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Is gambling an offence

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The anti-gambling laws under the Common Gaming Houses Act were aimed at weeding out hardcore gambling syndicates and their clients. They are not meant to punish those who play cards or mahjong with friends as recreation.

Illegal gambling usually involves strangers whose sole aim is to win money, and not to socialise with one another.

If gambling takes place on your premises, you can be prosecuted for running a gambling den or a gaming house.

The definition of a gaming house is very wide; it includes

" any house, office, room or building ", even a ship. It is necessary to cover all sorts of places to stop gambling operators from exploiting loopholes by running a gambling den in a room behind a tailor or grocery shop.

 

Case

A car workshop owner, Loh was accused of running a gambling den in his workshop. The police raided Loh's shop in January 2000 and arrested 20 people for gambling with cards. Loh was fined $20,000 and jailed for two months.

In August 2000, he appealed to the High Court claiming that his workers and friends had used his workshop to play cards. The Chief Justice did not believe his story. The Chief Justice noted that the picture painted by Loh of a social gathering of friends and acquaintances for a game of cards did not gel very well with the 27 stacks of cards, coloured chips, dice, large scoreboards and the large monetary stakes found at the gambling table.

 

Straits Times Oct 16, 2000

 

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