In forceUpdated to 21 Sep 2026

Contents

Gambling Control Act 2022 · Updated to 21 Sep 2026 · Part 1 · Preliminary

5. Meanings of “betting” and “totalisator”

(1)

For the purpose of any provision of this Act, “betting” means making or accepting a bet, involving payment or staking of any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value, on —

(a)

the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process, taking place in Singapore or elsewhere;

(b)

the likelihood of anything occurring, or not occurring, in Singapore or elsewhere; or (c)whether anything is or is not true.

(2)

However, “betting” does not include the following:

(a)

any contract or agreement entered into by either or each party by way of business and the making or performance of which by any party constitutes an investment activity within the meaning of section 5(5) of the Civil Law Act 1909;

(b)

a bet the making or accepting of which is excluded from the meaning of “betting” by the Minister by order in the Gazette.

(3)

In addition to subsection (1) but without affecting subsection (2), betting includes any transaction by way of gambling that is classified under the Regulations as betting.

(4)

A transaction that relates to the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —

(a)

the race, competition, event or process has already occurred or been completed; and

(b)

one party to the transaction knows the outcome.

(5)

A transaction that relates to the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —

(a)

the thing has already occurred or failed to occur; and

(b)

one party to the transaction knows that the thing has already occurred or failed to occur.

(6)

For the purposes of any provision of this Act, a person makes a bet (despite the fact that the person does not deposit a stake in the normal way of betting) if —

(a)

the person participates in an arrangement in the course of which participants are required to guess any of the matters specified in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c); and

(b)

the person is required to pay any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value to participate.

(7)

For the purposes of subsection (6), it is immaterial —

(a)

to whom a payment is made and who receives benefit from a payment; and

(b)

whether a person knows when the person makes a payment that the person thereby participates in an arrangement as a result of which the person may win a prize.

(8)

Without limiting subsections (1), (2) and (3), a bet includes any of the following:

(a)

a free bet, which is a bet made wholly or partly using an amount that is provided to the person making the bet by the authorised betting operator with whom the bet is made and is not immediately redeemable by the person for cash; (b)a bet made using a totalisator;

(c)

a lay‑off bet where a person conducting a betting operation (called betting operator A) makes a bet with another person conducting a betting operation to reduce, wholly or in part, the liability of betting operator A in relation to one or more bets made with the betting operator A.

(9)

For the purpose of any provision of this Act —

“guess” includes predicting through exercise of skill or judgment;

“totalisator” means a system used —

(a)

to enable persons to invest any money or money equivalent on —

(i)

the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process taking place in Singapore or elsewhere; (ii)the likelihood of anything occurring, or not occurring, in Singapore or elsewhere; or (iii)whether anything is or is not true; or

(b)

to enable the totalisator pool to be divided and distributed among the persons who successfully guess the outcomes, likelihood or the truth or anything, as the case may be,and includes any machine, apparatus, appliance, equipment, instrument or device under which the system is operated, and a numbers forecast totalisator paying a fixed minimum dividend;

“totalisator pool” means the amount left from the investments after —

(a)

making allowances for refunds of investments;

(b)

deducting commission for the conduct of the totalisator; and (c)adding any pool top‑up amount.

Terms defined in s 3

business
Defined · s 3
“business” includes —(a)a venture or concern in trade or commerce, whether or not conducted on a regular, repetitive or continuous basis; and(b)any business, whether or not carried on for profit,and the fact that an unincorporated association provides services to its members does not prevent those services from being services provided in the course of business;
Open s 3
conducting a betting operation
Defined · s 3
“conducting a betting operation” has the meaning given by section 6;
Open s 3
event
Defined · s 3
“event” includes a contingency relating to an event;
Open s 3
exercise of skill
Defined · s 3
“exercise of skill” includes a display of knowledge;
Open s 3
gambling
Defined · s 3
“gambling” has the meaning given by section 4;
Open s 3
money equivalent
Defined · s 3
“money equivalent” has the meaning given by section 14;
Open s 3
place
Defined · s 3
“place” includes any premises and any conveyance, and any part of any premises or conveyance;
Open s 3
prize
Defined · s 3
“prize”, in relation to any gambling, includes any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value that may be won under the arrangements for that gambling —(a)whether or not described as a prize; and(b)whether or not consisting wholly or partly of any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value paid or provided by the persons of the class among whom the prize is allocated;
Open s 3
provision of this Act
Defined · s 3
“provision of this Act” includes a provision of any Regulations;
Open s 3
Regulations
Defined · s 3
“Regulations” means any regulations made under section 126;
Open s 3
sporting event
Defined · s 3
“sporting event” means a sport or competition, or an exhibition, entertainment or activity, involving primarily the exercise of physical prowess or dexterity, physical strength, physical stamina or mental stamina and to the extent that —(a)human beings are the only contestants or participants who take part in or play the sport, competition, exhibition, entertainment or activity; or(b)it is a sport or competition, or an exhibition, entertainment or activity in which human beings take part in —(i)by riding animals or exercise of other skill in relation to animals;(ii)by driving, piloting, crewing any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other form of transport;(iii)by competing with natural obstacles or natural forces, or by overcoming them; or(iv)by using a computer on a computer monitor, television screen, mobile device or similar medium with electronically recorded data installed in to support an interactive computer game or computer‑generated images,and includes a match, a series of matches, a race, a series of races, a time trial, a qualification session, a tournament and a round, but does not include the following:(c)any game of chance; (d)any fitness activity or recreational activity that is not organised in the course of any business;
Open s 3
totalisator
Defined · s 3
“totalisator” has the meaning given by section 5(9);
Open s 3

Read on from s 6

Part 2

Offences

Read on from Part 2

Part 3

Presumptions and Evidence

Read on from Part 3

Part 4

Licensing

Read on from Part 4

Part 5

Gambling Venue and Games Approval

Read on from Part 5

Part 6

Harm Minimisation and Integrity Protection Measures

Read on from Part 6

Part 7

Regulatory Sanctions

Read on from Part 7

Part 8

Reconsideration and Appeals

Read on from Part 8

Part 9

Enforcement

Read on from Part 9

Part 10

Administration

Read on from Part 10

Part 11

Miscellaneous

Read on from Part 11

Part 12

Amendments to Casino Control Act 2006

Read on from Part 12

Part 13

Repeals, Amendments to Other Acts and Final Provisions

Read on from Part 13

Schedules

Read on from Schedules