Online gambling in Singapore: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Singapore?

The Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) regulates every form of gambling under the Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Casino Control Act 2006. Singapore Pools holds the only licence for betting operations, gaming and lotteries, renewed for five years from 25 October 2025, and its account-based service is the only lawful online betting channel. Two land-based integrated resorts hold casino licences with exclusivity to the end of 2030; no online casino or poker licence exists, and providing an unlicensed remote gambling service to people in Singapore carries a fine of up to S$500,000 and seven years' imprisonment. Since 1 January 2025 the Singapore Police Force has run the blocking of unlawful gambling sites, advertising and payments.

State monopoly: A state or single licensee runs online gambling; private operators cannot be licensed.

Who regulates gambling in Singapore?

• Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore (GRA) — Single regulator for casinos, betting, lotteries, fruit machines and remote gambling; issues licences, class licences and exemptions under the Gambling Control Act 2022 and Casino Control Act 2006
• Singapore Police Force (SPF) — Since 1 January 2025, issues access-blocking and payment-blocking orders against unlawful remote gambling services and their advertising
• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) — Sets gambling policy and makes subsidiary legislation, including the class-licence orders and exemption orders

Singapore gambling licence: how it works

There is no licence a private company can apply for to offer online casino, poker or sports betting to people in Singapore. The GRA's licence to conduct betting operations, gaming and lotteries under Section 54 of the Gambling Control Act is held by Singapore Pools alone, for a tenure of up to five years at a time, and the two casino licences (Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa) are land-based with exclusivity extended to 31 December 2030. The Act does create class licences that apply automatically, subject to conditions, to certain remote interactive games of chance: a Type 1 class licence for games that are free of charge and copy no casino game or gambling imagery, and a Type 2 class licence for games with in-game purchases whose randomized prizes are non-monetary, usable only inside the game and not convertible into money. Anything outside those conditions is unlawful gambling unless the GRA grants an individual licence or exemption.

What an applicant needs

• Betting, gaming and lottery licence: held only by Singapore Pools; applications are assessed on financial capacity, other gambling activities and public interest
• Casino licences: two integrated-resort operators under the Casino Control Act, with a moratorium on further casinos to 2030
• Type 1 class licence: free-to-play games of chance with no First Schedule game mechanics and no gambling-article imagery; complimentary tokens must be non-transferable
• Type 2 class licence: in-game randomized prizes may not be money or readily convertible into money or anything of value outside the game
• Social gambling among family and friends is permitted only where no one profits from hosting

Gambling taxes in Singapore

• Operators: Casino tax on gross gaming revenue since 1 March 2022: 18% on the first S$3.1 billion of mass gaming revenue a year and 22% above it; 8% and 12% for premium gaming (players with at least S$100,000 on deposit). Gambling duty on Singapore Pools: 25% of gross betting profit on fixed-odds sports bets and horse-racing totalisator bets, and 30% of gross revenue on other totalisator bets and lotteries such as 4D and Toto.
• Players: None. Gambling winnings are not taxable income for individuals, but citizens and permanent residents pay a casino entry levy of S$150 per 24 hours or S$3,000 a year.
• Also: The tiered casino rates are locked until at least 2032 as part of the integrated resorts' 2019 expansion agreements. Singapore Pools' surplus is channeled through the Tote Board to community causes.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising or promoting unlawful gambling, including remote gambling services, is an offense, and the SPF can order platforms to remove such content. Singapore Pools and the casinos advertise under GRA conditions that keep promotions off mass media aimed at the general public; casinos may not target locals with promotions. Narrow exemptions are made by order, for example for sponsorship of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix in 2025.

Responsible gaming

The minimum age is 21 for casinos and Singapore Pools accounts (18 for some retail lottery products). The National Council on Problem Gambling runs self-exclusion, family exclusion and third-party exclusion orders that apply to the casinos, Singapore Pools accounts and fruit-machine rooms; visit limits and the entry levy apply to citizens and permanent residents at the casinos.

Identity and age verification

Singapore Pools account holders must be at least 21, hold a Singapore residential address and local mobile number, and pass identity and exclusion checks against national databases. Casinos apply customer due diligence on cash transactions above the thresholds set by the GRA, which were lowered in 2024.

Payments

Singapore Pools accounts are funded by local bank transfer (eNETS, PayNow) and cards through its own channels. Banks and payment providers must comply with SPF payment-blocking orders against unlawful gambling transactions, with fines of up to S$20,000 per transaction not blocked; the GRA reported more than 145,000 blocked transactions worth about S$37 million between 2015 and 2024. Crypto is not an accepted method for any licensed gambling.

Notable restrictions

• No online casino, online poker or private sportsbook licences exist
• Providing an unlicensed remote gambling service with a Singapore customer link: fine up to S$500,000 and seven years' imprisonment
• Participating in unlawful remote gambling: fine up to S$10,000 or six months' imprisonment
• Casino entry levy of S$150 per day or S$3,000 a year for citizens and permanent residents
• Free-to-play games with casino mechanics or gambling imagery fall outside the Type 1 class licence

Singapore iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate for online play. The two integrated resorts and Singapore Pools dominate a mature land-based market; casino tax and gambling duty are reported in the government's annual revenue statements.

Singapore Pools account betting is limited to residents aged 21 and over; the National Council on Problem Gambling's periodic surveys track participation.

Singapore Pools' app and account service carry the lawful online market; smartphone penetration is near universal.

A state-linked monopoly (Singapore Pools) for betting and lotteries and a casino duopoly (Marina Bay Sands, Resorts World Sentosa) protected until 2030; no private online operators are licensed.

Timeline: how Singapore got here

1. 1968Singapore Pools established as the state's legal lottery operator
2. 2006Casino Control Act enacted; two integrated resorts open in 2010
3. 2014Remote Gambling Act criminalizes unlicensed online gambling; Singapore Pools exempted for online betting in 2016
4. 2022-03Tiered casino tax rates take effect; integrated-resort exclusivity extended to end-2030
5. 2022-08Gambling Control Act 2022 in force; GRA becomes the single regulator; class licences for remote games of chance
6. 2024Casino Control (Amendment) Act strengthens GRA powers; due-diligence thresholds for casino transactions lowered
7. 2025-01Singapore Police Force takes over blocking of unlawful gambling sites, advertising and payments
8. 2025-10Singapore Pools' licence for betting, gaming and lotteries renewed for five years

Outlook

No opening of the online market to private operators is on the agenda; the Singapore Pools licence runs to 2030 and integrated-resort exclusivity to the end of 2030, when the government will revisit casino policy. Expect continued refinement of the class-licence conditions for games with randomized in-game rewards, and active SPF blocking and prosecution of unlicensed remote gambling and its promoters.

GameBridge and Singapore

Not served by GameBridge. Private operators cannot be licensed for online gambling in Singapore and serving residents from abroad is a criminal offense, so real-money brands on GameBridge exclude Singapore by geo-controls by default; this page exists so compliance teams can verify that status quickly.

Singapore sits on the default country deny list of every real-money brand on GameBridge, enforced by GeoIP with a device GPS re-check and a restricted-region page in English and Chinese, with the setting logged for audit. The platform can host a free-to-play or social brand aimed at Singapore only where the operator's counsel confirms the product meets the Type 1 or Type 2 class-licence conditions, which in practice means no casino-style mechanics or gambling imagery for free games and no convertible prizes for games with in-app purchases; because standard social casino content does not meet the Type 1 conditions, GameBridge does not offer its social casino catalog to Singapore users. Sportsbook, casino and poker are never configured for Singapore under any model.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Gambling Control Act 2022 — Singapore Statutes Online, accessed 2026-09-11
• Betting Operations, Lottery and Game of Chance — Singapore Pools licence renewal — Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, accessed 2026-09-11
• FAQ for Lottery and Betting (licence fees and tenure) — Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, accessed 2026-09-11
• Unlawful Remote Gambling Activities — Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling Control (Remote Games of Chance — Class Licence) Order 2022 — Singapore Statutes Online, accessed 2026-09-11
• Second Reading Speech on the Gambling Duties Bill (casino tax tiers) — Ministry of Finance, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling Duties Regulations 2022 (rates of gambling duty) — Singapore Statutes Online, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.