A Short History of Online Gambling in the Philippines

I thought you might  be interested in a short plotted history of the world of online gaming in the Philippines. The Philippines is known for being a leader in the online gambling industry so perhaps you’d like to know how it all began.

Online gambling has been legal in the Philippines since 2000 which is when the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) became the only authorized gambling operator in the Philippines.  PAGCOR is state owned and operated and runs casinos, bingo, sports betting and betting exchanges both online and through land based casinos. In 2000, PAGCOR authorized the Sports and Games Entertainment Corp to be the exclusive operator of the Philippines’ only online casino –  www.sagecasino.com.

In 2001, the internet gaming industry was very nearly closed down by the President but had a lucky escape due to the his impeachment that year.

In 2002, the government opened the internet gaming industry to competition and granted a company called Philweb control of online casinos.

In March this year it was reported that the Philippines was looking to ban all online gambling except for horse racing, fantasy sports league game betting and those bets made for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office lotto.

Anyone heard anything more about this?