Singapore to Take Second Place in Casino Revenues Ahead of Las Vegas

It’s still quite far behind Macau’s casino gambling revenue currently valued at over $23 billion, yet Singapore casino gambling revenues are on the right track to throw Las Vegas off its number 2 position on the list of the world’s leading gambling meccas. After introducing its first two gambling establishments last year, Singapore rounded up gaming revenue of $5.1 billion.

The two casinos within the city-state are operating in full compliance with Singaporean gambling laws and are expected to make close to $6.4 billion this year, compared to $5.8 billion forecast for Las Vegas. Frank J. Fahrenkopf, President of the American Gaming Association made the predictions at the G2E Asia conference, based on these same numbers.

Macau will naturally remain on top with its unparalleled revenues, however its profits could be diminished somewhat in case the government will take upon slapping around the junket operators. Currently, the high-rollers take advantage of junkets arriving from mainland China which make up close to seventy percent of Macau revenues in some cases.

Fahrenkopf commented on the situation: “One thing that investors don’t like is uncertainty. The whole junket question and what’s going to happen in the future creates uncertainty.”

In regards to Singapore, although land-based gaming is permitted, no framework for online casinos in Singapore exists. Thus there are no legal internet casinos in the country. However citizens still love to play online at a long list of foreign-based internet casinos which happily welcome Singaporean online casino gamblers.

The situation is quite different for punters who like to bet on sports in Singapore. A variety of sports betting opportunities is offered to Singaporeans through state-operated Singapore Pools sportsbook. Punters can place wagers either using a vast network of gaming kiosks or thorough online and mobile betting services offered by Singapore Pools.

It remains to be seen if projections for Singaporean casinos work out, and if Mr. Fahrenkopf will be correct about his forecast of Las Vegas moving down a spot in global ranking. Growth patterns tend to suggest that Singapore gambling is moving in the right direction and Las Vegas will have to be content with the third place.