Singapore’s MHA to block gambling sites

Singapore online gambling

Singapore players wanting to get a bet on at their favorite gambling site may only have a few days left to do it.

From Monday (Feb 2), under instruction from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Internet service providers across Singapore will have to start blocking access to a list of gambling websites.

Since Singapore’s Remote Gambling Act was past last September 2014 the MHA has been busy compiling a list of sites that it wants ISP’s to block. The list hasn’t been made public, but you don’t have to be Einstein to figure out the names it will likely contain – the bigger the brand the higher up on the list.

The likes of bet365 and 888 no doubt expected to be near the top of the chart s and preemptively closed their doors to Singaporean players last year. Since October anyone trying to open an account at 888’s casino from within Singapore would be greeted with the message,

“your country no longer allows its residents to play our games online”

It has also been reported that at least three local banks (DBS, OCBC and UOB) have already started blocking payments to online gambling sites. Wonder if they’re doing a better job of it than the US banks after UIGEA came into effect?

Outside of the MHA’s cross hairs are social games like Candy Crush Saga. As long as the product isn’t a casino-style game allowing players to win or lose actual money, developers have been assured by authorities they won’t be included in the ban. Of course there will be plenty of games that blur the line between social gaming and gambling. One example cited is social games involving tournaments which pay real money to top players. Skill? Chance? Gambling?

That’s one of the many headaches that authorities will need to deal with.

 

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Sorry....we have to ask *