Online gambling has become a worldwide phenomenon. People from all over the world are playing at online casinos, but that's always been the case. When people are talking about a global industry they refer to the fact that almost all countries enjoy local gambling markets or that at least their citizens play at localized versions of international sites. However, while gambling firms are constantly trying to expand their client bases by offering gambling to new markets and destinations, some governments do not want to see their citizens through virtual dices or hold virtual poker hands. Following the series of raids last week, it's easy to say that the Singaporean government is one of those mentioned.
Three Internet Cafés were raided by the Singaporean police for enabling customers to use their internet connections for gambling reasons. The Cafés were offering illegal online gambling to the public and have been shut down by the police. 15 men and three women were arrested during the raids that took place around Geyland Road, Lorong 17 and Lorong 18. During the three-hour bust, police have destroyed 84 computers, 21 fruit machines and confiscated large sums of money in cash. Apparently, those Cafés weren't only offering the virtual form of the game.
While crime should be battled and people that break the law should be dealt with, there's nothing wrong with online gambling. More and more governments realized that regulating the virtual industry is at everyone's interest and liberalization of markets is underway in many different parts of the world. Hopefully, the Singaporean government will learn that working with the industry is the better choice for all. Making sure that adolescences are kept away from online casinos - or from such Internet Cafés - is easier once the industry is regulated and governed, for example.
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