so can the Authority and the Commissioner of Police²⁸. Family members of problem gamblers can ask casino staff to refuse entry to a relative²⁹.

The detail is at Casino Exclusion and Visit Limits in Singapore and Gambling Help in Singapore.