Gambling Regulators and Licensing in Asia

Who licenses what

Gambling in Asia is licensed jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and the regulator that issues the license is also the body that polices it. If you ever have a dispute with an operator, the first question to answer is which regulator licensed it, because that is who you complain to.

In the Philippines, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is both an operator and a regulator. It runs its own casinos and licensed gaming venues, and it licenses offshore gaming operators that serve players abroad. PAGCOR publishes a list of its licensees for gaming venue operations, which you can check before you visit or play⁶. It also regulates online gaming providers, and has been building an online verification facility, including an app, that lets the public check whether an online gaming provider is licensed⁷.

In Macau, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, known as DICJ, licenses and supervises the casino concessionaires and their satellite casinos, and runs the territory's self-exclusion program². In Japan, the Casino Regulatory Commission licenses the new integrated resorts and sets the rules for what games they may offer³. In Singapore, gambling is regulated under the Gambling Control Act 2022, which requires licensees to bar excluded persons from gambling and allows winnings to be refused to excluded persons¹¹. Cambodia licenses land-based casinos but, as explained below, has suspended online gambling operated from them⁸.

Beyond the national regulators, most online casinos and betting sites that accept players from across Asia are licensed offshore. A site serving Cambodian players, for example, will typically hold a license from Panama, Anjouan, Mwali, Curaçao, the Isle of Man or Malta⁵. These offshore licenses are the ones you will see most often in the footer of an online casino, and they are covered in the next section.

If you want to go deeper on the categories, our page on types of gambling licenses explains concessions, casino licenses, online licenses and B2B and B2C licenses, and our page on public gambling license registers lists where each regulator publishes its licensees.

Offshore licenses: Curaçao, Malta, Anjouan and Kahnawà:ke

When you open an online casino that accepts players from Asia, the license in the footer is usually from one of a handful of offshore jurisdictions. Here is what each of the main ones is.

Curaçao. The Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) licenses a large share of the online casinos serving Asian players. A site licensed there will say so in its terms; one example, TrustDice, states plainly that it is "licensed and regulated by the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA)"¹². Curaçao reformed its licensing system under its new LOK gambling law, which replaced the old master license system; you can read about that on our pages about Curaçao's new gambling law and what replaced the Curaçao master license. To check a Curaçao license, see how to verify a Curaçao gambling license.

Malta. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is one of the stricter European regulators, and an MGA license carries real obligations on the operator. One example: if a player asks to be self-excluded because of problem gambling, the MGA requires the licensee to exclude that player from all brands the licensee operates, whether or not the player holds an account with each brand¹³. Our page on the Malta Gaming Authority explains what an MGA license means, and how to check an MGA license shows you the register.

Anjouan. Anjouan, one of the Comoros islands, appears regularly among the licensing jurisdictions used by offshore casinos serving players in Asia. International sites accepting Cambodian players, for example, are typically licensed in jurisdictions such as Panama, Anjouan, Mwali, Curaçao, the Isle of Man, Malta, and others⁵. See our pages on Anjouan gaming licenses and how to verify an Anjouan gaming license.

Kahnawà:ke. The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, a First Nations regulator in Canada, has licensed online gambling operations since the 1990s and is one of the older names in the field. Its fee schedule changes from January 1, 2027, when new application and renewal fees apply. See the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and how to check a Kahnawake gaming license.

Other jurisdictions you will see include the Isle of Man, Panama and Gibraltar. The practical point is the same for all of them: an offshore license is only worth something if it is real and current, and you can check that yourself. Our comparison pages on Curacao vs Malta and Anjouan vs Curacao set out the differences, and our page on the risks of playing on unlicensed sites explains what is at stake.

How to check any license, step by step

The method for checking a license is the same whichever regulator issued it. The UK Gambling Commission, whose guidance is a useful model for players anywhere, tells gamblers to check the operator's address, website domain names, trading names and current license status before transferring money into a gambling account, and to check that the details of the license, including the activities and website domain names, match the public register¹⁵.

In practice:

1. Find the license claim. Look in the site's footer or its terms and conditions for the regulator's name and a license number. If there is no license claim at all, treat that as your answer.
2. Open the regulator's register. Every serious regulator publishes a public list of its licensees. Go to the regulator's own site, not through any link on the casino's site, because links can be faked.
3. Match the details. Search the register for the operator. Check that the company name, the website domain you are actually on, and the license status all match. A license number copied from another operator, or a license that covers a different domain, does not protect you.
4. Check the activity covered. A license may cover casino games but not sports betting, or the reverse. The register tells you which activities are licensed¹⁵.

If the details do not match, you may be looking at a cloned or fake license. Our pages on fake gambling license claims, how to read a gambling license number and regulator warning lists and blacklists cover the tricks sites use and the lists regulators publish of operators to avoid.

How to verify a PAGCOR license

PAGCOR is the regulator you are most likely to deal with if you gamble in the Philippines or on a Philippine-licensed site, and it gives you several ways to check a license.

The starting point is PAGCOR's published list of licensees for gaming venue operations, which names the companies licensed to run gaming venues⁶. One thing to know about that list: PAGCOR states that it does not certify that each licensee offers all PAGCOR-approved game offerings, so a venue being on the list does not mean every game is available there⁶.

For online gaming, PAGCOR has been building an online verification facility, including an app, that allows the public to check whether an online gaming provider is licensed⁷. PAGCOR has also warned the public against fake online gaming sites and urges players to check its list of licensees before accessing offshore gaming sites¹⁶. If you suspect a site or activity is an unlicensed offshore operation, you can report it through the POGO hotline on 09278098610¹⁶.

For responsible gaming questions, self-exclusion and general assistance, PAGCOR's helpline is (02) 8248-9568, and its responsible gaming email is ResponsibleGaming@pagcor.ph⁹. Our page on which companies hold PAGCOR Entertainment City licenses covers the big Manila resort licenses, and what is a First Cagayan license explains the older Cagayan economic zone licensing route.

Japan Casino Regulatory Commission: what it licenses and what it does not

Japan's Casino Regulatory Commission (JCRC) licenses the country's integrated resorts: the large complexes that combine a casino with hotels, shopping and entertainment. It is a strict, independent regulator, and the license it grants covers a defined list of casino games set out in the enforcement rules, which include games such as sic bo alongside the expected table games and machines³.

The Commission's rules also reach into player protection inside the facilities. Under Article 44 of the enforcement rules, a casino operator may prohibit a person from entering when a request is made by the person's family or other related persons and the operator judges it necessary for preventing gambling addiction³.

What the Commission does not license is online casinos. Japan has no licensed online casino sector, and the National Police Agency states the position plainly: even if an online casino is legally operated overseas, connecting from within Japan to gamble is a crime, and that includes free versions and free point-based play¹⁴. So a site showing you a Curaçao or Malta license and accepting Japanese players is licensed somewhere else, but that license does not make playing from Japan legal for you. If you are in Japan, the licensed gambling available to you is the state-run and local-government betting on public sports (keirin, auto racing, boat racing and horse racing) and the takarakuji lottery, each with its own supervising bodies. The keirin system, for example, offers a self-check tool and a consultation service for gambling problems through its official site¹⁷, and the national government's basic plan on gambling addiction countermeasures includes staffing the lottery call center with counselors trained by gambling addiction specialists and purchase limits on the lottery website¹⁸.

Cambodia's online gambling suspension

Cambodia's licensing picture has changed twice in recent years, and both changes matter if you play online.

First, in 2019 the Prime Minister formally banned all online gambling, restricting internet gaming services, and no online gambling licenses have been issued since⁵. The land-based casino sector continued, with casinos licensed along the border and in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.

Second, from October 2026, Cambodia is suspending online gambling operations conducted from casinos across the country⁸. The suspension applies to online gambling activities operated or broadcast from casino premises, which in practice means the live dealer studios that stream from Cambodian casinos to offshore sites. Ordinary casinos are not being closed; the measure targets the online operations run from them⁸. The suspension is described as temporary, though no end date has been given⁸.

The practical effect for a player is that any site streaming live dealer games from Cambodia is doing so without a licensing framework behind it, and sites that accepted Cambodian players were already operating on offshore licenses from jurisdictions like Panama, Anjouan, Mwali, Curaçao, the Isle of Man and Malta⁵. Our page on gambling in Cambodia covers what you can still do on the ground.

Macau: DICJ licenses and self-exclusion

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) is Macau's gambling regulator. It supervises the six concessionaires and their satellite casinos, and it also runs one of the more hands-on self-exclusion systems in Asia.

Under Macau's Law 10/2012, the DICJ director may prohibit a person from entering all or some casinos for up to two years, at the person's own request or at the confirmed request of a spouse, ascendant, descendant or second-degree collateral relative¹⁹. The application forms are available from DICJ itself, from the Social Welfare Bureau's Chi I Un center, from any Macau casino, or as downloads from the DICJ website²⁰. You submit the completed form in person at the DICJ office on the 12th floor A of China Plaza, 762-804 Avenida da Praia Grande, with both parties' original ID and a recent photo of the excluded person²⁰. If the application is submitted through one of the casinos, DICJ will contact the applicant to verify personal details, and the excluded person must attend the DICJ office in person²⁰.

There is also a self-service route: responsible gambling information kiosks let both Macao citizens and tourists submit a self-exclusion application on their own²². DICJ reads identity documents to obtain the excluded person's ID number, name, sex and date of birth, stores them in its administrative system and sends them to all or some Macau casinos solely to run the self-exclusion program²³. The excluded person may choose whether to accept counseling from a problem gambling prevention institution, and may consent to DICJ passing personal data to that institution solely for counseling²³. Separately, Macau's gaming law requires each concessionaire to set up a responsible gambling task force providing assistance and counseling to those who need it²⁴.

For general inquiries, DICJ can be reached on (853) 2856 9262 or by email at inquiry@dicj.gov.mo². For exclusion matters specifically, the numbers are (853) 8397 3286 by phone and exclusion@dicj.gov.mo by email²⁰.

Singapore: exclusions and unlicensed sites

Singapore's system is built around the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and the Gambling Regulatory Authority. Individuals may apply to exclude themselves from one or more of three gambling activities in Singapore: the two casinos (Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands), jackpot machine rooms at private clubs, and Singapore Pools online betting²⁵. Applications can be made online through the NCPG, and organizations with a Corppass account can facilitate group self-exclusion applications for their employees or members, with the individuals' consent²⁷.

The law backs these orders up. Under the Gambling Control Act 2022, an excluded person must not engage in any gambling in or from Singapore in contravention of a gambling ban applicable to them²⁸, and licensees must bar excluded persons from gambling¹¹.

The NCPG's help line is 1800-6-668-668¹⁰. If you want to apply, our step-by-step summary is on the NCPG's pages, which walk you through the online application and what each exclusion covers²⁹.

On the online side, Singapore licenses only Singapore Pools for remote betting; anything else serving Singapore players is unlicensed from Singapore's point of view, which is why the exclusion system and the help line matter more than license-checking there. If a site claims a foreign license, the checking method earlier in this page still applies.

Self-exclusion and help lines by regulator

Every regulator in this guide runs some form of self-exclusion, and knowing the contact point for each one is practical information worth having before you need it.

A few things worth knowing about how these schemes work in practice. In the Philippines, PAGCOR provides patrons who feel that they or a relative are developing a problem with the option of barring themselves from the gaming venue or site, and once the order is in place it is enforced in all PAGCOR operated and regulated gaming facilities, wherever the application was made³⁰. In Macau, the excluded person can accept or decline counseling from a problem gambling prevention body; it is optional, not forced²⁰. In Singapore, an exclusion is a legal bar, not just a request: gambling while excluded is an offense, and a licensee may refuse to pay winnings to an excluded person¹¹.

For offshore sites, the Malta rule is the model worth remembering: a self-exclusion request made because of problem gambling must apply across all brands the licensee operates, whether or not you hold an account with each brand¹³. Not every offshore regulator enforces this, so if you play on multiple sites owned by the same company, check whether the regulator requires group-wide exclusion or only per-site exclusion.

If your problem is not with your own play but with an operator, the route is different: go to the regulator that licensed the operator. Our pages on how to complain to a gambling regulator, gambling ADR services and what happens when a gambling license is suspended or revoked cover that side of things.