Huge revenue figures from land casinos show the appetite for gambling in the region.
PricewaterhouseCooper's latest figures reveal that the Asia Pacific region has the world's fastest growing casino gaming industry. Revenue figures are expected to grow from $34.3 billion to $79.3bn by 2015.
Despite this, online gambling remains illegal in Singapore. Gaming analyst Jonathan Galaviz says that Asian governments should take advantage of the growing wave of online gambling in the area, by researching the issue and working towards legislation.
Yet a chorus of dissent remains, with Felix Ling, Platform Asia Management's casino consultant, saying that legalization would have a devastating social impact.
Derek DaCunha, author of “Singapore Places its Bets”, agrees, predicting that legalization would create a generation of gambling addicts, people who would choose online gambling over work and their social life.
However, this “social consequence” argument falls down when compared with overall gambling figures in Singapore. Two land casinos opened in Singapore in 2010 and amassed over £4.4 billion in 2011, revealing the country's appetite for gambling. The potential tax revenue from online gambling is astonishing.
