Online Casino Singapore

Online casinos in Singapore

What a nightmare Singapore is for your average gambler. Is gambling legal or isn’t it. You’ve probably heard conflicting reports all around about this. Some say it is, others say not. Let’s finally unravel this big bag of snakes once and for all. We’ll begin by looking at the history of gambling in Singapore, and go from there, shall we?

Gambling laws in Singapore

Very far back in Singapore’s colonial past, gambling was accepted. However, the very first Singaporean gambling laws actually prohibited gambling in the country. Whether you want to look at the Common Gaming Houses Act, the Betting Act, the Private Lotteries Act or the Betting Sweepstake Duties Act, you won’t find too much inspiration for gambling. However, that all came to a head in 2006.

Singapore quickly realised that Macao was stealing the show in terms of gambling revenue in the region. In a bid to get a slice of that fat money pie, Singapore decided to pass the Casino Control Act, which allowed a body to create licenses offering gambling operators the chance to offer land-based casino gaming to players. Understandably, the big companies in the industry got stuck in. There are two casinos currently operating in the country – Marina Bay Sands, and Resorts World Sentosa. Even though they are legal, the country tries to avoid encouraging locals from betting, although there is no law against Singaporeans playing at them. Foreigners can enter the casinos for free, with locals having to pay a $100 entry fee each time they go to the casino.

Sports betting is far more flexible in the country, with bookies and state-sponsored sportsbooks all the rage. Kiosks and mobile apps permit sports betting, so you’ve got plenty of options in that department. These do not break the Remote Gambling Act, which was enacted to prohibit online casino gambling, not sportsbooks.

So, it doesn’t look good for online casino gambling does it? Interesting enough, in 2016, the two Singaporean casinos in operation (as mentioned above) were given special dispensation to offer online gambling options. Whilst they have both snapped up this rare opportunity, they are still limited in terms of what they can do. Casino-style games are still forbidden in the country, for all websites.

Online casinos and offshore casinos in Singapore

As you’ve seen, gambling is legal for sports betting, poker (to some degree), lotteries and gameplay at Singapore’s two major land-based sites. However, if you wish to get your gaming on with online casinos, you are forced to use the two Singaporean licensed casinos, and even then, you cannot play online casino games. What alternative do you have then, but to turn to offshore casinos?

Offshore casinos are known to widely accept players from Singapore. They offer gameplay in both Malay and English, and the Singaporean dollar is widely accepted at these offshore casino sites. Singapore is a very advanced country when it comes to internet connections, but despite this, they do not have any real blocks prohibiting players from gambling at offshore casinos. Even if they did, players would simply use VPNs to work their way around them.

To cut a long story short, if you are interested in playing online casino games whilst in Singapore, you are almost certainly going to have to look at offshore casinos as the only avenue to do this.

About gambling in Singapore

If you are in Singapore and you fancy a punt on your favourite casino games, why not head down to one of the two licensed casinos offering them. Singapore isn’t that big, so you should have no trouble getting there, and you can get free entry as a foreigner. If you are based in Singapore, though, a $100 fee every time you want to play a few hands of blackjack is a costly affair.

The lack of online casino games in Singapore means that unless your forte is sports betting or lotteries, you’re really going to have to flock to offshore casinos to play your favourite games. Using a VPN (virtual private network) is advised, and with Singapore’s super-fast internet connection, you can play just about anything. You needn’t worry about getting caught, either. Singaporean gambling authorities like to make it look like they don’t want locals to gamble, but they don’t really have any punishments in store for players who do frequent offshore casino sites. They don’t even really block many websites, for that matter.

So, you see – regardless of what you may have heard; the Singaporean gambling laws are relatively straight forward, once you get to the bottom of all the hear ‘say from tourists.

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