Casino levies boost Tote Board’s surplus

[newborn1000]

Casino levies boost Tote Board’s surplus
By Angela Lim – February 11th, 2011

The Singapore Tote Board will be giving away S$625 million to beneficiaries. (Yahoo! photo)

It seems gamblers in Singapore have left their old favourites behind for the latest game in town.

Toto, 4D and horse-racing have seen a drop in takings since the opening of the two integrated resorts (IRs) in February and April last year.

Takings from the Singapore Turf Club were the hardest hit, suffering a 30 per cent drop while Singapore Pools’ takings dipped by 3 to 5 per cent, according to the chairman of the Singapore Totalisator Board (Tote Board), Bobby Chin.

And yet, this has not stopped the Tote Board from doubling its financial commitment to charities.

Its collections from casino levies more than made up for the shortfall, prompting it to announce on Thursday that it will be giving away S$625 million, according to a Straits Times report.

Two of the Tote Board’s major beneficiaries — the Tote Board Community Healthcare Fund and the Community Chest – received S$100 million and S$50 million respectively. The cheque presentation ceremony was held at the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) auditorium on Thursday.

“We have been affected in some ways by the casinos, but nevertheless, because the Government has directed the levy to the Tote Board, it means additional quantum and additional ability and capability to help fund-worthy projects,” Mr Chin said.

Collections from casino levies made up around S$140 million of the Tote Board’s gaming surpluses between April and December last year. This amount is expected to rise at the end of the financial year 2010 in March 31.

The entry levy is what Singapore citizens and permanent residents have to pay to enter the two casinos — S$100 a day or S$2,000 a year.

Ministers of Parliament (MPs) and industry watchers have since raised concerns about the effectiveness of the current levy and are proposing a review of current casino levies.

Before the casinos opened, the Tote Board made about S$500 million on average in annual gambling surpluses. The surplus was used to fund community projects.

But industry experts say the drop in forms of gambling like horse betting, 4D and lotteries was not unexpected.

Dr Derek Chua, author of Singapore Places Its Bets, a book about the two IRs and their economic and social impact, said,”I’ve always said that it’s a zero-sum game. The casinos will inevitably affect and cannibalise some other forms of gambling.”

He added that, in comparison to games like 4D and Toto, casino table games offer gamblers better odds.

“Some casino table games offer better odds. This explains why a proportion of people have migrated from the turf club to the table games at the two IRs,” Dr da Cunha explained.

Mr Carey Wong, an analyst with OCBC Investment Research, said, “The integrated resorts are meant for foreigners — and the Government has said so many times — but the numbers show that Singaporeans have been going to the casinos.”

Although the surplus last year was boosted by the casino levies, Mr Chin said it is too early to tell if the trend will continue.

“We hope to maintain the same level of commitment, but you have to assess the quantum at a steady state. The initial six months to a year, there is a novelty effect. It is not reflective of what is going to happen in the future,” he said.

NCSS, which will receive an undisclosed sum from Community Chest’s S$50 million kitty, plans to increase the number of family service centres (FSC) from 37 to 42 by 2015, and improving the human aspects of the FSCs to provide the same standard of service across its centres.

The organisation’s chief executive officer, Ang Bee Lian, said,”We are quite clear that we want to position FSCs as, what I sometimes call, social polyclinics. We want FSCs to be your first stop, a convenient stop, for social issues that families face.”

Stressing the importance of the quality of intervention, Ms Ang said, “It’s intervention that counts. It’s not about the facility but really the quality of the interaction with the social worker, the counsellor, even the receptionists.”

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newborn1000

When the Toto board is able to make/give about $500m on average in annual gambling surpluses........

(Excluding the low income group), you can just feel the hypocrisy when people are complaining about 1 cent fare increases..............

Collections from casino levies made up around S$140 million doesnt help convince me otherwise too.........

$140million is like 280 HDB flats gone up in smoke just so to see shinning lights in a casino............And yet this number doesnt factor in the amount of money lost too......(Casino context)

[Wlla]

intresting! thank

[iisterry]

When the Toto board is able to make/give about $500m on average in annual gambling surpluses........

(Excluding the low income group), you can just feel the hypocrisy when people are complaining about 1 cent fare increases..............

That's a fallacy isn't it?

It would be like saying, "Since you're rich, you should just let me rip you off."

Or, "Since you spend $15,000 on culinary courses, you can buy this packet of tissue for $2.

Public amenities should not be treated as a for profit organization. Not when they are funded with public funds and are generating increasing profits yearly.

YMMV.

[edentity]

Collections from casino levies made up around S$140 million of the Tote Board’s gaming surpluses between April and December last year. This amount is expected to rise at the end of the financial year 2010 in March 31.

The entry levy is what Singapore citizens and permanent residents have to pay to enter the two casinos — S$100 a day or S$2,000 a year.

Correct me if I am wrong.

S$140 million over 9 months is a whopping $15.6 million per month, and $520k per day.

Assuming a conservative 50% of receipts coming from the $100/day charge, thats 2,600 Singaporeans visiting both casinos everyday, and 700,000 for the past 9 months.

The remaining 50% would come from the $2000/year charge, which amounts to 130 "long term" customers everyday and 35,000 for the past 9 months.

This would imply a minimum of 735,000 Singaporeans visiting over the past 9 months. That's almost 20% of the local resident population (at 3.7 million).

[yeokiwi]

Collections from casino levies made up around S$140 million of the Tote Board’s gaming surpluses between April and December last year. This amount is expected to rise at the end of the financial year 2010 in March 31.

The entry levy is what Singapore citizens and permanent residents have to pay to enter the two casinos — S$100 a day or S$2,000 a year.

Correct me if I am wrong.

S$140 million over 9 months is a whopping $15.6 million per month, and $520k per day.

Assuming a conservative 50% of receipts coming from the $100/day charge, thats 2,600 Singaporeans visiting both casinos everyday, and 700,000 for the past 9 months.

The remaining 50% would come from the $2000/year charge, which amounts to 130 "long term" customers everyday and 35,000 for the past 9 months.

This would imply a minimum of 735,000 Singaporeans visiting over the past 9 months. That's almost 20% of the local resident population (at 3.7 million).

The 700,000 probably consists of repeated visitors and therefore the actual number should be lowered.
If there is an average of 1 repeat visit per person(probably more..), then the count will drop to 350000 + 35000.
Besides that, I think the amount of levies that come from $2000 annual levy is likely to be more than 50% of the total amount.

I had been asking around but not many people I knew had visited the casinos.
I suppose, going by my gut feels, around 5-10% of Singaporeans had visited the casinos.

Lastly, most casinos in the world depend significantly on the local population.