Record $12.2b in bets placed on 4-D, football and other games at Singapore Pools

SINGAPORE - Bets placed with Singapore Pools amounted to a record $12.2 billion in its last financial year, which ended in March 2024.

This sum was its highest ever, a Singapore Pools spokesperson told The Straits Times. It is the only legal lottery and sports betting operator in Singapore.

Its $12.2 billion turnover was 7 per cent higher than the $11.4 billion from the year before.

The compound annual growth rate for Singapore Pools’ turnover has been 8.3 per cent since its 2019/2020 financial year, the spokesperson said.

“This was driven by interest and growth in sports betting, coupled with an increase in major tournaments and events in the past few years,” the spokesperson added.

Singapore Pools’ annual report for its last financial year, which was released on Nov 5, showed that turnover came from bets placed on 4-D, Toto, Singapore Sweep, sports and horse racing.

The report did not provide a breakdown of the total amount spent on betting on each activity.

Singapore Pools is a subsidiary of the Tote Board, a statutory board of the Finance Ministry. The Tote Board channels operating surplus from gambling revenue to support a host of initiatives in the community.

The spokesperson said its contribution to the Government for its last financial year, comprising betting duties, taxes and contributions to the Tote Board, was also the highest recorded.

It paid $2.29 billion in gambling duties and taxes and gave $437 million to the Tote Board, its annual report stated.

According to the 2023 edition of a survey of over 3,000 people,

40 per cent of Singapore residents gambled at least once in the past year.

This is lower than the 44 per cent who did so in the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) 2020 survey.

The NCPG’s latest survey, released on Nov 28, also found that the median sum spent on gambling bets was $25 a month. And 92 per cent of gamblers bet through Singapore Pools.

The most popular games among gamblers were 4-D and Toto, with 30 per cent of survey respondents betting on 4-D and 29 per cent on Toto.

Among those who bet at least once a week, 97 per cent bet on lotteries such as 4-D and Toto.

Counsellors who work with problem gamblers said the ease and convenience of placing online bets using mobile phones could have fuelled the growing sums wagered in the past few years.

In 2016, Singapore Pools started allowing its customers to place their bets online through their Singapore Pools account. Customers must be at least 21 years old and cannot gamble on credit, among other criteria.

Mr Zen Goh, a counsellor at Arise2Care Community Services, said Singapore Pools offers numerous football matches in multiple leagues for punters to bet on, such as the English Premier League, Malaysia Cup and Spanish League.

The large number and variety of matches to bet on is one possible reason for Singapore Pools’ growing turnover, he added.

He said: “Some gamblers just bet on any match they can find, even though they don’t know the team. Every day, there is a match somewhere in the world for you to bet on.”

Counsellors also said the social acceptance of casual gambling explains the popularity of 4-D and other lotteries like Toto and Singapore Sweep, where a small bet could potentially lead to large winnings.

Mr Billy Lee, executive director of Blessed Grace Social Services, said: “It’s seen as a form of recreation and having some excitement in life.”

He added: “For the lower rung in society, many see it as the only hope they have to get really rich.”

We Care Community Services clinical director Tham Yuen Han said many Singaporeans now use their phones as the primary source of entertainment, and online betting on 4-D may have become normalised and is regarded like other online games.

Mr Chan Khuen, a 74-year-old former cook, said he buys 4-D religiously thrice a week. There are three 4-D draws a week on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

He said he is hoping to strike it rich as he is unable to work due to health woes. He has been betting on 4-D for at least the past 50 years, and described it as his hobby.

He spends about $50 a week on his bets, adding in Mandarin: “I’m buying hope – the hope to win.”

Others, like a 74-year-old retired blue-collar worker who wanted to be known only as Mr Tang, spends a few hundred dollars a month on 4-D and football matches.

Mr Tang, who hardly misses a draw, said in Mandarin: “I have nothing to do since I’m retired, and I hope to win some money so I can be happy.”