New laws at casinos for post-result bet withdrawals, recording of games

Gamblers at Singapore's two casinos must abide by new laws regarding the withdrawal of bets after results have been announced, and the recording of games on the premises.

- Christine Tan

With the passing of the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill on Sept 10, it will also be a crime for people to breach family visit limits when the changes take effect.

During the second reading of the Bill in Parliament, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said casino-related crime remains low in Singapore.

Only 0.2 per cent of all crimes reported in 2023 happened at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.

That year, 137 criminal cases were reported at both casinos, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in August.

MHA said the changes to the Casino Control Act, which was last amended in 2012, are part of a regular review to ensure it keeps up with changes in the gambling industry.

Ms Sun said the Bill was drafted after a review by MHA, the Ministry of Social and Family Development and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

She said that, currently, it is only an offence to place a bet after the result is known, but not to withdraw it.

Ten people were investigated for withdrawing their bets between 2010 and 2023, but the police had to use other laws such as theft in dwelling to deal with them.

Also, existing laws state only that recording card games is illegal. The changes will criminalise the act of recording non-card games. MHA said patrons have tried to cheat casinos by recording the play patterns of non-card games such as gaming machines.