Online casinos accepting players from the Philippines

The Philippines is a group of islands belonging to the territory of the Asian continent, but there is more to it than the geographical position to emphasize its uniqueness in the grand scheme of the territory. Namely, the country has been established as a gambling capital more or less, considering that their authorities' earliest beginnings date back long before most of the current modern bodies.

Recent Times

The situation regarding legal gambling practices on the territory of this Asian country has been altered to include new and contemporary forms of the activity. 

With its expanse, the legal landscape has been subject to corresponding changes and nowadays offers provisions that clearly and strictly regulate the practice of both land-based and online entertainment with games of luck and chance.

Licensing & Regulation in the Philippines

As mentioned above, the Philippines have been a strictly regulated gambling market since an early stage of the industry. To be more specific, the first and main regulatory body regarding such practices on the Philippine territory is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). It has been set up back in 1976, with the support of then-president Ferdinand Marcos, and still operates up until today as a 100% government authority regulating said services.

While this organization covers the predominant portion of Philippine territory, there is another authority which refers specifically to the enclosed area of commercialized grounds. The hotels and resorts featured there are licensed by this separate regulatory body, and due to its restrictive policies, locals cannot join the guests in their gambling endeavors. This is the Cagayan Freeport area, with a specific establishment licensing and regulating the casino operators on its territories.

Legal Online Gambling in the Philippines

The iGaming industry in the Philippines has been experiencing a steady rise, but its regulatory policies are in a rather unique situation. To put it simply, the respective jurisdictions illustrated above have the authority to license and regulate online casino operators. PAGCOR provides licenses to a specific kind of e-cafe locals which cater to the local population, while the latter jurisdiction issues full licenses to online operators. However, these platforms are not allowed to cater to citizens of the Philippines, despite their legal status.

To clarify...

...there is no explicit law stating that it is illegal to place wagers online; on the contrary, there has been a court ruling back in 2012 which declared that no piece of Philippine legislature prohibits its citizens from this practice. Thus, numerous reputable international casino operators have offered their services to this largely untapped player pool, providing them with top online gambling opportunities from leading software providers. Players are still advised to bear in mind the operators' offshore status, and take caution when engaging in real money online gambling, as in most cases when it comes to this practice.

On the other hand...

The online casino and other gambling platforms licensed by Philippine authorities have a solid legal basis to cater to players outside of the country's limits. Considering that this is the only instance of a legal authority dedicated to iGaming establishments in the whole of Asia, said licensed casino sites and gambling platforms are able to cater to the player pools across the continent.

Top Online Casinos for the Philippines

The Philippine player pool is catered by the vast selection of off-shore online casino operators, meaning that they are not licensed by the national authorities. As a result, a key consideration for Philippine players making the most of their online gambling exploits is to choose a suitable and trustworthy casino site.

For this purpose, it is important to bear in mind several guidelines to make sure you enjoy your online gambling experience:

• Licensing - While they are not licensed by your country's authoritative body, it is important that players make sure their chosen online casino platform has been licensed and regulated by the appropriate jurisdiction. Otherwise, they may be risking their funds without any legal organization to appeal to;
• Game selection - A secure platform should also be a fun platform. When choosing an online casino, make sure its game selection has the appropriate game titles you prefer in order to guarantee an entertaining online gambling experience;
• Banking - Making transactions with your hard-earned cash is the third aspect that deserves utmost scrutiny when choosing an operator. Players are advised to stick to platforms that offer established reliable payment processors rather than those operators which offer numerous questionable options;
• Player reviews - Fellow players who have already gambled at a specific site normally post their experience at online review sites and forums. Hence, a useful guideline would be to search for comments on the relevant platform prior to engaging in gameplay yourself.

Author: Shelly Schiff