Gambling addiction help in Singapore

Verified helplines

Helplines and online chat

The National Problem Gambling Helpline answers on 1800-6-668-668, daily from 8am to 11pm. Webchat runs through ncpg.org.sg during the same hours.

For questions specifically about an exclusion application, NCPG has a separate line on 6354 8154, and applications can also be made in person at ServiceSG Centres. The IMH Mental Health Helpline on 6389 2222 is the route to clinical addiction services. Numbers for other countries are in the helplines directory.

Self-exclusion

Singapore's exclusion system is run centrally by the National Council on Problem Gambling, and one application covers three things at once: the two casinos (Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa), jackpot machine rooms at private clubs, and Singapore Pools online betting. You cannot pick and choose among them.

Apply online with Singpass. The exclusion takes effect immediately on submission, and you must be at least 21. It has no fixed end date you can wait out: NCPG requires an applicant to have been excluded for at least a year before applying to revoke it. Visit limits are the lighter alternative — a cap on how often you may enter, rather than a full ban.

There are three other routes onto the same list. A Family Exclusion Order can be applied for by a spouse, child (including adoptive and step-children), parent or sibling, with supporting evidence such as casino entry levy receipts, bank statements, letters of demand, pawn tickets or police reports. A Committee of Assessors holds a hearing, usually about two weeks after the application; the person named is summoned and can consent or object. A Third Party Exclusion Order can be triggered by a creditor declaring indebtedness. Exclusion by Law applies automatically to certain groups, with no application at all.

How this compares with registers elsewhere is set out in self-exclusion by country.

Blocking gambling payments and sites

Singapore's major banks do not publish a card-level gambling block of the kind offered by banks in the UK or Australia, so there is no switch to flip in a banking app here. The money controls that do exist are the NCPG exclusion, which cuts off Singapore Pools online accounts, and the casino entry levy, which puts a S$150-a-day or S$3,000-a-year cost on entry for citizens and permanent residents before any bet is placed.

That leaves device-level blocking doing more work than it does in other countries. Software that covers phones and computers is compared in blocking apps for iOS and Android. If debts are already involved, Credit Counselling Singapore runs debt management help, and the general steps are in what to do about gambling debt.

Free treatment and counselling

The National Addictions Management Service (NAMS) at the Institute of Mental Health provides assessment and treatment for gambling and other behavioural addictions, including individual, group and family therapy. Appointments go through 6389 2222.

Community agencies handle much of the counselling. One Hope Centre provides counselling and support programmes to people and families affected by gambling at no charge, in English and Mandarin, on 6547 1011. WE CARE Community Services runs the Gambling Recovery and Intervention Programme on 3165 8017 and hosts Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Changi General Hospital's addiction medicine clinic is another route, on 6850 3333.

If you want to check where your own gambling sits before calling any of them, the self-test takes a few minutes.

Support for family and friends

Singapore gives family members more legal standing than most countries. A spouse, child, parent or sibling can apply for a Family Exclusion Order against a relative, and the order is decided by a Committee of Assessors rather than by the person who gambles. Gather the evidence first — entry levy receipts, bank statements, letters of demand, pawn tickets, and any police report — because incomplete applications hold up the hearing.

Counselling for family members is available through the same agencies that treat gamblers: One Hope Centre works with individuals and families at no charge, and WE CARE hosts Gamblers Anonymous meetings. For the conversation itself, see how to help someone with a gambling problem and the signs of gambling addiction.

Gambling law and the regulator

The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore regulates the sector under the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act 2022, the Gambling Control Act 2022 and the Casino Control Act 2006. Its remit covers casinos, lottery and betting, gaming machine rooms and community gambling.

The rule is prohibition by default: all gambling activities are prohibited unless licensed or exempted, whether they are conducted online or physically. Singapore Pools is the exempt operator whose online products are lawful; online social gambling remains disallowed. Overseas gambling websites fall outside the licensing system entirely.

The minimum age is 21, except at Singapore Pools' physical outlets where it is 18. Singapore citizens and permanent residents must also pay a casino entry levy of S$150 for a day or S$3,000 for a year, and it is not refundable — including if you later have an exclusion order in place.