Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority has fined three major gambling operators — Singapore Pools, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa — a combined $275,000 for separate compliance failures, including allowing a self-excluded person to bet, running unapproved casino promotions and maintaining incorrect membership tiers.
The penalties were disclosed in the GRA’s annual report, released on Oct. 6, according to The Straits Times. Singapore Pools and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) each received $100,000 fines, while Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) was fined $75,000.
Singapore Pools Allowed Self-Excluded Person to Bet
The GRA found that Singapore Pools inadvertently allowed a self-excluded person to place bets, breaching licensing conditions under the Gambling Control Act. A GRA spokesman told The Straits Times the breach was self-discovered by Singapore Pools during a monthly review of suspended accounts.
The regulator’s investigation determined that Singapore Pools’ system failed to re-verify exclusion status when users updated their identification documents. Individuals in Singapore can apply for self-exclusion from gambling activities through the National Council on Problem Gambling’s website, and operators are required to enforce those bans.
A Singapore Pools spokeswoman told The Straits Times the company discovered the lapse in April 2024 through its own monitoring processes and reported it to the GRA. The customer’s account was suspended within 30 minutes of detection, and the system issue has since been rectified.
The GRA said it uncovered MBS’ breaches while investigating allegations it had received, according to The Straits Times. The regulator found that from 2018 to 2023, MBS awarded additional chances for draws and promotions under its non-gaming membership program to certain members based on their casino gaming activity.
Because the promotions were tied to members’ casino gaming activity, the GRA classified them as casino promotions — a category that requires the regulator’s prior approval. MBS did not obtain that approval. When contacted by The Straits Times, MBS declined to comment.
RWS Membership Tier Errors
The GRA’s investigation found that RWS members had their casino membership tiers incorrectly maintained under the integrated resort’s approved casino membership program between March 2022 and June 2023, The Straits Times reported. This meant the program was not carried out in accordance with the GRA’s approvals during that period.
A spokeswoman for RWS told The Straits Times the incident was caused by application system-related errors. She said RWS reported the errors to the GRA upon discovery and took immediate steps to address the issue and prevent recurrence.
Auditor-General’s Office Flagged Additional Lapses
Separately, the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) flagged multiple breaches involving all three operators in its most recent report, published in July, according to The Straits Times. The GRA said the AGO findings are unrelated to the enforcement actions in its annual report and that investigations into those matters remain ongoing.
The AGO found that from 2023 to 2025, 120 individuals under exclusion orders were allowed to enter the two casinos at MBS and RWS. It also found that 79 Singapore Pools accounts held by excluded persons had not been closed.
