Common Gaming Houses Act

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Coming into Force: 30 March 1987
• Act Number: (Original Enactment: Ordinance 2 of 1961)
• Enactment Date: 03 March 1961
• Record Number: Cap. 49
• Published date: 30 March 1987

Common Gaming Houses Act

(CHAPTER 49)

(Original Enactment: Ordinance 2 of 1961)

REVISED EDITION 1985

(30th March 1987)

An Act relating to the suppression of common gaming houses, public gaming and public lotteries.

[3rd March 1961]

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Common Gaming Houses Act.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “common gaming house” includes any place kept or used for gaming to which the public or any class of the public has or may have access, and any place kept for habitual gaming, whether the public or any class of the public has or may have access thereto or not, and any place kept or used for the purpose of a public lottery whether the public has access thereto or not; “gaming”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means the playing of any game of chance or of mixed chance and skill for money or money’s worth; “instruments or appliances for gaming” includes all articles declared under subsection (4) to be instruments or appliances for gaming and all articles which are used in or for the purpose of gaming or a lottery. “lottery” includes any game, method, device, scheme or competition whereby money or money’s worth is distributed or allotted in any manner depending upon or to be determined by chance or lot, whether the same is held, drawn, exercised or managed within or without Singapore; “lottery ticket” includes any paper or figure or writing or symbol or other article whatsoever which either expressly or tacitly entitles or purports to entitle the holder or any other person to receive any money or money’s worth on the happening of any event or contingency connected with any public lottery; “place” means any house, office, room or building and any place or spot, whether open or enclosed, and includes a ship, boat or other vessel, whether afloat or not, and any vehicle; “public lottery” means a lottery to which the public or any class of the public has or may have access, and every lottery shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be a public lottery; “public place” means any place to which the public has or may have access and includes any estate, factory or place in which 10 or more persons are employed. (2) For the purposes of this Act — (a) a place in which lottery tickets are offered for sale, sold or distributed shall be deemed to be used for the purpose of a public lottery; (b) a place shall be deemed to be used for a purpose if it is used for that purpose even on one occasion only; (c) every person who demises or lets for hire a place shall be deemed the owner thereof. (3) The Minister may from time to time by notification in the Gazette — (a) declare any game, method, device, scheme or competition specified or described in the notification to be a lottery for the purposes of this Act and thereupon it shall be an irrebuttable presumption of law that that game, method, device, scheme or competition is a lottery for the purposes of this Act; (b) declare any game, method, device, scheme or competition specified or described in the notification to be a game of chance or a mixed game of chance and skill for the purposes of this Act and thereupon it shall be an irrebuttable presumption of law that that game, method, device, scheme or competition is a game of chance or a mixed game of chance and skill, as the case may be, for the purposes of this Act. (4) The Minister may from time to time by notification in the Gazette declare articles specified or described in the notification to be instruments or appliances for gaming.

Act not applicable to remote gambling

2A. The provisions of this Act do not apply to or in relation to any remote gambling within the meaning of the Remote Gambling Act 2014. [Act 34 of 2014 wef 02/02/2015]

Gaming houses declared public nuisances

3. Every common gaming house is hereby declared to be a common and public nuisance contrary to law.

Offences

4.—(1) Any person who — (a) being the owner or occupier or having the use temporarily or otherwise thereof keeps or uses a place as a common gaming house; (b) permits a place of which he is the owner or occupier or of which he has the use temporarily or otherwise to be kept or used by another person as a common gaming house; (c) has the care or management of or in any manner assists in the management of a place kept or used as a common gaming house; (d) announces or publishes or causes to be announced or published, either orally or by means of any print, writing, design, sign or otherwise, that any place is opened, kept or used as a common gaming house, or in any other manner invites or solicits any person to commit a breach of section 7, 8 or 9; or (e) conducts in or through any newspaper or any other periodical publication, or in connection with any trade or business or the sale of any article to the public — (i) any competition in which prizes are offered for forecasts of the results either of a future event or of a past event the result of which is not yet ascertained or not yet generally known; or (ii) any other competition success in which does not depend to a substantial degree upon the exercise of skill, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000 and shall also be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years. [25/71] [9/86] (1A) Subsection (1)(d) shall not apply to — (a) the Singapore Totalisator Board; (b) any totalisator agency appointed by the Singapore Totalisator Board; and (c) any agent appointed by the Singapore Totalisator Board to operate or conduct any totalisator, lottery, betting or gaming activity. [12/2008 wef 27/12/2010] (2) Any person who occupies or has the use temporarily of a place which is kept or used by another person as a common gaming house shall unless that person proves that he has no knowledge that the place is kept or used as a common gaming house be deemed to have permitted the place to be so kept or used.

Assisting in carrying on a public lottery, etc.

5. Any person who — (a) assists in the carrying on of a public lottery; (b) receives, directly or indirectly, any money or money’s worth for or in respect of any chance in any event or contingency connected with a public lottery or sells or offers for sale or gives or delivers or collects any lottery ticket; (c) draws, throws, declares or exhibits, expressly or otherwise, the winner or winning number, ticket, lot, figure, design, symbol or other result of any public lottery; or (d) writes, prints or publishes or causes to be written, printed or published any lottery ticket or list of prizes or any announcement of the result of a public lottery or any announcement or riddle relating to a public lottery, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $200,000 and shall also be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. [4A [25/71] [9/86]

Advancing or furnishing money for establishing or conducting

6. Any person who advances or furnishes money for the purpose of establishing or conducting the business of a common gaming house or for the purpose of a public lottery or who profits from the establishment or conduct of that business shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000 and shall also be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years. [5 [9/86]

Gaming in a common gaming house

7. Any person who games in a common gaming house shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. [6 [9/86]

Gaming in public

8.—(1) A police officer may arrest without warrant any person found gaming in a public place and may seize all instruments or appliances for gaming found in that public place or on the persons of those arrested under this section. [9/86] (2) Any person gaming in any public place shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both; and all instruments or appliances for gaming seized under this section may be declared by the court before which the conviction is had to be forfeited to the Government and shall be dealt with accordingly. (3) Any person who is the tenant, lessee, occupier or person in charge of any public place which is used for gaming shall, unless the person proves that he has no knowledge that the premises are used for gaming, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $200,000 and shall also be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. (4) Any person who instigates, promotes or intentionally facilitates the commission of an offence punishable under subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $200,000 and shall also be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. (5) Any person who — (a) erects, maintains or controls, or assists to erect, maintain or control, any hut, shed, tent or other building or shelter whatsoever wherein an offence punishable under subsection (2) is committed; (b) brings to, or has in his possession at or near, a place where an offence punishable under subsection (2) is committed any instruments or appliances for gaming; or (c) keeps watch in order to warn or warns persons committing an offence punishable under subsection (2) of risk of detection, shall be presumed until the contrary is proved to have promoted the commission of an offence punishable under subsection (4). (6) A person shall not by reason only of the fact that he has committed an offence punishable under subsection (2) be liable to be convicted of an offence under subsection (3) or (4). (7) Where it is shown that any person has been found to be playing any game of chance or any mixed game of

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