The Asia Pacific gambling market is worth an estimated $100 billion a year. With widespread adoption of mobile devices and acceptance of cryptocurrency, as well as a love of gaming in general, the iGaming market, in particular, is picking up pace.
Although the Asian market is obviously driven by Macau, which has one of the biggest gambling markets in the world, other countries like the Philippines and Thailand are also proving major drivers within the industry. However, some of the market’s largest populations live in countries where gambling is still strictly prohibited, and these rules are unlikely to change in the near future.
Asian Gambling Preferences
In some Asian cultures, gambling is a historical and socially acceptable pastime, even though established gambling may be prohibited in some of these countries. Online casinos like Klikki Casino continue to gain prominence, offering a wide variety of popular gambling games via mobile devices and browsers, while also accepting cryptocurrencies and other modern payment technologies. Some reports have found that Asians are more likely to gamble, in the first place, because they place such an onus on fortune and luck.
When looking at the Asian market, there are several key markets that currently drive the continent’s gambling, or are likely to do so in the near future.
Macau
Macau is a special administrative region of China and is the only region of the country where gambling is legal. In fact, gambling has been legal since the 1850s. There are more than 35 casinos in the special administrative region with nearly 10,000 slots and more than 3,500 table games.
Although Macau’s gambling was once reserved for high rollers, it has recently opened up with lower limits and greater accessibility to gamblers of all levels and stakes. Macau has overtaken Las Vegas as the biggest gambling hub in the world, generating tens of billions of dollars in gross gambling revenue every year. Macau has also become a popular licensing region for online casinos.
Philippines
Gambling is legal in the Philippines, and the government has taken a proactive, supportive approach to the industry. Players must be aged 21 or over to play, and there is a series of quite strict laws that must be adhered to for any company that wishes to establish a betting company. In 2024, the Philippines generated $7.16 billion in gross gaming revenue, which represented an all-time high, and this is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.
Popular casino games in the Philippines match those in the rest of the world, with poker, blackjack, roulette, and slot machines making up the most popular selections. Filippino betting sites also offer sports betting opportunities to players.
Thailand
Thailand currently allows betting on horse racing and government lotteries. The country is also looking to legalize casinos by overturning a prohibition act that dates back to 1935. That act prohibits the ownership of more than 120 playing cards, which prevents casinos from offering card games.
Illegal gambling dens can be found across the country, however, and especially in Bangkok, and estimates suggest that the country’s 40 million annual visitors would generate approximately $15 billion in gross gaming revenue every year. Other estimates offer a more conservative figure of $10 billion, but it looks likely that regulation will proceed in the coming years. Some of Macau’s biggest casinos have expressed interest in setting up shops in Thailand.
India
In India, states determine their own gambling laws. Goa, Daman, and Sikkim have legalized various forms of gambling, with the states allowing the establishment of casinos and also permitting online gambling.
Goa is believed to generate around $100 million a year in tax revenue from gambling: a figure that continues to increase and is likely to attract other states to follow Goa’s lead. The Deltin Royale is the country’s largest casino. The floating venue offers dining facilities as well as live entertainment.
iGaming In Asia
Some countries and states already have established and regulated gaming markets, but many Asian markets are in a state of development or flux. Some, such as Thailand, are looking to regulate the market to collect taxes.
Similarly, states across India are also progressing their own gambling laws, following the likes of Goa. iGaming is proving especially popular because of the continent’s widespread of technologies like smartphones and cryptocurrency.
Smartphone Adoption
Smartphone adoption across the Asia-Pacific region is approximately 65%. This is hardly surprising considering the vast majority of smartphones in the world are manufactured in China. Other countries with high cell phone manufacturing rates include Vietnam.
Although iGaming isn’t exclusively played on cell phones, mobile iGaming is more convenient than other forms of online gambling. And, with the improvement of mobile Internet technology, iGaming’s quality has improved.
Tech Forward Market
Asia loves technology, especially gaming-related technology. It leads the world in terms of eSports tournaments, manufactures a lot of the components that are used in gaming rigs, and has specific gaming genres that originated in the Asian market. JRPGs, or Japanese Role Playing Games, are popular around the world. In gambling, games like pai gow and sic bo originate in Asia and have become increasingly popular as casino gambling has spread online.
Cryptocurrency Acceptance
The Asian market has also adopted cryptocurrency more readily than any other geographic market. Crypto is popular with unbanked individuals, and Vietnam and the Philippines have some of the largest populations of unbanked citizens: people who do not have access to basic banking facilities.
Crypto is also popular because it can be used to bypass identity and Know Your Customer checks that are required by some licensing groups. Crypto deposits and withdrawals are also quicker than traditional methods, even when they are sent overseas to other countries. Cryptocurrency is becoming more popular in the gambling industry because it offers many benefits to casinos, as it does to players.
