Gambling in Singapore for Tourists

Singapore is one of the easiest places in Asia for a visitor to gamble, and one of the strictest for its own residents. The two famous casinos, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, welcome foreign passport holders free of charge, while Singapore citizens and permanent residents pay a daily levy to walk through the same doors. Everything else, from lottery tickets to online betting, is run through a single government-linked operator and is aimed at people who actually live in Singapore. This page covers what a visitor, expat, or new resident can realistically do, what it costs, and what is off limits.

Where visitors can gamble legally in Singapore

Singapore keeps gambling on a short leash. The legalized forms are casino gambling at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, betting and lottery through Singapore Pools, jackpot machine rooms at private clubs, and social gambling at home¹. Everything else is prohibited unless it is exempted or licensed⁷. For a visitor, the practical list is short:

• Casinos. Two large casino floors inside integrated resorts, both open to foreigners with a passport, plus one foreigner-exclusive casino, Golden Gate¹.
• Singapore Pools outlets. The only legal lottery and sports betting operator in the country⁹. Walk-in betting at branches is tied to having an account, which most short-term visitors cannot get (more below).
• Jackpot rooms at private clubs. Legal, but tied to club membership, so not something a tourist stumbles into¹.
• Home games. Poker or mahjong for money is legal only inside a private home, among family or personal acquaintances⁵.

What is not on the list: online casinos. Most remote gambling sites that market to Singapore users are not authorized there, and Singapore Pools is the only operator licensed to provide remote gambling services¹⁰. If you are used to playing on international sites from elsewhere in Asia, assume they are off the table while you are in Singapore.

Gambling in any public place is illegal, even among family and friends⁵. That includes hotel lobbies, bars, and, as covered below, hotel rooms.

Casino entry levy: free entry for foreigners with a passport

The entry levy is the single most important thing for a visitor to understand about Singapore casinos, because it works in your favor. The Casino Control Act requires the casino operator to stop any Singapore citizen or permanent resident from entering unless they have paid the levy². Foreign visitors are simply not part of that scheme: you show your passport at the entrance, staff confirm you are not a citizen or permanent resident, and you walk in free of charge³.

The levy rates, for the record, apply only to Singaporeans and permanent residents:

The daily levy buys one consecutive 24-hour period, not a calendar day, so a local who enters at 9 p.m. is covered until 9 p.m. the next evening². Foreigners pay neither amount. The practical takeaway: carry your passport. Without it, staff cannot verify your status, and you will not get through the door. A foreign resident living in Singapore on a work pass still enters free, because the levy is tied to citizenship and permanent residency, not to where you live.

You can read more about how the levy works on our page on Singapore's casino entry levy.

Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa: what to expect

Singapore's two casinos sit inside two of the country's biggest attractions, and both were built as integrated resorts, with the casino as one part of a much larger complex¹.

Marina Bay Sands sits in the downtown core, attached to the famous three-tower hotel with the rooftop skypark, a large shopping mall, and a convention center. The casino floor is one of the biggest in Asia, running table games and machines around the clock. Foreign visitors enter through the dedicated entrance by showing a passport. We cover the full details, including games and getting there, on our Marina Bay Sands Casino page.

Resorts World Sentosa is on Sentosa island, next to Universal Studios Singapore, the S.E.A. Aquarium, and a stretch of hotels and beaches. Like Marina Bay Sands, it runs a large casino floor with table games and machines, and foreigners enter free with a passport. See our Resorts World Sentosa Casino page for what is on the floor and how to get there.

A few things work the same way at both:

• Entry. Passport in hand, every visit. Foreigners enter free; locals pay the levy described above³.
• Age. You must be 21 or over to enter and gamble; minors are barred from casino premises⁶.
• Exclusions. Both casinos honor exclusion and visit-limit orders, which can bar an individual from one or both properties¹³. Family members of problem gamblers can also ask casino staff to refuse entry to someone¹⁵.
• Dress. Smart casual is the norm at both; beachwear from Sentosa will get you turned away at the door.

If you want a broader picture of the two properties and how they compare, see casinos in Singapore, and for what is actually on the floors, casino games in Singapore.

Is there a foreigner-only casino in Singapore?

Yes. Golden Gate Casino is a foreigner-exclusive venue, set up precisely because the levy system pushes locals away and the country wants to keep tourist gambling contained⁸. It exists in the same regulatory space as the two big resorts: casinos are excluded from the general definition of gambling venues under the Gambling Control Act, which is what allows a dedicated foreigner-only property to operate¹².

For a visitor, Golden Gate works much like the other two: passport at the door, free entry, 21 and over. It is a smaller, more focused option than the integrated resorts, and worth knowing about if you want a casino experience without the resort crowds. The two big names get the attention, but this is the one venue in Singapore built specifically for people like you.

Betting with Singapore Pools: who can open an account

Singapore Pools is the only legal lottery and sports betting operator in the country⁹, and it is also the only operator licensed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority to provide remote gambling services¹⁰. Its products cover TOTO, 4D, Singapore Sweep, sports betting, and horse racing, and an account lets you place sports, lottery, and horse racing bets online and track your transactions¹⁶.

Here is the catch for visitors: to bet online you need a Singapore Pools Account, and eligibility is narrow. You must be⁴:

• a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, or
• a foreigner residing in Singapore with a valid Foreign Identification Number (FIN).

Short-term tourists do not qualify, full stop. If you are an expat living in Singapore on an employment pass or similar, you will have a FIN, and you can sign up. During registration you must provide your Singapore address and Singapore phone number, and you can verify your identity through SingPass Myinfo, an online video call, or by bringing your identity document or official document containing your FIN to a Singapore Pools branch¹⁹. The minimum age is the same one the casinos apply, covered earlier on this page.

A few rules worth knowing once you have an account:

• One account per person. You are allowed only one account²¹.
• Limits. You set a monthly deposit limit and a monthly betting limit when you apply. You can change them later: increases take effect after 24 hours, reductions immediately²¹.
• Location. Account holders may only place bets from within Singapore; betting through foreign IP addresses is prohibited²¹.
• No credit. Betting on credit is strictly prohibited, including credit cards²³.
• Exclusions. Bankrupt individuals and people under a casino exclusion order cannot open an account²³.

If you are a resident and want the full walkthrough, see our page on the Singapore Pools account. For the games themselves, start with TOTO, 4D, and sports betting in Singapore.

One thing that applies to everyone with an account: you may hold only one Singapore Pools account, and you can only place bets from within Singapore, not through foreign IP addresses¹⁹. When you apply, you set a monthly deposit limit and a monthly betting limit yourself, and you can change them later through the website or mobile app, with increases taking effect after 24 hours and reductions immediately¹⁹.

Social gambling: allowed only in private homes

Social gambling is legal in Singapore, but the definition is tight. Under the Gambling Control Act, it is not unlawful only if it takes place in a home in Singapore, among family members or personal acquaintances, is substantially spontaneous, is not run for the private gain of a non-participant or in the course of a business, and nobody profits except by winning⁵. In plain terms:

• Who: family members, or people who know each other personally. Strangers pulled into a game do not count⁵.
• Where: in person, inside someone's home. Not a hotel room, not a rented function space, not a club⁵.
• How: no rake, no commission, no entry fee, no organizer taking a cut. Everyone's only possible gain is winning⁵.

This is where visitors most often trip up. A poker night in your hotel room is not social gambling under the law, because a hotel room is not an individual's home, and gambling in any public place is illegal even among friends⁵. If you are invited to a home game by people you know, you are on solid ground; if someone offers to organize a game for you and your travel group for a fee, that is a business, and it is not covered.

For more detail, see social gambling and home mahjong in Singapore.

Resident or visitor: which rules apply to you

The clean way to think about Singapore's rules is that they sort people into three buckets, and your bucket decides what is open to you.

Short-term visitors (tourists, business travelers). The casinos are your territory: free entry with a passport at Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World Sentosa, and Golden Gate, 21 and over³. Singapore Pools online betting is closed to you, since you have no FIN and no Singapore address⁴. Home games are closed in practice, since you are unlikely to be in someone's private home among personal acquaintances, and your hotel room does not qualify⁵.

Foreign residents (expats on employment passes and similar). You get the best of both: free casino entry with your passport, since the levy applies only to citizens and permanent residents³, and eligibility for a Singapore Pools account using your FIN, Singapore address, and Singapore phone number⁴. You can also join home games among friends, on the same conditions as anyone else⁵.

Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The casinos cost you the levy, S$150 per 24 hours or S$3,000 per year². You face additional restrictions that do not apply to foreigners: restrictions on using credit cards, promissory notes, and borrowing from casinos, and local media cannot carry gambling advertising¹⁵. Singapore Pools accounts are open to you as a matter of course⁴.

One rule that applies to everyone regardless of nationality: an underage individual must not engage in gambling in or from Singapore, though that provision does not extend to gambling within a casino or to social gambling, which have their own age rules⁶. For the casinos, the age line is 21⁶.

What is not open to short-term visitors

To sum up the closed doors for tourists and short-term visitors:

• Singapore Pools online betting. Requires an account, and accounts require citizenship, permanent residency, or a FIN with a Singapore address and phone number⁴. No tourist route in.
• Online casinos and offshore betting sites. Most remote online casinos marketing to Singapore users are not authorized there, and Singapore Pools is the only licensed remote gambling operator¹⁰. Playing on an international site from Singapore puts you outside the licensed system. Scam alerts in Singapore also flag unlicensed online gambling sites as a recurring fraud channel, so a site promising easy casino play to tourists is a red flag on two counts²⁶.
• Jackpot rooms at private clubs. Legal, but membership-based, so effectively closed to visitors¹.
• Hotel-room and public-place games. Illegal, because social gambling is legal only in a private home⁵.
• Anything below the casino age. Minors cannot enter casino premises, and Singapore Pools does not accept bets or pay prizes to anyone underage⁶.

If you are staying longer and moving from visitor to resident, the picture changes quickly: get your FIN sorted and the Singapore Pools world opens up. Until then, the casinos, entered free with your passport, are what Singapore offers you, and they are genuinely among the best-equipped in Asia.