Poker Black Friday Heading To Singapore?

The Southeast Asian country of Singapore is one of the world’s biggest casino markets, generating around $6 billion each year in gaming revenue, and a further $375 million annually in online gambling.
The global remote gambling industry is estimated to be worth US$35 billion annually and actually represents the biggest area of growth for potential operators. Last year, for instance, online gambling’s annual growth rate was around 9%, or five times higher than the expected growth rate of land-based gambling businesses.
However, concerns have been raised recently that Singapore may soon place a ban on all forms of remote gambling, including poker, after the Second Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Iswaran, emphasized the addictive nature of the games, as well as the potential to use online gambling sites for illegal activities, such as money laundering.
This would all spell very bad news for a legion of poker fans who view poker as a game of skill and risk management, rather than being just a gambling pursuit. Many of these players could soon find themselves in a US Black Friday situation, and cut off from the fulltime or supplementary incomes afforded to them by online poker.
Following Mr Iswaran stating his worrying views on online gambling, there was immediate reaction from many players involved in the industry, with one such Singaporean pro, Bryan Huang, commenting:
“I sincerely hope the game we love, live on, play seriously as a hobby does not get mixed up with the shady activities/online casinos targeted by the new laws. Unfortunately if it does we might have our version of Black Friday in Singapore. I’ll definitely be watching closely when these laws go into place and make the necessary arrangements to make sure I am not breaking any laws.”
The good news, however, is that the jury is still undecided on whether an outright ban would curb gambling addiction and money-laundering activities or simply drive them underground. More stringent controls within the industry, on the other hand, could allow operators to more effectively monitor and police these activities and thus bring them in line within legislative guidelines.