The two land-based casinos and who watches them

Singapore has exactly two land-based casino licences, both issued under the Casino Control Act and both attached to integrated resorts: Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. The Casino Regulatory Authority — folded into the Gambling Regulatory Authority in 2022 — licenses the operators, approves the games, and inspects the floors. That single regulator model is why the rules here feel consistent from one property to the next, unlike the patchwork you find across jurisdictions in the United States.

Entry is not free. Citizens and permanent residents pay a daily levy of $150 or an annual one of $3,000, while foreigners enter free on presentation of a passport. The levy is collected at the door and is non-refundable, which is the first practical thing any local punter learns. It also means the crowd on a Tuesday afternoon looks quite different from the crowd on a Saturday night.

Under the Casino Control Act, operators must also run responsible gambling programmes, and staff are trained to intervene. If you have ever wondered how to ban someone from a casino, the answer is that the excluded person does not have to do it alone — family members can apply to the National Council on Problem Gambling for a family exclusion order, and the casino is then legally obliged to keep that person out.

What happens to your money at the cage

Chip handling is where Singapore’s regime is stricter than most visitors expect. Chips carry RFID tags, and the cage reconciles them against the drop at the end of each shift. If you buy in for $500 and cash out $500 in chips an hour later, the system has a record of it. This is not surveillance for its own sake; it is how the operator demonstrates to the regulator that table games are not being used to launder money.

Genting casino chips, which regulars bring back from Resorts World Genting in Malaysia, are a common source of confusion. They are not legal tender at Marina Bay Sands and will not be accepted at the cage. The same goes for any chip from an overseas property — the design might look similar, but each casino’s chip set is proprietary and serialised.

Cash transactions above $10,000 trigger customer due diligence under the Casino Control (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Regulations. In practice a cashier will ask for your NRIC or passport and record the source of funds. Bring identification if you plan a large buy-in; arguing at the cage holds up the queue behind you.

Minimums, maximums and the pit boss

Table minimums at the main gaming floors typically start at $25 to $50 for baccarat and blackjack, rising sharply on weekends and public holidays. High-limit rooms sit behind separate doors and start well into the hundreds. The pit boss has discretion over limits and over whether a player may join a private table, so polite requests at quiet hours go further than they do at 10pm on a Friday.

The games, the odds and the local habits

Baccarat is the volume leader in Singapore by a wide margin, followed by roulette and the various sic bo tables. Blackjack rules here generally pay 3:2 and the dealer stands on soft 17, which is reasonable, but the house edge still sits around half a percent on basic strategy. Slot floors are large, and progressive jackpots on the machines are advertised prominently — those machines have the worst expected return on the floor, often 85 to 90 cents on the dollar.

Poker is a smaller part of the picture. The poker room at Resorts World Sentosa runs cash games and tournaments, and the standard two pair poker hand, a double pair in older local parlance, still loses to any set. If you are new to the felt, learn the ranking order before you sit down; asking the dealer mid-hand is allowed but slows the game and irritates regulars.

Complimentary drinks are available on the floor but alcohol service is controlled, and the casino can refuse service. Tipping is not customary and is not expected by croupiers, though some players do it after a good run. Croupier jobs are salaried, shift-based positions and are advertised through the operators’ own career pages rather than through agents — anyone charging a fee for a dealer job interview should be treated with suspicion.

Practical points before you walk in

Dress code is smart casual at both properties. No shorts, no flip-flops, no singlets. Locals often forget this and get turned away at the entrance, particularly at Marina Bay Sands, which enforces it more visibly. Bags are scanned and photography on the gaming floor is prohibited — phones stay in pockets.

Set a budget before you arrive and leave your ATM card in the hotel room. The cash machines on the gaming floor are there for a reason, and the walk to them is short by design. Singapore’s operators publish self-exclusion forms at the casino and online through NCPG, and a self-exclusion order can be reversed only after a cooling-off period — usually a year.

Finally, remember that winnings are not taxed in Singapore. There is no withholding on a jackpot and no reporting requirement for the player. That is unusual internationally and worth knowing if you are comparing the local experience with, say, a casino in Louisville, Kentucky, where the tax treatment is entirely different.