More than 28,000 banned from Singapore casinos

The National Council of Problem Gambling said the 28,661 individuals placed under an "exclusion" list will not be allowed to step into the casinos at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at Sentosa, now in their final stages of construction.

The list covers people legally declared bankrupt as well as recipients of government aid who will be notified through letters about their status. Individuals can also check in a secure website if they are among those who are banned, said the council, which was established to help mitigate any social fallout spawned by the opening of Singaporean first casinos.

Apart from those on the automatic exclusion list, family members can also ask the council to have a relative banned from the casinos. Problem gambling has been blamed for broken families, suicides and corporate theft in Singapore, where punters already bet heavily on state-linked lotteries and horse racing.

Individuals can also voluntarily request exclusion from the casinos if they consider themselves prone to "compulsive and excessive gambling", the council said in a statement. As of December 6, 19 persons have been asked by family members to be barred from the casinos and 56 have applied for self-exclusion, the statement added.

In addition, Singapore citizens and permanent residents are required to pay us$ 71.6 before entering the casinos. The list of restricted individuals will be given to the casinos, which will have to enforce the ban under pain of fines of up to us$ 725,000, the Straits Times reported Thursday.

Singapore in 2005 lifted a long-standing ban on casinos in a bid to boost tourism revenue amid tougher competition from regional rivals, but put in place a raft of restrictions to address public concern over gaming-related social ills. The casinos, one built by Las Vegas Sands and the other by Malaysia's Genting Group, will include a theme park, convention and hotel facilities, retail sections and restaurants