Legal Online Gambling In The Philippines

Yes

The Philippines is home to Entertainment City, one of the biggest and most popular destination gambling districts in Southeast Asia. Only China’s Macau casino district is bigger.

However, despite having access to so many luxurious integrated resorts (IRs) throughout the nation, not all Filipinos are allowed to patronize these brick-and-mortar venues. Generally, such gambling is reserved for tourists, junkets, and local VIPs.

Philippine casino laws typically require local players to prove they maintain an “adequate income” before being allowed the VIP status necessary to gamble.  

Yes

The Philippines legalized online gambling in 2020, prompted mostly by the coronavirus pandemic that saw the country’s retail casino locations enter extended lockdowns.

However, as with brick-and-mortar gambling, online gambling in the Philippines is very restrictive. To participate, you must be an established VIP player and meet rigorous income standards.

As such, most locals of modest means – or simply those gamblers who wish to bet only a few dollars here and there – have no local online options.

Thankfully, the legit online betting sites featured in our guide have no such restrictions and are open to all Filipino players at 18 and up.

Yes

In 2020, Philippine iGaming started rolling out at the biggest IRs in Entertainment City, and the nation’s online casino gambling market has continued to grow ever since.

That said, between the player restrictions (see the previous FAQ) and the limited online casino game selection at domestic sites, you’ll always have more to choose from when playing with the licensed offshore casinos recommended here.

No

While you can sign up with the official Philippine sportsbook – MegaSportsWorld (MSW) – over the Internet, you can only make deposits and place wagers in person at MSW retail locations.

However, if you establish yourself as a so-called MSW MVP (a status you can “unlock” by betting at least $180 per week for eight straight weeks), MSW will allow you to place remote bets from your smartphone or computer.

This isn’t done via web browser, though. Instead, MSW uses a video calling app, allowing users to place sports wagers with a live operator.

If you want to bet sports online conveniently, the offshore sportsbooks featured in our guide are your best bet.

No 

As of 2023, there are no domestic Philippine poker rooms that offer real-money online poker games or online poker tournaments.

The only way to play poker online legally and safely is to use one of the poker sites recommended in our legal poker betting guide.

PAGCOR

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation – or PAGCOR for short – is the main government agency that oversees gambling in the nation. But PAGCOR only regulates domestic in-person and online gambling operations.

The best international gambling sites are not regulated by PAGCOR but are instead licensed by the gaming commissions in their own home countries.

Bingo!

Bingo is one of the most popular gambling pastimes in the Philippines, and local bingo games are available just about everywhere. However, online bingo – like all online iGaming – is extremely limited.

Luckily, all the top offshore casino sites have plenty of real-money online bingo to enjoy.

Yes

In the Philippines, there are numerous lotteries to choose from. These range in size from small local lotteries to large national lotteries.

Most offshore betting sites also have numerous lotto and lotto draw games available.  

Basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, boxing

Basketball is practically the national sport of the Philippines, and all the best online sportsbooks offer countless PBA odds, NBA odds, FIBA odds, and more.

In addition to basketball betting, of course, Filipino punters enjoy MLB betting as well as gambling on most other US and international sports.

However, the market isn’t exactly like everywhere else. For example, Filipinos tend to enjoy volleyball betting, tennis betting, and boxing betting more than, say, soccer betting, NFL betting, NHL betting, golf betting, etc.

e-Sabong and Jueteng

In the Philippines, most forms of gambling are legal in some capacity or another. However, there are a few popular forms of gambling that remain illegal in the nation to this day.

The most prominent illegal Philippine gambling amusements as of 2023 are online cockfighting (aka online sabong or e-sabong) and Jueteng.

Unfortunately, neither of these pastimes is available at the offshore international betting sites featured in our legal online Philippine gambling guide.