Is Online Gambling Legal in Singapore?
Only through one operator. The Gambling Control Act 2022, in force since 1 August 2022, prohibits all gambling that is not licensed, class-licensed or exempted, and it replaced the older Betting Act, Common Gaming Houses Act, Private Lotteries Act and Remote Gambling Act. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, the GRA, was formed the same day out of the former Casino Regulatory Authority and now oversees casinos, lotteries, betting and gaming machine rooms.
The GRA states that Singapore Pools is the only operator it licenses to provide remote gambling, and every other online gambling provider is unlicensed. Online casino-style games and poker have never been allowed: when Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club were first cleared to take bets online in 2016, the exemption covered only their existing lottery and betting products. Running an unlawful gambling service carries a fine of up to S$500,000 and up to seven years in prison, rising to S$700,000 and ten years for a repeat offence, and agents face up to S$200,000 and seven years.
Blocking, Payments and Police Operations
Since 1 January 2025 the Singapore Police Force has been responsible for blocking unlawful gambling websites and apps, their advertising and the payments made to them, a job previously done by the GRA. By the end of 2024 more than 3,800 gambling websites had been blocked since 2015, and over 145,000 payment transactions adding up to S$37 million had been stopped. Advertising or promoting an unlicensed online gambling service is itself unlawful.
Police raids are frequent. On 6 July 2026 officers arrested 17 people in island-wide raids on a remote gambling operation and seized more than S$720,000 in cash, and in January 2026 six people were arrested over illegal horse and lottery betting, with more than S$70,000 seized. Cases like these are charged under the Gambling Control Act.
How International Online Casinos Work for Singapore Players
Every casino on the list is licensed abroad, and that licence determines the identity checks, the withdrawal rules and where a complaint goes. The GRA does not supervise these sites, so the foreign licence shown on the card is the only safeguard. The regulators found most often on the list are profiled in our casino licensing guide, and the difference between a local licence and an overseas one is the subject of licensed versus offshore casinos.
Some licensing authorities forbid their own licensees from taking players in Singapore: the Seychelles interactive gambling rules of 2024, for example, list Singapore among the jurisdictions Seychelles-licensed sites must exclude. Many casinos also put Singapore on their restricted-country list, and a player who signs up from a restricted country risks having winnings confiscated at withdrawal, so that list needs checking before the first deposit.
Casino Bonuses for Singapore Players
The welcome offers on these cards are set in euros, and only a handful of the casinos listed offer Singapore dollar accounts, so a bonus’s value in SGD shifts with the exchange rate on the day you deposit. The rollover is the amount you must stake before bonus money can be cashed out: S$500 of bonus at 35x means S$17,500 in bets. Slots usually count in full, live dealer games such as baccarat often count for little or nothing, and free spin winnings tend to carry a separate rollover and a cap. A casino may take Singapore players yet exclude them from its promotions, which is why some cards carry no offer. Offers that do include Singapore are listed on our page of Singapore casino bonuses.
Payments From Singapore
Overseas casinos choose their own deposit and withdrawal methods, typically cards, e-wallets, bank transfers and cryptocurrency, and each casino’s options appear on its card and in our casino payment methods guide. Because the police block payment transactions linked to unlawful gambling, payments between a Singapore account and an overseas casino can be stopped at any point. Read the casino’s banking terms for minimum withdrawals, processing times and limits before depositing.
Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World Sentosa and the Entry Levy
Singapore has two casinos, both inside integrated resorts that opened in 2010: Resorts World Sentosa on 14 February and Marina Bay Sands on 27 April. Entry is limited to people aged 21 and over. Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay an entry levy of S$150 for 24 hours or S$3,000 for a year, rates written into the Casino Control Act from 30 October 2024, while foreign visitors enter free with their passport.
Singapore Pools runs the legal lotteries, including Toto and 4D, and sports betting. Horse racing ended when the Singapore Turf Club held its last race meeting at Kranji on 5 October 2024, featuring the 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup, as the land is returned for housing and other development.
Gambling Winnings Are Tax-Free in Singapore
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore states that winnings from Toto, 4D, lotteries and other gambling are not taxable, because they are windfalls rather than income, and they do not need to be declared. Tax is collected from the operators instead, through betting duties and the casino tax. How other countries handle winnings is compared in do you pay tax on casino winnings?
A Short History of Gambling Law in Singapore
Singapore Pools was set up by the government in 1968 to offer legal betting as an alternative to illegal gambling, with its surplus going to good causes through the Tote Board. The decision to allow two integrated resorts led to the casinos opening in 2010, alongside a Casino Regulatory Authority and the entry levy for residents. The Remote Gambling Act, passed in October 2014, banned unlicensed online gambling and online casino games, and in 2016 Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club became exempt operators allowed to take bets online. In 2022 the Gambling Control Act brought most gambling laws together under a single regulator, the GRA.
Responsible Gambling and Help in Singapore
The National Council on Problem Gambling, NCPG, runs self-exclusion, voluntary visit limits, family exclusion orders and third-party exclusion. Self-exclusion bars a person from Singapore’s casinos for at least a year and is open to foreigners too, and family members can apply to exclude a relative. The NCPG Helpline, 1800-6-668-668, and its webchat run daily from 8am to 11pm. None of these measures reach overseas casinos, where deposit limits, cooling-off periods and self-exclusion in the account settings are the protection. National schemes are compared in self-exclusion registers explained.
The Future of Online Gambling in Singapore
Singapore shows no sign of opening its online market. The direction since 2022 has been tighter control: one regulator, one licensed online operator, police-led blocking of sites and payments, and the end of horse racing. Its neighbours take different routes, with Malaysia fining players under a 1953 law and the Philippines licensing online gaming through PAGCOR; see online casinos in Malaysia and online casinos in the Philippines.
