Current Gamblers on Legal Online Gambling Sites Operated by Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the profile and spending habits of users on legal online gambling platforms operated by Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club. Mr Leon Perera inquired if these users are first-time gamblers and whether their total gambling expenditure has increased or shifted from other platforms. Second Minister for Home Affairs Mrs Josephine Teo responded that the vast majority are not first-time gamblers, as most previously held telephone accounts or placed bets recently. She noted that turnover growth remains stable and the illegal market's growth has slowed, though it is difficult to determine if total spending has risen. The Minister added that data for these findings were sourced from surveys conducted by the gambling operators themselves.
Transcript
2 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Home Affairs since October 2016 (a) to what extent are users of legal online gambling sites operated by Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club current gamblers on any platform versus first-time gamblers; and (b) whether such gamblers have used these sites to add to their total gambling spending as opposed to switching gambling spending from other platforms.
The Second Minister for Home Affairs (Mrs Josephine Teo) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, more than one-third and four-fifths of Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club's remote account holders respectively, previously held telephone betting accounts. Among those who had previously not held telephone betting accounts, over 95% of them indicated that they had placed bets with the operators in the preceding 12 months. In short, the large majority do not appear to be first-time gamblers.
It is not possible to ascertain whether these remote account holders have simply switched from other platforms, including illegal ones, or have increased their total gambling. That said, there has not been evidence of a surge in the sum of bets placed with Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club since the commencement of remote services in 2016. In 2017, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club's turnover grew by 2.6%, in line with the average annual growth of 2.4% between financial year (FY) 2012 and FY2015.
On the other hand, according to gambling consultancy firm H2GC, the local underground remote gambling market grew only by 0.3% in 2017, lower than the average annual growth rate of 3.1% between 2012 and 2016.
Mr Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Second Minister for the reply. Just one very quick supplementary question: may I know the source of the data for the first part of the answer on the proportion of users who previously had telephone betting accounts?
Mrs Josephine Teo: The sources are Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club themselves. The information is from surveys done on the users of their services.