Online gambling in the Philippines

Gambling in the Philippines is a diverse and complicated topic, with various forms legal, and other types heavily restricted. For instance, you can bet legally on Cock Fighting if you attend the event, but wagering on it with an unregulated gambling operator is banned. Same goes with casino gaming in the Philippines, with various legal gambling venues, and online casinos while offshore operators with a Filipino focus are actively targeted with measures like IP blocking. However, despite the gambling laws in the Philippines, many major gambling sites accept traffic from this region, cater to the peso and have great promotions and offers available. Our guide to gambling in the Philippines will break down everything you need to know, including the top gambling sites and apps, latest offers and news, promos, casino gams available and legal forms of real money wagering. 

Top gambling sites in the Philippines

The Philippines has a strange relationship with online gambling and there are locally licensed, legal gambling sites that accept players from this region. This is despite major changes to the Philippines gambling license scheme in 2024, which stopped Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators licenses to be based here and target offshore locations. 

The best gambling sites based in the Philippines must be geo-fenced so that only locals can access them and have the Philippine Inland Gaming Operators License, and be linked to a physical location in the country. This new licensing regime quickly saw heavy interest with over 44 service providers authorised in the first few months of the scheme, however many of these gambling sites have failed to launch.

While the Philippines POGO licenses for gambling sites did come under heavy fire, their replacement — IGLs or Internet Gaming Licenses — have been issued to approve 10 authorised online or remote gambling platforms, operated by well-known integrated resorts and casino companies, including Bloomberry Resort and Hotels, Thunderbird Pilipinas Hotels and Resorts and Hotels Travellers International Hotel Group. 

Philippines gambling sites will allow to play various real money casino games, with these including online slots, table games (live dealer and random number generated), poker variations, virtual games even niche games, only popular in the Pinoy region. 

Live dealer games are very popular in the Philippines with these including titles like blackjack, roulette, baccarat and various other unique takes on games, that you will only find at online casinos. 

Funding gambling sites in the Philippines is a straight-forward practice, with various options available including credit and debit cards, web wallets, SMS payments and even cryptocurrencies. 

Offshore gambling sites 

While the Philippines has taken action against illegal gambling operators, or those based outside of the country, the reality is there are still may gambling sites that cater to this region, despite not having a PAGCOR license. 

These gambling sites are generally registered in places like Curacao, where the regulator is lenient with its licensees, allowing them to target countries where there might be regulation in place surrounding real money wagering. 

Many of these offshore gambling sites — including brands like 1xBet and Kirgo — have got Curacao eGaming licenses which have very few restrictions placed on them.

The World Gambling List recommends wagering with legal and safe websites that have the PAGCOR seal of approval if you are in the Philippines.

Real money gambling in the Philippines

Real money gambling is available in the Philippines, with various forms adapting beautifully to the online realm. The most popular online gambling games include online slots, table games, like baccarat and roulette and various forms of sports wagering. 

Casino Games & Rules

If you’re a beginner to an online casino game you have come to the right place. Our casino games and rules guides will have you winning in no time.

• Blackjack
• Roulette
• Baccarat
• Poker
• Slots
• Video Poker
• Casino Games

Gambling Guides

Real money gambling online can be a tricky business, but using our casino and gambling guides can give you the inside running.

• Online Casinos
• Choosing a Casino
• Online Slots
• Casino Games

Online Poker

Online poker is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the world, with tournaments worth well into the millions of dollars hosted on a weekly basis. We love poker and hope you enjoy our informative take on it.

• Rules & Types
• Texas Hold’em
• Online Poker
• Beginner’s Guide to Poker

Live gambling sites

Live gambling has become the new normal when playing table games at online casinos. Live gambling sites we endorse are heavily checked by the WGL team, before promoting them. Our top live gambling sites are:

• Live Roulette
• Live Blackjack
• Live Baccarat
• Live dealer casinos

Philippines unique gambling games 

Sabong (Cockfighting)

Cockfighting is frowned upon in many places around the world, but it is a thriving past-time in the Philippines and many people gamble on it. Cockfighting is held in licensed “cockpits” were the roosters will go toe-to-toe, and punters place bets on the results. 

Online cockfighting betting exploded in popularity around 10 years ago, but this practice was banned in 2022, after international backlash. Despite e-Sabong being banned in 2022, traditional sabong is legal. 

Filipino online gambling

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is in charge of all things gambling in this Asian country, with it regulating domestic gambling sites, via the Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGOs) license, and offering services like sports betting, casino gaming and bingo. 

PAGCOR was also globally known for many years for providing POGOs, or Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators licenses, which allowed gambling sites to be based here, and target offshore locations with their businesses. For instance, many Philippines-based gambling sites accepted players from neighbouring countries like Pakistan (Pakistan online gambling) and India, where online gambling is banned. 

PAGCOR, with pressure from authorities, ultimately disbanded the POGO licensing scheme via Executive Order No.74, effectively ending the offshore casino gaming operations era. This decision was made because POGOs had been linked to money laundering, betting limit breaches and age verification complaints. 

Despite the Filipino government being well aware of the online gambling scene, it remains incredibly popular among residents, with casino games like poker, blackjack, baccarat and roulette very popular. E-bingo has also quickly caught on in the online gambling space in the Philippines. 

While online gambling is legal in the Philippines, it is heavily policed, and some forms are outright banned, however there is very little done in 2025 to stop the practice, despite some posturing from President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been replaced by Bongbong Marcos, who has more moderate views. 

President Marcos has acknowledged the harms of online gambling and has tentatively thrown his support behind more regulation, and there is expected to be further announcements surrounding PAGCOR and real money casinos and sports betting later in 2025. 

Best gambling apps in the Philippines

Android smartphones are the no.1 way people wager on casino and sports betting in the Philippines, with many gambling apps available to download for this smartphone operating system. 

The market dominance of Android cannot be underestimated, with over 90% market share, notably giving chief rival Apple ground in recent years, but this change is negligible, and it remains the dominant force. 

Downloading gambling apps on Android smartphones can be done in one of two manners, either via the Google Play store, or directly from the operators themselves, although you will need to turn on non-market apps. 

Android gambling apps  for regulated operators in the Philippines can normally be found via Google Play, while if you want to play with an offshore option, your download will more than likely come via non-market apps. 

Apple gambling apps can be downloaded directly from the App Store, but there are several restrictions, including that they must be licensed by PAGCOR, be geo-fenced so they can only be accessed by Filipinos and abide by the 21+ age limit. 

Huawei, the Chinese smartphone company, does have a presence in the Philippines and an increasing market share. Like Android smartphones, with Huawei you can download gambling apps in the AppGallery, or directly from operators. 

Once downloaded Filipino gambling apps, either on Android, Apple or Huawei, act much the same and if your device is not compatible most gambling sites will feature a mobile website. 

Gambling laws in the Philippines

PAGCOR is the body in charge of all things gambling in the Philippines, with this body supported by specialised spin-offs like PCSO (lotteries) and PHILRACOM (horse racing). 

Sports betting and online gambling is legal in the Philippines as long as an operate holds a PIGO license from PAGCOR, although their ability to offer games to offshore operators under the POGO scheme was stopped in 2024. 

For a long time, Filipino gambling laws allowed iGaming operators with a PAGCOR license to accept overseas residents from certain jurisdictions, including other Asian countries that don’t really address, or enforce their regulations. 

Now with this loophole closed, the Phillipines has launched a new licensing scheme for offshore operators, with tightened regulations surrounding them, including increased oversight and that they must hold a physical address in the country, which means many existing Integrated Resorts have entered the domestic fray. 

Because of the heavy taxation of those gambling sites boasting a POGO license, the Filipino Government cut the tax rate for licensed operators from 58% to 42.5%, which is still on the high side in comparison to other jurisdiction. 

While the government has mooted decreasing the tax rate on PIGOs further, in a bid to help PH gambling sites remain competitive with offshore operators, there has been no movement in the second half of 2025. This means to this day, many Filipinos choose to gamble with offshore gambling sites, rather than the locally regulated industry. 

Despite the murky gambling landscape in the Philippines, they are one of the few South East Asian countries to enact regulation surrounding casino gaming and sports betting, and we think this will pay off in the long run, as they find ways to encourage locals to support the local industry. 

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Philippine Peso online gambling payments

Funding betting sites in the Philippines is an easy process, with a number of familiar payment options available at PAGCOR-approved operators. 

While the payment process at online casinos based in the Philippines is straight-forward, offshore gambling sites deposit options can be more complicated, including popular cryptos like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). 

SMS payments are also available as a payment method at some PH gambling sites, with this simply adding the payment onto your phone bill, although these are usually smaller sums of money. 

While bank transfers are available as a deposit option, these are one method that can take longer than average, with it not uncommon for for it to take up to 72 hours for an international bank wire. Some gambling sites in the Philippines will have a local bank account, meaning deposits can be quicker using this method. 

Web wallets like GCash and Maya (PayMaya) are among the most popular in the Philippines are work exceptionally with online gambling sites, including instant cash-outs in most cases. 

PHP deposit options at gambling sites include:

Philippines gambling Q and A