The website https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/philippine-gaming-industry-revenue-soars-19-to-3-3-billion-in-first-half-of-2024-114277 reported that gambling revenues in the Philippines are up 19% in the first half of 2024 at around $3.3 billion.
I have had dealings with PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) for over 20 years and first met them in Manila in 2002. They faced a lot of challenges back then and it is good to see that they are doing well these days.
According to the report, most of the increases in revenue has come from the online gambling sector. The Philippines have some good land-based casinos but they are mainly aimed at tourists.
PAGCOR were always keen to promote online gambling that was properly regulated. There is a very strong interest in online casinos and sports betting in the country and PAGCOR are responsible to ensure that it is all legal.
Congratulations to PAGCOR for this notable achievement.
Thanks for sharing @graham. As I remember we have a forum member here from Philippines @rubiecruz. Rubie Cruz what is the current situation in the Philippines based on your observations?
Hungry for knowledge 🧐
Some more interesting news about PAGCOR today @anton and @rubiecruz. According to this Gambling Insider article https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/26041/pagcor-5793-illegal-online-gaming-sites-blocked they have detected and blocked nearly 75% of all illegal gambling sites that target the Philippines.
They have implemented a very effective monitoring system to weed out the illegals. Also, they can check ads on platforms like Facebook and detect illegal betting apps. When they find illegal apps they connect with both the Google Play Store and the Apple Store to have these removed.
These guys know what they are doing and do it efficiently. Other regulators could learn a lot from them.
"According to the PAGCOR at least 74.78% or 5,793 out of 7,747 unauthorized online gambling sites in the Philippines, have been identified and blocked."
WOW that is massive
@dany It's huge. If you're just a regular netizen, it can be tough to tell which ones are legal and which ones aren't. These platforms are usually available on Google Play Store, which makes it even harder to know if they're legit. Interestingly, it's gotten easier for these platforms to reach out to potential players using text/SMS spam. I get text messages every day with links to online casinos, promising casino credits if you sign up through their link.
@rubiecruz It's funny that you said it's gotten easier to reach out through SMS spam considering the implementation of the sim card registration aimed towards reducing those kind of incidents. The spam and scam issue do seem to continue to exist despite the registration and it's even weird that 1-year had passed since then and no remedy has been made to battle the issue.
@dany You are right I have never seen a clean up rate as high as this!
@anton It sure is and also for players across the world - if PAGCOR can do it then other regulators can do it too. But will they is the big question?
Congratulations PAGCOR.
Congratulations to PAGCOR. Good news!
Now we need other regulators to follow PAGCOR's lead and identify illegal sites to protect players!
