Philippines

PAGCOR is the central gaming regulator, licensing casinos, e-games and online sports betting while transitioning to a pure-regulator role. Domestic online sports betting is legal only through PAGCOR-licensed PIGO operators (offshore sites are barred from accepting Filipino bets). In late 2024 President Marcos banned all POGO/offshore gaming (Executive Order 74), made permanent by Republic Act 12312 (Anti-POGO Act of 2025).

Through 2025-2026 a strong "ban vs. smart regulation" debate has dominated the Senate, and PAGCOR has tightened rules (mandatory KYC before deposit, credit-card funding ban, advertising restrictions). Horse-race betting is stably legal (since 1903) under PHILRACOM with GAB handling betting operations. Prediction markets have no recognized legal/regulatory pathway under Philippine securities or gaming law and are accessed only via unlicensed offshore platforms — an unregulated grey area.

The minimum gambling age is 21 (among the strictest in Asia).

The Philippines has swung back and forth on its treatment of gambling. Land-based casinos still operate under PAGCOR licence, and comments from President Duterte in mid-2016 suggested plans to take a hardline stance against online betting sites before he appeared to reverse course a month later. On the offshore side the swinging has stopped: Philippine offshore gaming operations are banned outright and every offshore licence has been cancelled.

Things are in a state of flux, but we will keep this page up to date as new developments manifest. In the meantime, we can provide a landscape view of the current legal situation for gambling.

Land-based casinos have been constructed in most major cities and residents are welcome to play table games, slot machines and poker at government-owned casinos. A limited form of sports betting is also offered through the government-run MegaSportsWorld.
This corporation hosts wagers on certain sports at local betting shops and through internet cafes across the country. Customers may also phone in wagers through the sportsbook’s telebetting service. It should be noted that MegaSportsWorld does not accept bets over the internet.

Online gambling also exists, and PAGCOR now licenses domestic operators to offer sports betting, electronic casino games and online poker to players in the Philippines through their registered gaming platforms. Those offshore-facing licences are gone: the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 withdrew, revoked or cancelled permanently every offshore gaming licence previously issued by PAGCOR, the special economic zone authorities, TIEZA and the freeport authorities, and revoked their power to issue new ones.

Betting online from the Philippines now means using a PAGCOR-licensed platform: PAGCOR regulates all games of chance and issues licenses to all gaming operations within the Philippine territory, and its power to license offshore gaming has been revoked by statute. If you would like to play casino games, bet on sports or play poker online, do so with a PAGCOR-licensed operator. Here’s a look at a few sites that do accept Filipinos:

Philippines Betting Sites

Note: William Hill and many other betting sites no longer accept customers from the Philippines. The Philippine online channel is a domestic, licensed one, run through PAGCOR's Electronic Gaming Licensing Department.

The Cagayan Special Economic Zone (aka Cagayan Freeport) can no longer license internet gaming at all.

The licence to look for is a Philippine one. PAGCOR regulates all games of chance and issues licenses to all gaming operations within the Philippine territory, and its Electronic Gaming Licensing Department is the regulatory arm over the local gaming operations offering sports betting, electronic casino games and online poker through their registered online platforms. A foreign licence is not a substitute.

Gaming Law in the Phillipines

There are two sets of gaming laws in the Philippines. Most of the country is regulated under one set of rules defined by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). PAGCOR is both a regulator and operator of gambling throughout the country. It is fully government-owned and licenses all gaming operations inside the Philippines alongside the casinos it still runs itself.

PAGCOR operates land-based casinos located throughout the country as well as the sportsbook we all know as MegaSportsWorld. None of these games are offered online although MegaSportsWorld does offer its wagers at internet cafes and its phone-in service. PAGCOR also licenses the many e-gaming cafes around the country.

In another part of the country, Cagayan Freeport is situated an Asian gambling destination, and that’s exactly what it is today. The zone works with international gambling companies to develop and promote the area as a tourism and gaming hotspot. Private companies operate casinos and resorts in Cagayan Freeport under the watchful eye of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).

Cagayan Freeport once licensed internet gaming sites too, but Republic Act No. 12312 revoked the power of the special economic zone and freeport authorities to issue such a licence at all. At one point, upwards of 80 companies were licensed by CEZA to offer internet casino games, poker and sports betting. The catch was always that companies registered in Cagayan Freeport were strictly forbidden from offering their games to citizens of the Philippines.

As the number of operators licensed by the zone authority attested, a license from CEZA was highly attractive. It offered access to the wider Asian gambling market even though it excluded the Philippines. Cagayan Freeport is no longer an online gaming licensing jurisdiction, and that revocation is permanent.

President Duterte's 2016 Gambling Crackdown

In August of 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte unexpectedly declared war on online gambling. He vowed to “destroy” the industry and immediately began ordering PAGCOR to suspend the licenses of 124 local e-gaming cafes. In Dueterte’s own words, “online gambling must be stopped.”

He pointed to the social ills associated with gambling as his main motivation for setting his target on the industry, particularly “oligarchs” who profit off the activity while everyday citizens suffer. In some comments, he even mentioned PhilWeb Chairman Roberto Ongpin by name as an example of the oligarchs who are “embedded in government.”

President Duterte later made an abrupt about-shift with a statement indicating that online betting may return if the government finds a better way to secure its share of the profits earned by gaming operators. The domestic online channel did come back, and PAGCOR's Electronic Gaming Licensing Department now regulates it.

In fact, a good number of e-gaming cafes do remain in operation. The Filipino did go on to revoke even more licenses at a later point, but only for shops that were located too closely to churches and schools. President Duterte and his supporters have since made the point that their aim isn’t necessarily to completely shut down gambling, but rather to ensure operators are not taking advantage of the poor and vulnerable members of society.

The End of Philippine Offshore Gaming Licences

Philippine offshore gaming licences no longer exist. The Anti-POGO Act of 2025, Republic Act No. 12312, banned and declared unlawful offshore gaming operations in the Philippines, withdrew, revoked and cancelled permanently every offshore gaming licence previously issued by PAGCOR, the special economic zone authorities, TIEZA and the freeport authorities, and revoked their power to issue any more. Upon the effectivity of the Act it became prohibited for any person or entity to conduct or offer offshore gaming, so no Philippine offshore gaming licence remains valid.