§ 5 — Meanings of “betting” and “totalisator”

5.—(1) For the purpose of any provision of this Act, “betting” means making or accepting a bet, involving payment or staking of any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value, on —(a)

the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process, taking place in Singapore or elsewhere;

(b)

the likelihood of anything occurring, or not occurring, in Singapore or elsewhere; or

(c)

whether anything is or is not true.

(2) However, “betting” does not include the following:(a)

any contract or agreement entered into by either or each party by way of business and the making or performance of which by any party constitutes an investment activity within the meaning of section 5(5) of the Civil Law Act 1909;

(b)

a bet the making or accepting of which is excluded from the meaning of “betting” by the Minister by order in the Gazette.

(3) In addition to subsection (1) but without affecting subsection (2), betting includes any transaction by way of gambling that is classified under the Regulations as betting.

(4) A transaction that relates to the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —(a)

the race, competition, event or process has already occurred or been completed; and

(b)

one party to the transaction knows the outcome.

(5) A transaction that relates to the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —(a)

the thing has already occurred or failed to occur; and

(b)

one party to the transaction knows that the thing has already occurred or failed to occur.

(6) For the purposes of any provision of this Act, a person makes a bet (despite the fact that the person does not deposit a stake in the normal way of betting) if —(a)

the person participates in an arrangement in the course of which participants are required to guess any of the matters specified in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c); and

(b)

the person is required to pay any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value to participate.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), it is immaterial —(a)

to whom a payment is made and who receives benefit from a payment; and

(b)

whether a person knows when the person makes a payment that the person thereby participates in an arrangement as a result of which the person may win a prize.

(8) Without limiting subsections (1), (2) and (3), a bet includes any of the following:(a)

a free bet, which is a bet made wholly or partly using an amount that is provided to the person making the bet by the authorised betting operator with whom the bet is made and is not immediately redeemable by the person for cash;

(b)

a bet made using a totalisator;

(c)

a lay‑off bet where a person conducting a betting operation (called betting operator A) makes a bet with another person conducting a betting operation to reduce, wholly or in part, the liability of betting operator A in relation to one or more bets made with the betting operator A.

(9) For the purpose of any provision of this Act —“guess” includes predicting through exercise of skill or judgment;

“totalisator” means a system used —(a)

to enable persons to invest any money or money equivalent on —(i)

the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process taking place in Singapore or elsewhere;

(ii)

the likelihood of anything occurring, or not occurring, in Singapore or elsewhere; or

(iii)

whether anything is or is not true; or

(b)

to enable the totalisator pool to be divided and distributed among the persons who successfully guess the outcomes, likelihood or the truth or anything, as the case may be,

and includes any machine, apparatus, appliance, equipment, instrument or device under which the system is operated, and a numbers forecast totalisator paying a fixed minimum dividend;

“totalisator pool” means the amount left from the investments after —(a)

making allowances for refunds of investments;

(b)

deducting commission for the conduct of the totalisator; and

(c)

adding any pool top‑up amount.

—(1) For the purpose of any provision of this Act, “betting” means making or accepting a bet, involving payment or staking of any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value, on —(a)

the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process, taking place in Singapore or elsewhere;

(b)

the likelihood of anything occurring, or not occurring, in Singapore or elsewhere; or

(c)

whether anything is or is not true.

(2) However, “betting” does not include the following:(a)

any contract or agreement entered into by either or each party by way of business and the making or performance of which by any party constitutes an investment activity within the meaning of section 5(5) of the Civil Law Act 1909;

(b)

a bet the making or accepting of which is excluded from the meaning of “betting” by the Minister by order in the Gazette.

(3) In addition to subsection (1) but without affecting subsection (2), betting includes any transaction by way of gambling that is classified under the Regulations as betting.

(4) A transaction that relates to the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —(a)

the race, competition, event or process has already occurred or been completed; and

(b)

one party to the transaction knows the outcome.

(5) A transaction that relates to the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —(a)

the thing has already occurred or failed to occur; and

(b)

one party to the transaction knows that the thing has already occurred or failed to occur.

(6) For the purposes of any provision of this Act, a person makes a bet (despite the fact that the person does not deposit a stake in the normal way of betting) if —(a)

the person participates in an arrangement in the course of which participants are required to guess any of the matters specified in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c); and

(b)

the person is required to pay any money or money equivalent or any thing else of value to participate.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), it is immaterial —(a)

to whom a payment is made and who receives benefit from a payment; and

(b)

whether a person knows when the person makes a payment that the person thereby participates in an arrangement as a result of which the person may win a prize.

(8) Without limiting subsections (1), (2) and (3), a bet includes any of the following:(a)

a free bet, which is a bet made wholly or partly using an amount that is provided to the person making the bet by the authorised betting operator with whom the bet is made and is not immediately redeemable by the person for cash;

(b)

a bet made using a totalisator;

(c)

a lay‑off bet where a person conducting a betting operation (called betting operator A) makes a bet with another person conducting a betting operation to reduce, wholly or in part, the liability of betting operator A in relation to one or more bets made with the betting operator A.

(9) For the purpose of any provision of this Act —“guess” includes predicting through exercise of skill or judgment;

“totalisator” means a system used —(a)

to enable persons to invest any money or money equivalent on —(i)

the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process taking place in Singapore or elsewhere;

(ii)

the likelihood of anything occurring, or not occurring, in Singapore or elsewhere; or

(iii)

whether anything is or is not true; or

(b)

to enable the totalisator pool to be divided and distributed among the persons who successfully guess the outcomes, likelihood or the truth or anything, as the case may be,

and includes any machine, apparatus, appliance, equipment, instrument or device under which the system is operated, and a numbers forecast totalisator paying a fixed minimum dividend;

“totalisator pool” means the amount left from the investments after —(a)

making allowances for refunds of investments;

(b)

deducting commission for the conduct of the totalisator; and

(c)

adding any pool top‑up amount.