Singapore Casino Levy Rules

It has been more than a year since Singapore increased the cost of a daily or yearly casino entry pass, with the financial impact and patronage figures recently released.

GGR Asia reports that when the fees increased by 50 per cent from April 4, 2019, local adults visiting casinos dropped 1.3 per cent, according to Tan Tee How, chairman of the city-state’s Casino Regulatory Authority.

  1. Casino Overview Housed inside one of the world's most iconic structures, the casino at Marina Bay Sands encompasses more than 15,000 square meters of gaming space spread over 4 levels. Boasting one of the world's largest Swarovski crystal chandeliers, the casino is also home to over 600 table games, more than 1,500 slots and a wide array of.
  2. Singapore’s two integrated resorts have restricted public access to the casinos to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. From midnight Thursday, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa said that only annual levy holders would be permitted entry. At MBS, Sands Rewards Club (SRC) members holding Gold status or higher will be allowed access whereas at RWS entry is limited to existing.

Singapore casino complex Resorts World Sentosa (pictured) – owned by Genting Singapore Ltd – announced on Thursday that access to its casino is to be limited to existing Genting Rewards card members and to Singapore nationals or residents who have paid the annual entry-levy charge applicable to them.

The levy increase, which made an annual pass cost US$2195, had been done to “ensure that Singaporeans continue to be protected against the potential harms of casino gambling,” Mr Tan noted in his annual report.

Singapore casino levy

He indicated that “one year after the increase” casino visits made by Singapore citizens and permanent residents dropped to 2.7 per cent of the local population, from four per cent in the 2018 financial year.

Mr Tan added: “Since casinos opened in 2010, the probable problem- and pathological-gambling rate has decreased from 2.6 per cent to 0.9 per cent in 2017.

“This suggests that the local safeguards have been effective,” he said.

Separately, the CRA provided some figures on casino visits by locals for the years 2017 to 2018, in response to an enquiry from Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.

According to the report, the authority told it that in financial year 2017, “approximately” 130,000 locals visited casinos.

In 2018, that figure was 127,000 and the year of the levy increase, 2019, boasted a figure of 88,000.

This year, Singapore’s two casino resorts – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa were closed from April 7 as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The casinos reopened on July 1.

Upon reopening, the gaming facilities were available only to certain participants in membership schemes, or to annual levy pass holders, at a time when most foreigners were not being permitted to enter Singapore.

During the period covered by the 2019-20 CRA report, Marina Bay Sands’ promoter received fines totalling almost A$150,000 for four breaches of the city’s Casino Control Act.

Resorts World Sentosa’s promoter also received a fine of about A$20,000 for a breach of the act.

Singapore regulator says casino entry levy increase has kept locals away https://t.co/77QPqSC7XV

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Singapore Casino Levy Rules List

Singapore casinos and attractions to reopen this week

Singapore’s casinos at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa are among 13 Singapore entertainment attractions granted permission to reopen from Wednesday.

Asgam reported in April the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Singapore Tourism Board announced that it had granted permission for the attractions to open following careful assessment of reopening proposals.

However, operations will be limited to no more than 25 per cent of normal capacity and subject to strict health and safety measures.

In a press release issued last Sunday, Marina Bay Sands said it was restricting casino access to Sands Rewards Club members holding gold status and above, plus Annual Levy Holders.

“The casino will also abide by strict safe management measures,” MBS said.

“There will be limitations on the number of patrons at each gaming table, while seats at the electronic gaming machines and slots will be at least one metre apart.

“Safe Distancing Ambassadors will be deployed to ensure there are no bystanders.

“Customer-facing team members will don masks and face shields, and will sanitise their hands before and after shifts at gaming tables.”

MBS said it has trained more than 1000 staff to take on safe distancing roles and will also reopen its ArtScience Museum and Sands SkyPark.

Resorts World Sentosa opened its casino and Universal Studios Singapore from July 1, followed by SEA Aquarium from July 4.

The return of some casino operations comes almost two weeks after Singapore entered phase two of easing COVID-19 restrictions, with both MBS and RWS opening some retail and food and beverage outlets.

Both companies had suspended all operations in early April.

Aside from facilities at the two integrated resorts reopening this week, other entertainment facilities given permission to resume partial operations include Singapore Zoo, Madame Tussauds, Bounce, Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay, Jurong Bird Park, River Safari and Zero Latency.

Singapore’s casinos saw fewer local gamblers following last year’s 50% increase in the cost of the casino entry levy, according to the local gambling regulator.

This week, Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) issued its 2019-20 annual report on its oversight of the city-state’s two integrated resorts: Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

Among the observations made in the report by CRA chairman Tan Tee How was that the April 2019 increases in the daily and annual entry levies for local residents wishing to gamble at either of the two integrated resorts had pushed the number of locals gambling in casinos down from 4% of the adult population in FY19 to 2.7% in FY20.

The number of locals interested in casino gambling has been on the decline for some time and Singapore boasts an enviably low problem gambling rate. That rate has trended consistently downward following the 2010 launch of the two casinos despite a rise in overall gambling participation over the same period.

The CRA doled out S$145k (US$106k) in penalties against MBS in the most recent year, a nearly tenfold rise from the SG$15k MBS paid the previous year. The vast bulk of the penalties were directly related to the levy issue, including the casino’s failure to implement a system for collecting levies and the failure to prevent 11 locals from accessing the gaming floor without paying the levies.

By contrast, RWS incurred only a single penalty of SG$20k for allowing a single underage customer onto its gaming floor. That compares quite favorably to the SG$730k in penalties RWS paid the previous year, although RWS also received a letter of censure for failing to secure the CRA’s approval before rolling out some new gaming equipment.

The CRA is in the process of a major regulatory shakeup that will see it merge operations with the city-state’s other gambling boards to create a Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) with oversight of all gaming operations, both land-based and online. The GRA is expected to arrive sometime next year.

Chairman Tan said this week that the regulatory challenges ahead covered three main areas: technology providing increased access to gambling; the injection of gambling into non-gambling products (such as loot boxes in video games); and the rise of eSports, with the increased likelihood of youths becoming involved in eSports betting.

SINGAPORE BUBBLE EXPANDING

Despite operating under pandemic restrictions, MBS was the only Las Vegas Sands property to report positive earnings in the third quarter of 2020, a fact that may have played a role in the company’s apparent willingness to sell its remaining Nevada casino properties.

Singapore Casino Levy Rules Regulations

Given their reliance on international gamblers, both casinos are welcoming Thursday’s announcement by Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority that it was relaxing some restrictions on in-bound travelers. As of Friday (Oct. 30), individuals from mainland China and the Australian state of Victoria could apply for an ‘Air Travel Pass’ for flights arriving on or after November 6.

Singapore Casino Levy Rules

If applicants can demonstrate that they haven’t traveled outside their respective zones in the 14 days prior to arriving in Singapore, tourists from these two areas will be exempt from Singapore’s 14-day COVID-19 quarantine policy.

Singapore Casino Levy Rules List

Singapore previously exempted travelers from other regions of Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. Singapore and Hong Kong are also teaming up on a ‘travel bubble’ that will permit quarantine-free travel between the two regions sometime in November.