Singapore Online Casino Law 2026: Is It Legal?

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Singapore permits gambling only through a small number of licensed channels and treats all other gambling, including unlicensed online gambling, as an offence for both providers and participants. Two casinos operate inside integrated resorts at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, and the state-owned Singapore Pools runs lotteries and sports betting, including the only licensed online gambling service. Since 1 August 2022, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore (GRA) has regulated all forms of gambling under the Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Casino Control Act 2006. A person who gambles with an unlicensed online operator can be fined up to S$10,000 and imprisoned for up to six months.

Key points

The Gambling Control Act 2022 (Act 17 of 2022) consolidated Singapore’s earlier gambling statutes into a single framework administered by the GRA.
Singapore Pools is the only operator licensed by the GRA to provide remote (online and telephone) gambling services.
Participating in unlicensed remote gambling is an offence punishable by a fine of up to S$10,000, up to six months’ imprisonment, or both.
Since 1 January 2025, the Singapore Police Force has been responsible for blocking unlawful gambling websites, advertisements and payment transactions.
Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay an entry levy to enter the two casinos; exclusion orders and visit limits are available through the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

Historical development

For most of its post-independence history Singapore had no casinos. Gambling policy relied on prohibition combined with a legal outlet: Singapore Pools was incorporated on 23 May 1968 as a state-owned company to provide lawful lottery and betting products and so draw demand away from illegal operators. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore Totalisator Board (Tote Board), which oversees its governance and strategic direction. Singapore Pools describes itself as a not-for-profit organisation, and its contributions to the Tote Board support social service, community, sports, arts, education and health causes (Tote Board, subsidiaries).

In April 2005, after a request for concept proposals in December 2004 had drawn 19 bids, the Cabinet decided to proceed with two integrated resorts, each including a casino, at Marina Bay and Sentosa. In a ministerial statement to Parliament on 18 April 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong linked the decision to Singapore’s falling share of regional tourism and shorter visitor stays, and set out the social safeguards that would accompany it, including an entry levy for locals, exclusions and a ban on casinos extending credit to locals (Prime Minister’s statement, April 2005). The Casino Control Act 2006 created a licensing regime for the two casinos, together with social safeguards aimed at Singaporean residents, including an entry levy and exclusion orders.

Online gambling was addressed in the Remote Gambling Act 2014, which prohibited unlicensed remote gambling. On 29 September 2016 the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club had been found suitable to be exempt operators under that Act. The exemption covered only their existing products, excluded casino-style games and poker, and required the operators to be not-for-profit, based in Singapore and contributing to public, social or charitable causes (MHA, September 2016). The Remote Gambling Act, the Betting Act, the Common Gaming Houses Act and the Private Lotteries Act were repealed when the 2022 legislation described below took effect on 1 August 2022 (MHA, July 2022).

Legal framework

The Gambling Control Act 2022

Illustrated Singapore landmarks with reference books and documents for the overview section

The Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Act 2022 were passed by Parliament on 11 March 2022. Their purpose was to harmonise gambling laws that had been spread across several statutes, introduce a consistent three-tier penalty structure for punters, agents and operators, and bring all forms of gambling under a single regulator (Ministry of Home Affairs, July 2022). The Act’s stated aims include authorising certain gambling while prohibiting unlawful gambling, restricting advertising of illegal gambling, reducing gambling-related harm, maintaining the integrity and fairness of gambling, and limiting associated crime.

The Act defines gambling broadly, covering three categories:

betting: making or accepting wagers on the outcome of a race, event or proposition;
gaming: playing a game of chance, including on a gaming machine, for money or money’s worth; and
lotteries: schemes for distributing prizes by chance.

It distinguishes remote gambling, meaning gambling by means of telecommunications such as the internet or telephone, from gambling at physical premises. It also contains a social gambling exception for non-remote gambling at home among family members and acquaintances, which must be substantially spontaneous, not promoted as a business, and in which no one profits other than by winning. During the parliamentary debate the government explained that the exemption covers play at home, including with minors at the family’s discretion, but not hotels, chalets or other non-residential places (MHA, March 2022); it also does not extend to online platforms, where it is hard to establish whether gambling is genuinely social (MHA, July 2022). The Act applies to remote gambling provided in or from Singapore and to remote gambling offered to people in Singapore from abroad.

The Casino Control Act 2006

Casinos remain governed by a separate statute, the Casino Control Act 2006, which provides for two casino licences. The Act contains the entry levy for Singapore citizens and permanent residents and the framework of exclusion orders, family exclusion orders and visit limits. According to the GRA, the casino licence of Marina Bay Sands was renewed for three years from 26 April 2025, while that of Resorts World Sentosa was renewed for a shorter two-year term from 6 February 2025. The Casino Control (Amendment) Act 2024 was passed by Parliament on 10 September 2024; its first provisions took effect on 30 October 2024, with the remainder to be brought into force later (MHA, October 2024).

Regulator and licensing model

The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore was established on 1 August 2022 under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was formed by reconstituting the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore as a single regulator for all gambling (MHA, July 2022), and it administers the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Act 2022, the Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Casino Control Act 2006 (GRA website). Its remit covers casinos, lotteries, betting, gaming machine rooms and community gambling activities.

Singapore’s model is a tightly limited licensing system rather than an open market. The main licensed channels are:

the two casinos, operated within the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa integrated resorts;
Singapore Pools, which runs the 4D, TOTO and Singapore Sweep lotteries and is the sole lawful bookmaker for football and motor racing;
gaming machine rooms operated by registered clubs and societies; the GRA renewed the licences of 16 such operators with effect from 1 November 2025, for up to three years (GRA announcements); and
class licences, a lighter form of authorisation for lower-risk activities such as trade promotions, fundraising events, cause-related events, surveys, incidental gambling and some remote games of chance (GRA website).

Online gambling and enforcement

The GRA’s guidance on unlawful remote gambling activities states that Singapore Pools (Private) Limited “is the only operator licensed by GRA to provide remote gambling services”. Providing unlicensed remote gambling services in or from Singapore, or to people in Singapore from abroad, is unlawful. Conducting unlawful gambling is punishable by a fine of up to S$500,000 and imprisonment of up to seven years; repeat offenders face fines of up to S$700,000 and imprisonment of up to ten years. No online casino is licensed in Singapore.

Advertising and promoting unlicensed remote gambling services is also prohibited. The GRA notes that a person convicted of promoting unlawful gambling can face fines of more than S$20,000, and that licensed operators themselves may advertise only with GRA approval (GRA, harm minimisation).

Singapore uses blocking, meaning directions to internet service providers and payment institutions to stop access to, or payments to, unlawful gambling services. Since 1 January 2025, the Singapore Police Force has managed the blocking of unlawful gambling websites, advertisements and payment transactions. In a written parliamentary reply on 8 January 2025, the Minister for Home Affairs said that, as at 31 December 2024, more than 3,800 illegal gambling websites assessed as likely to be targeted at or used by the Singapore public had been blocked, together with more than 145,000 illegal gambling transactions involving the Singapore public worth about S$37 million (MHA, January 2025). Members of the public can report unlawful remote gambling sites, apps and promotions to the police through the I-Witness service (GRA, unlawful remote gambling).

Position of players

Singapore is one of the jurisdictions in which the player, not only the operator, commits an offence. Under the Gambling Control Act, an individual who gambles with an unlicensed remote gambling service “is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both” (GRA, unlawful remote gambling). The fact that an overseas casino holds a licence elsewhere, or accepts players from Singapore, does not create an exception. Lawful online gambling is limited to the services of Singapore Pools.

Private social gambling at home is not an offence if it meets the statutory conditions: it must not be remote, must be among family members or acquaintances, must be substantially spontaneous, and must not be run as a business.

Taxation

Singapore’s gambling taxation falls mainly on operators and on access to the casinos rather than on players. The two casinos pay casino tax on their gross gaming revenue (GGR), meaning the amount staked less winnings paid out. Under agreements announced in April 2019, the flat rates of 5% on premium gaming and 15% on mass-market gaming were to be replaced from March 2022 by tiered rates: 8% on the first S$2.4 billion of premium GGR and 12% above that, and 18% on the first S$3.1 billion of mass-market GGR and 22% above that. A resort that failed to meet its investment commitments would pay flat rates of 12% and 22%, and the new structure came with a ten-year moratorium on further changes (MHA, April 2019). Parliament passed the Gambling Duties Bill, which gave effect to the higher rates, in January 2022 (Gambling Insider, January 2022). We found no announcement of a further change to casino tax rates in 2025 or 2026.

Singapore Pools also pays gambling duties. For its 2024 financial year it reported total turnover of S$12.21 billion, a gross win of S$3.07 billion and gambling duties of S$2.20 billion (SiGMA, November 2024); the figure of S$12.2 billion is turnover, not revenue. Its contributions go to the Tote Board for distribution to good causes.

The casino entry levy for citizens and permanent residents functions as a deterrent rather than as a revenue tax. It was increased on 4 April 2019 from S$100 to S$150 for a 24-hour levy and from S$2,000 to S$3,000 for an annual levy (MHA, April 2019). The order setting the higher rates lapsed on 3 April 2024; the Casino Control (Amendment) Act 2024, in force from 30 October 2024, wrote the S$150 and S$3,000 rates into law and validated the higher levies collected between 4 April and 7 May 2024 (MHA, October 2024). The GRA’s 2024–25 annual report, as reported by GGRAsia, recorded about 94,000 citizens and permanent residents visiting the casinos in 2024, 2.8% of the adult population and 5.3% fewer than in 2023, and 6,700 annual levies purchased (GGRAsia, October 2025). Readers with questions about the tax treatment of particular winnings should consult the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Singapore has an extensive set of statutory safeguards, many of them aimed at local residents:

Entry levy: citizens and permanent residents must pay the levy to enter the casinos.
Exclusions and visit limits: the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) administers exclusions and visit limits that can bar or limit a person’s access to the casinos, to gaming machine rooms and to Singapore Pools’ online betting accounts. The Casino Control Act provides for exclusion orders, including family exclusion orders sought by relatives, as well as visit limits. At the end of 2022 there were 183,559 self-exclusions from the casinos, 121,191 automatic exclusions by law, 3,147 family exclusion orders and 8,410 visit limits in force (NCPG statistics, 2022).
Pre-commitment: the GRA describes a pre-commitment programme that lets patrons set limits on how much they spend or how long they gamble (GRA, harm minimisation).
Operator duties: licensed operators must train staff to recognise signs of problem gambling and provide information at gambling venues.
Credit restrictions: when the integrated resorts were approved, the government stated that the casinos would not be allowed to extend credit to locals (Prime Minister’s statement, April 2005); the detailed rules on casino credit are set out in the Casino Control Act.

The NCPG runs the National Problem Gambling Helpline (1800-6-668-668) and a webchat service for people affected by gambling and their families (NCPG). The NCPG’s 2023 gambling participation survey put the probable pathological and problem gambling rate among residents at 1.1%, which the GRA describes as low and stable (GGRAsia, October 2025). General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

Blocking transferred to the police (2025). From 1 January 2025, responsibility for blocking unlawful gambling websites, advertisements and payments passed to the Singapore Police Force.
Casino licences. In November 2024 the GRA renewed the Resorts World Sentosa licence for two years rather than the usual three, after an evaluation panel found the resort’s tourism performance in 2021–2023 unsatisfactory and recommended a further evaluation in 2026 (GRA). The licence falls due for renewal in February 2027 (iGaming Business, January 2026). In May 2026 the GRA issued the operator a letter of censure for failing to implement an approved internal control (AGBrief, May 2026). We found no published outcome of the 2026 evaluation as of October 2026. The Marina Bay Sands licence was renewed in April 2025 for three years.
Casino Control (Amendment) Act 2024. Passed on 10 September 2024; provisions tightening the regulation of casinos and licensees and regularising the entry levy took effect on 30 October 2024, and the remaining provisions are to be brought into force later (MHA, October 2024).
Singapore Pools licence (2025). The GRA renewed Singapore Pools’ licence to conduct betting operations, gaming and lotteries for five years from 25 October 2025 (GRA announcements).
Remote games of chance. In August 2025 the GRA consulted on amending the class licence for remote games of chance so that operators could run in-game marketplaces in which players trade prizes with each other for money, provided operators do not buy prizes back and prizes can be used only within the same or related games. The consultation closed on 20 August 2025 (GRA); we found no published final amendment as of October 2026.
Fundraiser class licence (2026). On 30 July 2026 the GRA opened a consultation, closing on 13 August 2026, on consequential amendments to the class licence for fundraising lotteries following changes to National Council of Social Service membership categories (GRA announcements).

Sources and further reading

Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, Unlawful Remote Gambling Activities (accessed 5 October 2026).
Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, Harm Minimisation (accessed 5 October 2026).
Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, Official website (accessed 5 October 2026).
Attorney-General’s Chambers, Singapore Statutes Online, Gambling Control Act 2022 (Act 17 of 2022) (accessed 5 October 2026).
Attorney-General’s Chambers, Singapore Statutes Online, Casino Control Act 2006 (accessed 5 October 2026).
National Council on Problem Gambling, Official website (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Home Affairs, Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore to be Operational from 1 August 2022 (2022).
Prime Minister’s Office, National Archives of Singapore, Ministerial Statement: Proposal to Develop Integrated Resorts (2005).
Tote Board, Our Subsidiaries (accessed 14 October 2026).
Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club Found Suitable to be Exempt Operators under Remote Gambling Act (2016).
Ministry of Home Affairs, Gambling Control Bill and Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Bill: wrap-up speech (2022).
Ministry of Home Affairs, Integrated Resorts to Invest S$9 Billion in New World-Class Attractions and Experiences (2019).
Ministry of Home Affairs, Commencement of the Casino Control (Amendment) Act on 30 October 2024 (2024).
Ministry of Home Affairs, Number of Illegal Gambling Websites and Apps Blocked and Banned in Singapore (2025).
Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, Past Announcements (accessed 14 October 2026).
Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, Latest Announcements (accessed 14 October 2026).
National Council on Problem Gambling, Exclusion and Visit Limit Statistics as at 31 Dec 2022 (2023).
National Council on Problem Gambling, Resources (accessed 14 October 2026).
Gambling Insider, Singapore passes tax-increasing Gambling Duties Bill (2022).
SiGMA, Singapore Pools reports record turnover in 2024 (2024).
GGRAsia, Number of local visitors to Singapore casinos down 5pct in 2024, problem gambling rates remain low: GRA (2025).
iGaming Business, Sentosa integrated resort faces casino licence review (report) (2026).
AGBrief, Singapore GRA censures casino operator over internal control failure (report) (2026).

Casino listings for players in Singapore

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in Singapore. Singapore Pools is the only operator licensed by the GRA to provide remote gambling. Offering online casino games to people in Singapore is not permitted, and participating in unlicensed remote gambling is itself an offence. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful. See the GRA’s guidance on unlawful remote gambling.