Since 1975, gambling activities have become legal in the Philippines. This moment of legalization is what made PAGCOR what it is today. This gaming authority makes gambling possible due to strict regulations on which contemporary casinos base their rules of functioning.
Tourism has taken a great turn ever since, reaching a number of 8,300,000 international tourists in 2019. The Manila casinos are popular attractions on any gambler’s locations list.
Let’s see the top games that take place in Philippine casinos!
Slots
Slots are one of the most popular casino games worldwide. Their attraction comes from the simple-to-understand design and diverse themes that slots providers offer to operators.
The iGaming Business reveals that in the first quarter of 2022, slots amassed PHP1.64bn in revenue. As a comparison, the whole gambling industry operated by PAGCOR totaled PHP2.61bn. We can see that slots produce more than half of the Philippines’ gambling revenues.
In addition, as a year-over-year comparison, the first quarter of 2022 saw a 5.7% increase in revenue for licensed slot machines.
In all fairness, this is how slots impact the majority of casino revenue in the world. They are, by definition, an attraction of lights and sounds, so the bonuses and progressive jackpots of slots only increase their level of appeal.
Card Games
Blackjack online, Poker, and Baccarat might not be Karnöffel, the oldest card game discovered, but they are currently some of the most popular card games in the world. And some of the gamblers’ favorite pastimes.
In the Philippines, table games revenue reached a total of PHP 808.2m for the first quarter of 2022. Remember, this is out of a total of PHP2.61bn. Perhaps card games are not as well-liked as slot machines, but they bring in almost a billion pesos per season.
Out of the total sum of card games, Poker games alone brought around PHP11.2m in the same quarter of 2022 as above. Considering how many variations of card games exist, this is a pretty good figure.
Roulette
Since we discovered the wheel, something about rotating objects has fascinated us and still does today. A perfect example of this is the introduction of spinning games like Roulette.
Unfortunately, you can’t spin the Roulette or play any of these games until you’re of legal gambling age, 21. However, there are many alternatives to playing roulette games without real money.
Concerning revenues, we couldn’t find a clear figure for the revenues in the first quarter of 2022 to add to the comparison. However, Roulette is a popular game in the Philippines. We can be sure the figure amounts to millions of PHP.
Online gambling is drawing attention
Surprisingly, Filipinos can’t gamble in the Philippines-based online casinos. In fact, many restrictions prohibit online casinos from operating within their native country. Therefore, gamblers from the Philippines who want to gamble virtually have to do so with new off-shore casinos.
Although this country is yet to regulate the online scene, many countries of the world profit off of less-confining regulations.
And, since there’s a vast public for online casinos, newer ones appear often. To attract an extensive public, novel venue lists also include bonuses that serve as incentives for new players.
Gambling On Mobile Devices
As you know, the mobile gaming industry has been growing at a fast pace. New phones, better specifications, and features attract both users and gaming providers. New features for the phones mean a reinvented variety of new games.
For example, think about the gyroscope sensor we have in our phones and how much it provides to our experience. It allows us to answer the phone by simply rotating or picking it up and contributes to our phone’s ability to look at 360 degrees photos, and videos, and play racing games by just tilting our phones.
What’s quite incredible is the variety of games you can play. From card games and slots to a multitude of live casino games and even bingo shows, you’re free to explore whatever you like.
Where to explore these casino games
As mentioned above, the Philippines is a fascinating country with numerous large wagering venues. However, out of all casinos, here are our top three choices:
- Aside from the beautiful view of Manila Bay, Okada Manila is also famous for being the biggest casino in all of the Philippines.
- The Waterfront Manila casino, one of the biggest in the Philippines, develops on three gaming floors with over 700 slot machines and 105 tables.
- Newport World Resorts has recently opened its Newport Grand Wing with more gaming space than before!
The Future
As the last word, I want to leave you thinking of the future of gaming. Indeed, our smartphones, computers, and other gadgets are already heavily evolved compared to what we had 15 years ago. They serve us with better specs than the ship that landed on the moon ever had.
However, fast into the future, we might be able to play in Virtual Environments that might be able to interact directly with us. This is an excellent prospect for all gaming activity everywhere, not just casino games!
