Top Casinos in Malaysia

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy that is located in Southeast Asia. The South China Sea divides its regions into Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. The total number of states in this country is thirteen, but it also consists of three federal territories. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nation. Although half of its population is Malay, minorities consist of Chinese, Indian, and indigenous people.

When it comes to the borders, Peninsular Malaysia has maritime borders with Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. On the other hand, East Malaysia borders Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The name of the capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The official language in the country is Malay, while English comes in second.

As for its economic state, Malaysia has a pretty stable GDP. It records an average growth of 6.5% per year in the last 50 years. Additionally, it heavily relies on its natural resources, tourism, science, commerce, and medical tourism. It has a newly industrialized market economy and ranks 33rd in the world. Malaysia is also a founding member of several international organizations.

Malaysia has a pretty long and rich history with the gambling industry. But, the residents here have always had a bit of a complicated relationship with gambling facilities. The major breakthrough came in 1953 when the Betting Act was introduced. With it, even though most forms of gambling were made illegal, lotteries and betting on horse races were considered legal.

It is worth noting, however, that players can only bet on horses at the racecourses. Additionally, there is just one legal gambling venue in all of Malaysia – the Genting Highlands Resort.

As for the reason why the residents had a pretty complicated relationship with the gambling industry, it is because as stated earlier, the population in this country is mixed and there are a lot of Muslims. Hence, the Sharia Law forbids them to participate in all sorts of gambling-related activities.

But, other people became more than open to enjoy the latest Malaysia online live casino games. As time went by, the Malaysia casino online started becoming popular on the market and Malay players became extremely fond of them. Since the government did not allow online casinos to be based in the country, the residents started registering and playing at offshore sites.

The future of online casinos is very hard to determine in Malaysia. One thing that is certain is that the popularity of these sites will continue to grow. Live dealer casinos in Malaysia are set to be the future of the online gambling industry as they provide players with a unique gaming experience. But, when it comes to its legal status, it is unlikely that a change will be made.

The reason for that is the country has a dual system of law – on one side stand the Sharia Law courts, while regular courts are on the other side. Gambling is actually one of the most discussed topics between these two sides but both of them hold to their arguments quite hard.

There could be a number of benefits that Malaysia would reap if the online casino industry is legalized. The country would receive millions of dollars in taxes, employ thousands of people, but most importantly, the crime rate would go down as some statistics show that the illegal gambling rings in Malaysia gross several billions of dollars annually.

However, Sharia Law cannot be ruled out. After all, a huge part of the residents in this country are Muslim and their voices need to be heard, as well. The bottom line is, that only time will tell how Malaysia will handle this situation.

At the moment, most forms of gambling, both online and offline are considered illegal in Malaysia. The only facility in the whole country where gambling is allowed is the Genting Highlands Resort. Apart from that, the second legal form of gambling is betting on racehorses, but even this activity comes with certain restrictions.

While Malay residents are allowed to bet on horse races, they are not allowed to do it online or at physical betting shops. The law states that they can only wager on this sport at the racecourses.

As for online gambling, it too is formally considered illegal, but considering the fact that the law does not apply to offshore sites, foreign operators are free to offer their services to players from Malaysia. That is why this activity is actually pretty popular in the country. Players should keep in mind to always play at trusted live online casino in Malaysia,

But, the one thing that players need to remember is that they always need to access foreign operators for one additional reason. The law does not allow any Malay-based live casinos to operate in the region. That means that players will not be safe if they register and play at Malay-based casino sites.

Regulation Laws and Authorities

There are three main laws that regulate live casinos and land-based casinos in Malaysia. They are:

• The Betting Act of 1953
• Common Gaming Houses Act of 1953
• Sharia Law

Out of these three, the main law is the Betting Act of 1953. According to this legislation, all forms of gambling, except betting on horse races at racecourses are not allowed. Those that are caught as illegal operators may serve up to 5 years in prison.

The difference between the Betting Act of 1953 and the Common Gaming Houses Act of 1953 is that while the Betting Act focuses more on online betting, the Common Gaming Houses Act takes all forms of gambling as well. According to this law, players that are caught gambling illegally can serve up to six months in prison or pay a fine of 5,000 ringgits.

Finally, the last law that regulates gambling activities in Malaysia is the Sharia Law, which applies to Muslims in the country. Around 60% of the Malay population are Muslims, so this law is part of the country’s Constitution. In layman's terms, the Sharia Law also forbids all types of gambling. Not only that, but it is also worth mentioning that Malaysia acknowledges Sharia courts, meaning that the country has a dual court system. Considering the fact that gambling is formally illegal here, there is no specific regulatory body that oversees this industry.

But, since Malay players can access offshore sites, they need to make sure that the operators where they register are licensed and regulated. The government does not have a system that is designed to block unlicensed sites, which means that there is a chance of registering at a scam site.

With that being said, Malay players need to always make sure that they find a trusted live casino online in Malaysia, that are licensed and regulated by reputable international regulatory bodies such as the Malta Gaming Authority, or the UK Gambling Commission.

When Malay players visit online casinos, they always want to have the best gaming experience. So, they are always on the lookout for the best game providers. The more reputable the provider is, the better the game will be, and ultimately, the experience will be much more pleasing.

With that being said, the most reputable name in the live casino area is Evolution Gaming and that is the provider that Malay players always look for. Additionally, Asia Live Gaming is known for supplying live casinos with the best Asian-themed live games, so this provider also ranks high.

Other game providers that Malaysia top casinos have are:

• Microgaming
• NetEnt
• Yggdrasil
• Play’n GO
• Quickspin
• Playtech
• Pragmatic Play

All of these brands are very reputable not just in Malaysia, but all around the world.

The most preferred payment methods in the top live online casinos in Malaysia are e-wallets. The biggest advantage that comes with e-wallets is that they are provided with instant withdrawals, which is not the case with other methods.

The most popular e-wallets in Malaysia are:

• Skrill
• Neteller
• PayPal

However, it is worth noting that some live casinos consider e-wallets, especially Skrill and Neteller as ineligible to claim the bonuses. Additionally, e-wallets are often subject to fees which is why players need to read the terms and conditions concerning banking.

Some other payment methods that are also popular in this region are bank transfers and mobile pay methods. With bank transfers, the withdrawals may take longer to be processed, but unlike e-wallets, they do not come with fees.