Is Online Gambling Legal in Malaysia?

Malaysia being a Muslim country, it is technically not legal to get involved in any gambling activities because of the sharia law nor any online gambling.

However, according to the Common Gaming House Act from 1953 and the amendments made to it in 2006, gambling is legal in certain situations and certain designated places. Casino de Genting is one of those places where Gambling is legal. Placing bets at horsing races is also allowed by this Act.

 

Here Are the Details of The Betting Act 1953

1. i) any place kept or used for betting or wagering whether such betting or wagering, be in cash or on credit, on any event or contingency of or relating to any horse race or other sporting event or lottery to which the public or any class of the public has, or may have access;

(ii) any place kept or used for habitual betting or wagering on any such event or contingency as aforesaid, whether the public has, or may have, access thereto or not; or

(iii) any place used by a bookmaker to receive or negotiate bets or wagers on any such event or contingency as aforesaid, whether such bets or wagers reach the bookmaker by the hand of the person placing the bet or his agent or the bookmaker’s agent or through the telephone or the post or by telegram or by any other means.

Source: Betting Act 1953 (Revised 1992)

 

What Does It Says?

The gambling act in Malaysia doesn’t have anything that talks about online casinos. So, it leaves many wondering whether playing online casino games in Malaysia is legal or not.

Although the Malaysian government doesn’t give license to any online casinos, there are many online casinos in Malaysia and some outside Malaysia that people within the country can access to play online casino games.

The lack of clarity from the government makes some people feel like the system is okay with online casinos but doesn’t want to make it a legalized venture since Malaysia is a Muslim country. It is for this reason that almost all players in Malaysia are involved mainly in playing at online casinos because there are no laws that ban the operations of online casinos.

This is different from land-based casinos because the penalty of operating one is paying 200,000 ringgits and five years in jail.

 

So, Should You Participate in Online Gambling Within Malaysia?

One can fully participate in online gambling since there are no laws in the Malaysian constitution prohibiting them from doing so. The only thing that one should be cautious about is the online casino they choose to trust with their hard-earned cash.

The fact that no clear regulations are governing the operations of online casinos means you as a player has to do your homework to find out which casino is trustworthy.

I would also recommend that you avoid staking huge sums of money that you can’t afford to lose. This is because if anything unusual happens at the online casino, you will likely have nowhere to report.

You should also do gambling as a fun activity and not an income-generating activity because you can’t rely on it for a living especially if you are just starting.

 

Image: The Future of Online Gambling in Malaysia

 

The Future of Online Gambling in Malaysia

Malaysia being dominated by Muslims makes it difficult to legalize and even give license to online casinos because of the Islamic sharia law.

However, there will also likely be no laws soon that will be put in place to ban online casinos that operate in Malaysia – both those based in the country and those that are overseas.

This means the online casinos that operate within Malaysia will be regulated by external gambling regulatory bodies like BMM that tests things like the integrity of their games.

If you love playing at online casinos, your role is to do your homework to find out which casinos meet the online casino’s standards that are put in place by these international regulatory bodies. You can only confirm this if the online casino is certified by any of these bodies.

 

Final Thoughts

The legality of online casinos in Malaysia is still not clear. On the other hand, there are no laws that ban online gambling either. This leaves everything in the hands of the players and the online casinos since no regulations are available to regulate the way these two parties have to engage.

Like I have said above, it is the role of the players to do their background check regarding the online casino they can trust their hard-earned cash with.

The good news is there quite several legitimate casinos that have been operating in Malaysia within the past ten years. Some of these include 918Kiss, BK8Asia, Mega888, and many more. Most of these are regulated by international gambling regulatory bodies.

 

 

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