Information about Philippine casinos
If you're from Southeast Asia, you'll probably have seen that gambling is a popular part of social life, with places like Macau and Singapore having many casinos available to tourists and locals.
The Philippines is one nation there that has liberal gambling laws, with casinos and integrated resorts forming part of a busy entertainment scene. Manila's metro area alone has more than 20 casinos.
Online casinos, too, are growing in number, offering modern games to players both in the Philippines and overseas.
Yet, because of their large number, it's essential that internet players choose the right online casino in order to have the best playing experience possible.
That's what this page is here for: to help you find the Philippines online casino that suits you, and to weed out any unsuitable sites.
Read on to find out how our unique review and filter system can help you do this, as well as to learn more about Philippines online casino bonuses and much more.
Table of contents:
Online gambling in the Philippines
If you want to know about online gambling in the Philippines, then the best place to look is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), a government-run body set up in 1975. PAGCOR was formed as part of that year's decree that formally legalized gambling but outlawed unlicensed venues.
PAGCOR's laws are strict. Anyone caught playing an illegal game could get up to 20 years imprisonment, and the punishment is similarly tough on operators who violate its regulations.
The advent of online gambling in the Philippines arrived in the early 21st century, but it wasn't until 2017 that Executive Order (No.13) became law. This formally recognized this internet activity and paved the way for licensed Philippine casinos.
Since then, gambling has grown more popular across the country. In a bid to build relations with China, the Philippine government has welcomed Chinese gambling tourists with a view of making the country a gambling hub in the region.
Online betting, too, has been a component of this rise, which explains why there are more online casinos in the Philippines than ever before.
The one curiosity with the Philippine gambling law is that betting institutions and websites are not allowed to advertise their online services to local residents. Philippine players can, however, choose to play in domestic online casinos if they wish, as long as they are regulated and licensed by PAGCOR. There is also nothing legally stopping them from accessing offshore casinos which fall outside of national regulations.
How to choose the best online casino in the Philippines for you
Finding a trustworthy online casino to play on is one of the most important things you can do as a player, and if you're based in the Philippines, you have plenty of options to choose from.
Casino Guru aims to make this task a lot simpler. With the Safety Index that we have awarded each casino on this page, you can see which casinos are worth looking at with just a glance. This is a comprehensive score that considers the following factors:
- Casino revenues (the higher they are, the more likely they are to pay out big wins)
- The fairness of its terms and conditions
- Its presence on any blacklists
- Its responsible gambling tools.
Note: You can take a deeper look at the casino selection process by visiting our How to find an online casino guide which covers everything you need to know.
We advise you to start with the casinos that come recommended by our team of experts, which you can see when you click on the 'Recommended' tab. For more options, you can also order the sites when the 'All' tab is selected by their Safety Index by choosing 'Highest Safety Index' in the drop-down menu.
If you're a fan of new casinos, you can also select the 'Newly opened' tab to see the latest sites available to Philippine players.
Once inside any of these tabs, you can also order the casinos by 'Highest Safety Index', 'Recently opened', 'Oldest casinos', and 'Recently added'.
You also have the option of narrowing down your list of casinos by using this page's special filters. Here's a rundown of some of the most useful options for players in the Philippines.
- Payment method. Signing up to an online casino and finding they don't accept your chosen payment method is frustrating: this filter lets you see just those Philippine casinos that accept your card or wallet, whether it's Skrill, Mastercard, or GCash.
- Withdrawal limit. You can avoid sites with low withdrawal limits by adjusting this filter toggle to a minimum amount.
- Mobile-friendly casinos. Nowadays most casinos have mobile capabilities, so the playing experience is very similar on a desktop or via a smartphone. You can find these by selecting the 'Mobile-friendly casinos' filter on this page, which will show you mobile sites and even online casinos in the Philippines that have an app.
- Game provider. Games are the bread and butter of online casinos, so you need to sign up to a site with a good selection. Find your favorite developers in this section.
- Currency. Finding sites that accept the Philippine Peso (PHP) is important, but you may have USD or EUR balances that you want to use up. You can find the casinos that accept these with this filter.
Hopefully, after playing with the tools on this page for a few minutes, you'll have a refined list of Philippine casinos to choose from.
Online casino bonuses for players in the Philippines
Online casino bonuses continue to be a popular device for both casinos and players. On the casino side, they're a great promotion tool that draws in new customers; for players, they're a chance to potentially win a little something extra while also 'test driving' a new site and its games.
Finding casino bonuses for Philippine players is easy: you just head to our list of online casino bonuses and head to the 'Bonuses for players from' section. There, choose 'Philippines' from the list to isolate the bonuses available to you.
If there are a lot to choose from, you can use the sorting options here to prioritize certain bonuses. 'Recommended', for example, will show you what we think are the best offers, while 'Exclusive' lets you see bonuses reserved just for Casino Guru visitors. Follow the instructions in their information box to find out how to claim them, whether it's entering a code, contacting the casino, or simply registering and waiting for it to land in your account.
You'll also find a set of bonus filters on that page that lets you reduce your options.
- Bonus type. You can narrow your bonus choices down to their types. If you click 'Deposit Bonus', you'll see a collection of bonuses that you get after making your deposit. 'No Deposit Bonus', meanwhile, will show you a list of no deposit bonuses that you can get just for registering with that site.
- Bonus value. This filter lets you impose a minimum bonus value so that you only see bonuses with a minimum worth.
- Wagering requirements (WR). Wagering requirements are the 'catch' to casino bonuses: they're what you must stake in order to claim your bonus winnings. Of course, you'll want the lowest WR possible, which you can do by using this toggle filter to set a maximum amount. If you'd like to find out more about WR, then check out our guide to casino bonuses for more information.