Singapore’s limits on domestic gambling appear to be working, according to the Casino Regulatory Authority’s latest annual report.
Statistics contained in the document and cited by The Straits Times show that only 7.7% of residents made more than one visit to the city-state’s two casinos in the past three years, although the CRA did not give a further breakdown on the number of times this segment actually visited the casinos.
Significantly, the agency said that the vast majority of the remaining 92.3% of the population did not visit the casinos at all.
The total number of visits to the casinos by Singaporeans and permanent residents has also dropped in a sign that the “novelty factor” could be wearing off, said CRA Chairman Richard Magnus in his foreword to the report.
Singaporeans and permanent residents averaged 17,000 casino visits last year, the report said. The average was 20,000 visits when the resorts opened in 2010.
The CRA also attributed the drop in the number of visits to the effectiveness of its safeguards in deterring vulnerable individuals from engaging in problem gambling.
