Gambling in Metro Manila

File:Resorts World Manila.JPG]]

Metro Manila currently has around twenty casinos, most of which are located near the Manila Bay area and Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque.{{cite news|url=http://www.manilatimes.net/economics-and-morals-of-gambling/98559/ |title=Economics and morals of gambling |newspaper=The Manila Times |access-date=September 17, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/philippines |title=Philippines Casinos & Gambling |publisher=World Casino Directory |access-date=September 17, 2014}} Most casinos in the city are operated by PAGCOR under the Casino Filipino brand. Gambling in Manila now takes place primarily in luxury casino hotels and integrated resorts located in Entertainment City and Newport City under license from PAGCOR.{{cite web|url=http://www.mb.com.ph/pagcor-lowers-license-fees-for-operators/ |title=Pagcor lowers license fees for operators |work=Manila Bulletin |access-date=September 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402190504/http://www.mb.com.ph/pagcor-lowers-license-fees-for-operators/ |archive-date=April 2, 2015 }}

The Casino Filipino Pavilion at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion (formerly Holiday Inn Manila Pavilion) is Manila's oldest surviving casino which opened in 1986 until it was forced to suspend operations indefinitely after the building itself was severely damaged by a fire in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.casinofilipino.ph/pavilion/ |title=Casino Filipino Pavilion |publisher=PAGCOR |access-date=August 28, 2014}}{{Cite web |last=Dela Paz |first=Chrisee |date=March 19, 2018 |title=Manila Pavilion operator's stocks plunge after fire |url=https://www.rappler.com/business/198495-manila-pavilion-hotel-fire-acesite-stocks-plunge/ |access-date=October 15, 2024 |website=Rappler}} The city's largest stand-alone casino was Casino Filipino Airport housed in the PRIC Building on Ninoy Aquino Avenue formerly occupied by Duty Free Philippines until 1997 but was closed down in July 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.dutyfree.gov.ph/?q=content/history |title=History |publisher=Duty Free Philippines |access-date=August 29, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://manilastandardtoday.com/mobile/2014/02/26/pagcor-to-shut-down-airport-casino-in-july |title=Pagcor to shut down airport casino in July |work=Manila Standard Today |access-date=September 12, 2014}} In 2009, Resorts World Manila, the Philippines' first integrated resort, was built on a portion of Villamor Air Base in Pasay across from NAIA Terminal 3. The city's newest casino is the $2.4-B Okada Manila completed in December 2016 in Entertainment City, the third of four billion-dollar casinos to rise in Manila's gaming strip.{{cite web|url=https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/casino-operations-start-december-30th-for-okada-manila-39832 |title=Casino operations start December 30th for Okada Manila |publisher=World Casino Directory |author=Kelley, M. |date=December 29, 2016 |access-date=January 5, 2017}}

• Casino Filipino Airport (closed 2014)
• Casino Filipino Heritage Hotel (closed 2013){{cite web|url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/06/02/13/heritage-hotel-close-casino |title=Heritage Hotel to close casino |publisher=ABS-CBN News |access-date=August 28, 2014}}
• Grand Boulevard Hotel & Casino
• Silahis International Hotel (closed 2008){{cite news |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080722-149893/Manila-takes-over-hotel-on-Roxas-Boulevard |title=Manila takes over hotel on Roxas Boulevard |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=August 28, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508032610/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080722-149893/Manila-takes-over-hotel-on-Roxas-Boulevard |archive-date=May 8, 2014 }}
• Philippine Village Hotel Casino (closed 2001){{cite web|url=http://manila.coconuts.co/2013/04/17/philippine-village-hotel-ordered-vacate-nayong-pilipino-grounds |title=Philippine Village Hotel ordered to vacate Nayong Pilipino Grounds |work=Coconuts Newsletter |access-date=September 4, 2014}}
• Manila Bay Casino (closed 1979)

{{See also|Horseracing in the Philippines}}

Sports betting has a long history in the Philippines. Popular forms of legalized sports gambling include betting on cockfighting, jai alai and horseracing. Sabong, as how cockfighting is known locally, has been hugely popular even prior to Spanish colonization in 1521. It was legalized and regulated in the early 18th century as a source of revenue for the Spanish colonial government. In 1854, the Tondo cockpit in Manila generated as much as 80,000 Mexican silver dollars for the government. By 1861, a new series of regulations were passed which permitted it to be held on Sundays and holidays, including town fiestas.{{cite book |

author=Dundes, Alan | title=The Cockfight: A Casebook | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy5VqKSYt8IC&q=cockfighting+%221861%22+philippines&pg=PA137

| publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |date=1994 | isbn=9780299140540 | access-date=September 17, 2014}}{{cite book |

author=Carpio| title=My Country and My People | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7UUuHLJYdlMC&q=sports+horse-racing+lottery+manila&pg=PA77

| publisher=Rex Bookstore| date=1998 | isbn=9789712322549 | access-date=September 17, 2014|display-authors=etal}} The sport remains popular today and is regulated by the Philippine Gamefowl Commission created in 1981 under the Games and Amusement Board.{{cite web|url=http://www.chanrobles.com/presidentialdecrees/presidentialdecreeno1802.html#.VBkAVY0azCQ |title=Presidential Decree No. 1802 |publisher=Chan Robles Virtual Law Library |access-date=September 17, 2014}}

The Games and Amusement Board also regulates jai alai and horseracing operations as well as off-track bookmaking stations in the country. Jai alai was first introduced in the Philippines in 1899 with some of the earlier games played in the Casino Español de Manila. In 1939, the games shifted to the Manila Jai Alai Building.{{cite book |

author=De Borja, Marciano | title=Basques in the Philippines | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXpiujH2uOwC&q=jai+alai+manila+%22casino+español%22&pg=PA118

| publisher=University of Nevada Press | date=2005 | isbn=9780874175905 | access-date=September 17, 2014}} Jai alai was temporarily banned in 1986 because of problems with game fixing. The building was subsequently torn down in 2000.{{cite news|url=http://www.inquirer.net/lifestyle/?id=57505 |title=Remember jai alai: Stop making Manila heritage demolition victim |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=September 22, 2014}} By March 2010, however, jai alai returned to the country with the games now being played in a fronton in Santa Ana, Cagayan.{{cite news|url=http://www.philstar.com/sports/555000/cagayan-hosts-jai-alai-return?nomobile=1 |title=Cagayan hosts jai-alai return |newspaper=Philippine Star |access-date=September 22, 2014}}

Betting on other competitive sports such as boxing, basketball, football and tennis is also possible through licensed sportsbook MegaSportsWorld that has several branches in Metro Manila and a telephone service.{{cite web|url=http://media.megasportsworld.com/about.php |title=About MegaSportsWorld |publisher=MegaSportsWorld.com |access-date=September 22, 2014}}

PAGCOR operates 102 e-Games stations throughout Metro Manila.{{cite web|url=http://www.egamescasino.ph/locations/ |title=E-Games Locations: NCR |publisher=PAGCOR e-Games |access-date=September 22, 2014}} An e-Games station is an internet café that allows customers to play casino games online.{{cite web|url=http://www.biggamecasino.ph/why-we-are-your-best-bet/ |title=Why we are your best bet |publisher=BigGame, Inc. |access-date=September 22, 2014}} In addition, there are 12 e-Games sites in the metropolis operated by BigGame, Inc. (BGI), a subsidiary of PhilWeb Corporation, under license from PAGCOR.{{cite web|url=http://www.biggamecasino.ph/the-site/ |title=BigGame Casino Sites |publisher=BigGame, Inc. |access-date=September 22, 2014}} As of August 10, 2016, the e-Games outlets operated by PhilWeb were closed following the non-renewal of its license by PAGCOR.{{cite news|url=http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/410-gaming/142495-philweb-shut-down-e-games-outlets-ongpin-resignation |title=PhilWeb to close e-Games outlets despite Ongpin resignation |author=Dela Paz, C. |work=Rappler |date=August 9, 2016 |access-date=August 11, 2016}}

• Tourism in Manila
• Gambling in the Philippines
• List of casinos in the Philippines
• List of hotels in Manila

{{Reflist|2}}

• [http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/philippines#PROPERTYLIST World Casino Directory – Philippine Casinos & Gambling]

{{Gambling by country}}

{{Metro Manila}}

Category:Tourism in Metro Manila

Category:Gambling in the Philippines

Category:Economy of Metro Manila

Category:Culture in Metro Manila