History of Gambling in Singapore

What there is

Gambling in Singapore today is a tightly held system with a long and surprising history behind it. The legalized forms are social gambling at home among family and friends, betting with Singapore Pools, casino gambling at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, and jackpot machine play in licensed private clubs¹⁰. Everything else is prohibited unless it is exempted or licensed¹¹.

The historical arc is striking. For almost 4 decades after independence-era restrictions took hold, Singapore refused to allow casinos, even as illegal betting flourished. The government's answer in 1968 was not crackdown alone but substitution: it created Singapore Pools, a state-owned operator, to give the public a legal, controlled outlet for lottery and sports betting³. Horse racing, the oldest gambling institution of all, had been running since 1842¹.

Then came the great reversal. After a long domestic debate, the government decided on April 18, 2005 to develop the Integrated Resorts, two large-scale destination resorts each containing a casino⁵. The ban on casino gambling, which had been in force for nearly 40 years, was lifted⁶. Foreign press at the time noted that Singapore had "only last year lifted a decades-long ban on gambling in an attempt to attract tourism dollars"¹⁴.

The results reshaped the market. Both integrated resorts opened in 2010¹⁵, and Singapore is currently the second-largest gambling destination in Asia after Macau⁹. Alongside the casinos, Singapore Pools still runs 4D, TOTO, Singapore Sweep and sports betting, private clubs still run jackpot rooms, and home mahjong remains legal social gambling. For the full picture of what you can play today, see gambling in Singapore.

Where to play

The map of legal gambling venues in Singapore is itself a product of this history.

The two casinos. Singapore has exactly two licensed casino operators: Genting Singapore, which runs Resorts World Sentosa, and Las Vegas Sands, which runs Marina Bay Sands¹⁶. Resorts World Sentosa opened in phases, beginning on January 20, 2010 with its four hotels, and its casino opened on Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 12.18pm, making it Singapore's first casino⁷. Marina Bay Sands opened later the same year¹⁵. Both resorts pair the casino floor with hotels, dining, shopping and entertainment, which was the whole point of the integrated resort model: the government wanted tourism destinations, not standalone gambling halls⁵. You can read more at casinos in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands Casino and Resorts World Sentosa Casino.

Singapore Pools outlets. The retail network descends directly from 1968, when the government set up the operator to counter illegal betting³. Today it is Singapore's sole legal gaming operator for lottery, sports betting and horse wagering¹⁷. Tickets are sold at outlets across the island; see the Singapore lottery, TOTO, 4D and sports betting in Singapore.

Private club jackpot rooms. Various private clubs, including SAFRA clubs and the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club, are licensed to operate jackpot machines and other games like bingo and sweepstakes¹⁸. This is a much older and quieter layer of legal gambling than the casinos. See jackpot machine rooms in Singapore.

The racecourse, now history. Horse racing was the original venue. The Singapore Sporting Club was founded in 1842 by Scottish merchants, later becoming the Singapore Turf Club. It sold its Serangoon Road racecourse and built a new facility in Bukit Timah in 1933, then moved to Kranji in 1999¹. Racing was suspended during the Japanese Occupation, with the club only reopening in 1947, and was suspended again during the 2020 circuit breaker, resuming behind closed doors in July 2020 and reopening to the public in April 2022¹. The final race day came on October 5, 2024, when thousands gathered to witness the last races after a 182-year chapter, and the facility formally closes in March 2027². Wagering continues through Singapore Pools; see horse racing in Singapore.

How it works

The modern system works the way it does because of how it was built, layer by layer, each layer a response to a problem.

A state operator instead of a free market. Singapore Pools was established by the government on May 23, 1968 to provide safe and trusted betting and to counter widespread illegal gambling³. The idea was that if people were going to bet anyway, the state should offer a channel it could control. That single decision explains why there is no licensed commercial betting sector in Singapore: the lottery, sports betting and horse wagering all flow through one operator¹⁷.

Casinos with social safeguards built in. When the 2005 decision came, the government did not simply open the doors. Its casino gambling law put in place social safeguards: entry levies on locals, credit and loss limits, protection of minors, and exclusion orders banning certain persons from entering the premises²⁰. Family members of problem gamblers can ask casino staff to refuse entry, Singapore citizens face restrictions on using credit cards, promissory notes and borrowing from casinos, and local media are banned from carrying gambling advertising²¹. What citizens and permanent residents pay to enter, and how the annual pass works, is covered in detail at Singapore's casino entry levy.

Home gambling left alone. Physical social gambling among family and friends is permitted under the Gambling Control Act 2022, provided it takes place in person in an individual's home, among family members or people who know each other personally, is substantially spontaneous, and is not run for private gain or in the course of business²². This is the tradition behind Chinese New Year ban luck and home mahjong, games that predate every licensed venue in the country. See social gambling and home mahjong in Singapore and ban luck.

Responsible gambling as policy. Since 2007, Singapore Pools has run an annual responsible gambling awareness campaign²⁴, and individuals can apply to exclude themselves from casinos, jackpot machine rooms and Singapore Pools online betting²⁵. The exclusion system, including family exclusion orders, is described at casino exclusion and visit limits in Singapore.

Costs, prizes and payouts

Money in Singapore gambling has its own conventions, many of them set in the early years of the system.

Casino chips. Under the Casino Control (Conduct of Casino Gambling) Regulations 2009, a wager at any approved casino table must be made with casino chips, and winnings are paid in casino chips and in full²⁶. Chips can be used for casino gambling or for tipping casino staff²⁷. Table minimums and the games on offer, including a version of roulette with a quadruple-zero wheel that Marina Bay Sands began offering in 2024, believed to be a world first, are covered at casino games in Singapore.

Lottery and betting payouts. How you collect depends on how much you have won²⁸.

Claims open from the day after the draw, during outlet opening hours²⁸. A betting ticket shows the event schedule, event, bet type and selection, stake amount and expected return¹².

Tax. Winnings from 4D, Toto, football, Singapore Sweep, horse racing, fruit machine jackpots and casinos are not taxable in Singapore²⁵. The details are at tax on gambling winnings in Singapore.

The entry levy. The one cost with no parallel elsewhere in Asia's casino cities is the levy citizens and permanent residents pay to enter either casino, with an annual levy of S$3,000¹². It was designed as a deterrent for locals, part of the bargain that made the 2005 decision politically possible. Visitors pay nothing.

Who can take part

The rules differ sharply between locals and visitors, and that difference is the direct legacy of the 2005 debate.

Visitors and foreign residents can gamble freely at both casinos without any levy, buy Singapore Pools tickets, and bet on sports and racing. Singapore citizens and permanent residents can do all of the same things, but must pay the entry levy to enter a casino, face restrictions on borrowing and credit at the casinos, and are covered by the exclusion system²⁰. An underaged individual must not engage in gambling in or from Singapore, and it is an offense for anyone to gamble with an underaged individual or to accept bets, allow gaming machine play, sell lottery tickets or open betting accounts for them³⁰.

Social gambling at home is open to everyone, provided the participants are family members or people who know each other personally²². The practical risk worth knowing: gambling outside the licensed channels, including all unlicensed online gambling, is prohibited, and the Gambling Control Act 2022 reaches betting involving people physically present in Singapore even when the operator sits outside the country²³. See online gambling in Singapore and gambling rules and penalties in Singapore.

Practical tips

If the history interests you, there are a few things worth knowing before you go.

• Visit the racecourse site while you can. The Kranji facility formally closes in March 2027¹⁹, and the final race day on October 5, 2024 already drew thousands of spectators, so any farewell events at the site are likely to be busy².
• Expect the casinos to feel like resorts, not gambling dens. That was the design from the start: the 2005 decision was explicitly about building tourism destinations⁵. Dress is smart casual, and the resorts are family-friendly outside the casino floor.
• Bring ID. Citizens and permanent residents need it to pay the levy at the door; visitors need a passport to enter levy-free²⁹.
• Collect lottery prizes promptly. Claims open the day after the draw at Singapore Pools outlets, and small prizes are simplest in cash or PayNow²⁸.
• Keep your betting records. A Singapore Pools account keeps records of betting, deposits and payouts for up to six months³¹.
• Know the exclusion option. If gambling is becoming a problem for you or a family member, self-exclusion and family exclusion orders exist and are straightforward to apply for²⁵. Help resources are listed at gambling help in Singapore.
• Read the history on site. Both integrated resorts have their own story to tell, and the BBC's early coverage from December 2010 captures the mood of a country still getting used to its "little sin"³².