E-games stations and bingo halls in the Philippines: PAGCOR's rules for players

Short answer: PAGCOR-licensed e-games stations and bingo halls follow PAGCOR's Regulatory Framework for Gaming Venue Operations, effective 6 November 2025. You must be 21 or older, not a student, not in a barred group, and registered with a government photo ID. Venues may open 24 hours. The six-hour stay limit and the "no slippers, shorts or sando" list from 2017 do not appear in the current framework; it only says everyone must "dress modestly and appropriately".

What these venues are

PAGCOR's Electronic Gaming Licensing Department (EGLD) regulates PAGCOR-licensed local gaming venues, apart from land-based casinos. It issues a gaming licence for each game offered at a venue: traditional bingo, electronic bingo (eBingo), electronic casino games (eCasino), sports betting, specialty games, online poker and numeric games. EGLD's page also says a service provider's games must be offered at the venue, with online play only "an adjunct service for its registered players" (online bingo).

PAGCOR's List of Licensees for Gaming Venue Operations (as of 31 October 2026) names 253 operators. It lists companies, not branch addresses, and warns that these licensees "are not licensed to operate offshore gaming operations or POGO".

Who may not enter or play

The 2025 framework says operators "shall not allow entry, stay and/or play" by:

• government officials connected directly with the operation of the government or any of its agencies;
• members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police;
• persons under 21, or students of any school, college or university in the Philippines;
• banned persons, including anyone in the National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP);
• unregistered players.

Gaming Employment License (GEL) holders may not play. PAGCOR's Responsible Gaming page (read 9 November 2026) words the government rule more widely: all officials and employees of the national government, LGUs, state and local universities and colleges, and GOCCs with original charters, and their "mere presence" in gaming establishments is prohibited except on official duty (full list).

If a barred person wins, the money is at risk: the framework says non-eligible players may forfeit their remaining funds to the National Government, and a jackpot won by a non-eligible player "shall be forfeited".

ID and registration

Only registered members may play, and the venue must post a sign at its entrance saying so. To register you show one valid government-issued ID with your photo, full name and date of birth, and you must be at least 21 on the day you apply. The cashier or staff log your name, birth date and place, nationality, addresses, contact details, ID number, nature of work, source of income and a current photo. The system must check you against the NDRP.

PAGCOR's 16 April 2024 memo adds the PhilID card and ePhilID to the valid IDs for registration, prize claims and other gaming transactions, whether on-site or online. A 2018 PAGCOR memo had removed the barangay certification from the accepted IDs.

Opening hours

• Before September 2017: PAGCOR's July 2017 memo told all e-games and bingo operators that no site could open 24 hours; the limit was 15 hours a day.
• 5 September 2017: PAGCOR announced that its Board had approved, on 30 August 2017, raising the maximum to 24 hours a day.
• Now: the 2025 framework says "An Operator may operate its gaming venue for twenty-four (24) hours a day." Each venue reports its hours to PAGCOR and must notify PAGCOR at least a day before changing them. It may also shorten hours or close on holidays such as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, All Saints' Day and Christmas Day.

The six-hour limit and the dress code

PAGCOR's memo of 13 July 2017 ordered all existing e-games and bingo sites to enforce, "effective immediately", these rules from the Gaming Site Regulatory Manuals (GSRMs) version 3.0:

• men: no slippers, shorts, sandos/jerseys or tattered clothes;
• women: no slippers, skimpy outfits or tattered clothes;
• "No customer is allowed to play and remain in the gaming site for more than six (6) hours."

The 2025 framework, which states that it "shall repeal previous issuances, memoranda, orders, rules and regulations governing gaming venue operations", keeps a shorter dress code: "Everyone within the gaming venue is required to dress modestly and appropriately", and venue personnel may not wear "indecent or short and revealing outfits". It sets no playing-time limit. Each operator still writes its own operational rules, and the house rules say "Management reserves the right to deny entry to any person", so a venue can keep its own dress code. Long trousers and closed shoes are the safe choice. Casinos are a separate system with their own manuals (casino entry rules).

The March 2017 GSRM version 3.0 for electronic games, which still contains the six-hour and 15-hour rules, is still on PAGCOR's server, but it is no longer linked from PAGCOR's regulatory manuals page.

House rules every venue must post

The framework lists general house rules that must be displayed inside. Among them:

• only registered players may play; "No Cash, No Play";
• no bystanders, and no firearms or deadly weapons;
• lenders ("financier/loan sharks") may not roam the venue offering loans;
• players are liable for damage to machines, and the venue is not responsible for credits left on a terminal;
• on eBingo machines, winnings are paid until closing time of the trading day of the first cash-in.

Barangay bingo

On 22 April 2025 the Supreme Court, in G.R. No. 207118, upheld rulings that Baguio City's barangay councils may hold "Bingo sa Barangay"; it reasoned that barangays may hold it as a fund-raiser for barangay projects "without the need to secure permits from PAGCOR or any national or local office or agency", provided it complies with existing laws. That ruling covers barangay fund-raising, not private bingo halls.

If you want to stop

You can exclude yourself from every PAGCOR-licensed casino and gaming venue at once; the framework says a banning order applies "nationwide across all licensed casinos and gaming venues". Family members can also apply. Free help: National Problem Gambling Helpline 02-8248-9568 (self-exclusion and help).