Singapore’s gambling industry is not as lavish as Vegas’, but it is still one for the books. The glamour and richness of gambling in the Lion City are seen even through its few prosperous casino resorts.
Its casino industry makes up >4% of the Asia-Pacific market size, accounting for 1.5% of the global market size. Overall, this makes Singapore the 3rd biggest casino market in the world.
As you’ll find in this article, Singapore’s gambling scene is worth exploring.
Singapore’s National Council on Problem Gambling revealed Singaporeans lost around $725 to gambling. That was the 3rd highest gambling average loss globally.
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs strictly regulates gambling. It maintains law and order in the country’s gambling scene to minimize potential harm to society.
During the three years, authorities arrested over 2,400 people in Singapore for illegal gambling. They bet through prohibited online platforms or unlicensed bookies. With illegal gambling, Singapore’s loss is more significant than the figures reported.
You can find other essential and shocking gambling statistics in Singapore below.
During the pandemic, Singapore saw a gradual decrease in physical gambling. The government implemented restrictions nationwide. To continue gambling, some Singaporeans switched to placing their wagers online.
However, online gambling is still not significant in Singapore. Below are statistics that will tell you all about Singapore’s online gambling industry:
(National Council on Problem Gambling)
1% of Singaporeans gambled online. That means online gamblers in the country are decreasing.
Some gamblers moved to online betting during the pandemic, but most bettors who have been gambling online stopped. With that, the industry did not grow.
Singapore’s tight regulation in the gambling industry holds back the sector. Plus, there are limited choices regarding betting online. The monopoly Singapore Pools operates online lotteries and shares betting with The Singapore Turf.
(PubMed)
Only 12 out of 100 participants in the study admitted to only gambling online. The remaining participants (82%) both gambled on Singapore Casino Sites and offline.
This shows that the offline gambling market in Singapore is more prosperous than its online counterpart.
(PubMed)
The study is about treatment-seeking patients in Singapore. It also revealed the median biggest debt due to offline gambling, only $500.
Debt from gambling is the money owed from a gambling activity. The debtor might owe any of the following:
Although the number of gamblers who bet online is low, gambling involvement over the Internet is constant. Bettors regularly wager online and at a higher bid, contributing to higher debts online.
Singapore’s offline gambling industry is strict. Land-based gambling is prohibited by the Gambling Control Act (GCA) unless the establishment has a license. Singapore’s government currently licenses 2 land-based casinos.
The only gambling operator that offers non-casino gambling services is Singapore Pools. Any bets made beyond those licensed establishments and services are illegal in Singapore.
Learn more about Singapore’s offline gambling industry through the following stats and facts.
(National Council on Problem Gambling, Singapore Pools)
4D is the most popular type of gambling in Singapore. It is a lottery-type game that stands for “4 Digits,” where a gambler bets on 4 numbers.
Singaporeans are into 4D because it is a cheap and easy way to gamble. The minimum bet for an ordinary entry is $1.
The game also has a variation called “4D Roll.” The gambler picks the first 3 digits. Then, the 4th digit is a “rolling digit,” which is a range of numbers (ex., 0 to 9). This gives the ticket 10 possible outcomes instead of 1. The minimum bet for this is $10.
(Singapore Pools)
The “5807” combination is the most frequently drawn number since the first 4D draw in May.
This may or may not mean that betting on these numbers creates higher chances of winning the game.
(National Council on Problem Gambling, Singapore Pools)
TOTO is the second most popular method of gambling in Singapore. It is the first lottery in Singapore Pool’s history. It was introduced, where gamblers must pick a combination of 6 numbers per ticket.
It is popular because one can win by having 3 to all 6 numbers drawn from the winning draw. The odds of winning in TOTO is 1 in 54, but winning the jackpot (all 6 digits) is 1 in 14 million.
(National Council on Problem Gambling, Singapore Pools)
Singapore Sweep is a type of lottery where gamblers do not pick the ticket number combinations. Regardless, Singaporeans bet on it for as low as $3.
There is a 9.1% chance of winning in the Singapore Sweep. Multiple tickets can be the winning one, so the prize depends on how many winning tickets there are.
If there is only one ticket surrendered, that person hits the jackpot. They will win $2.3 million. The odds of this happening is 1 in 3.5 million.
(National Council on Problem Gambling, Channel News Asia)
Gambling among family and friends within a home property is called social gambling. It is not illegal to gamble socially in Singapore, but the laws were not clearly defined before.
The Singapore government cleared things up by officially legalizing social gambling. It is under the new Gambling Control Act (GCA).
The law allows social gambling as long as it occurs in an individual’s home. When it does, the gambling activities must not be for business or private gain.
Singapore is an economic powerhouse, but not in terms of its gambling industry. The country is recognized as politically stable, with low corruption rates. That is why they regulate their gambling industry well and only see a low rate of problem gamblers for decades.
Some see this insignificance as room to grow, but the Singapore government is keen to keep things as they are. The only change happening is the government creating laws for its citizens’ convenience and protection against the harm and consequences of gambling.
