Problem Gambling on the rise in Singapore

We reported on the opening of Singapore’s first casino at the Resort Worlds Sentosa (RWS) complex on February 9^th this year but the number of people applying to bar themselves from it is increasing. In October of 2009 probably in anticipation of a problem the government in the form of the Institute of Mental Health set up a 24 hour helpline at the National Council on Problem Gambling. The helpline was receiving around 200 calls per day until the casino opened but since then this has rocketed to over 500. Most calls are asking for help for friends or family but others are asking for themselves to be excluded from the casino, in fact around 200 people per month are applying and that is forecast to become even more when the next casino, the Marina Bay Sands opens later this month. The council is already in discussion with the Marina Bay Sands on how to best work together but experience at RWS suggests that the casinos own counselling service has had very limited use but according to a spokesperson from the casino “this is typical for counselling services provided by casino operators, as it takes time for the programme to gain momentum”. RWS also run a voluntary loss limit system whereby it is possible for an individual to set limits on the amount they are allowed to lose in a given time period but this has yet to be used at all. This could of course simply be a period of adjustment for the Singapore residents as having been unable to gamble at a casino for so long they are now letting them selves go.