Don’t gamble illegally in Singapore—or at least don’t get caught. A gaming publication has ranked the city-state No. 1 for the harshest punishments for the activity, with convictions coming with up to ten years behind bars and fines of up to $750,000.
Bitcoin Casinos, which compiled the list, notes that under Singapore’s 2022 Gambling Control Act, anyone found guilty of unlawful betting can be jailed for up to five years and fined as much as $250,000. Repeat offenders are subject to up to a decade in prison with fines as high as $750,000.
From 2019 through 2022, more than 2,400 people were arrested for illegal gambling in Singapore. Much of the activity involves wagering on horse races and often occurs in coffee shops and other non-gaming venues (Singapore has two integrated resorts with gaming, Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands). The website referenced a “66-year-old cleaner” who placed bets amounting to about $125. On conviction, he was jailed for two weeks and fined $25,000.
Hong Kong placed second on the list, with offenses punishable by up to seven years in jail and fines of up to $625,000. Japan, which just approved the country’s first-ever casino in Osaka city and prefecture, came in third, with gamblers facing fines of up to $3,750 and operators subject to up to five years’ imprisonment.
“There is precedence of arresting online casino users for gambling-related crimes,” states a recent public service announcement in Japan. “Gambling is a crime. Stay away.”
Of course, China also made the list, ranking fourth for tough gambling punishments. In China, gambling is legal only in the special administrative region of Macau, and the Beijing government has cracked down hard in recent years on illegal gambling, including offshore gambling.
In January, a Macau court sentenced former VIP junket operator Alvin Chau to 18 years in prison after he was found guilty of running an illegal gambling syndicate. The court also ordered Chau and his co-defendants to pay the government and the city’s casinos more than $800 million in restitution.
Rounding out the list are North Korea, where citizens who gamble illegally may be sentenced to up to three years of hard labor; the United Arab Emirates, where all gambling is prohibited and offenders could be jailed for up to two years; Malaysia, which can impose jail terms of up to six months; Thailand, where 461 people were arrested in 2022 for their involvement in illegal iGaming; as well as Qatar and Poland.
