Promoting online poker in the Philippines. Legal?

[Emil]

Does anyone know if it is legal to promote online poker in the Philippines?

I have seen that there are casinos owned by the state there. Also I think there are a few online poker rooms based there, although I don't know if they are owned by the state.

[yoyo]

I cannot help you with firm answers but I live in Manila - I can tell you the legal poker rooms are privately owned but they pay very high commission to PAGCOR and it seems that they are able to promote online poker without restrictions.

I think you can advertise online poker here freely but, to be safe, it might be worth checking up with PAGCOR (government body who keeps a strict control on gaming).

[Simmo!]

According to my handwritten notes from the Macau conference, the only SE Asian jurisdiction where online gambling is not illegal is Singapore. However, I heard someone suggest the speaker had got it wrong and the Phillipines was where he meant. But that was just hearsay.

Another relevant point is that online gambling is generally low on the list of priorities out there when it comes to legalese, and while some countries are active in ensuring it receives no coverage, others are not paying much attention to it.

And finally, it was a general concensus that only sites that receive a lot of exposure are likely to be hit with bans, so there's a bit of catch22 in there - the more advertising you do, the higher the risk of being censored. And there seems to be no way back from censorship except by starting over on a new domain.