Poker Writer
A Malaysian court has ruled that gambling debt is not enforceable by law due to it being considered “debts of honor.” This allowed a man to effectively freeroll a Singaporean casino.
Seventy-five-year-old Malaysian citizen Lee Fook Khuen ran up approximately $7-8 million in debt through credit at Resorts World Sentosa, an island resort in Singapore. Lee had a platinum credit status and was able to continue adding debt, with numbers that kept increasing.
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Lee chose not to appeal the judgment in Singapore and instead was registered at the High Court of Malaysia all the way back in November of 2018. The casino attempted to file for bankruptcy against Lee for failing to pay his debts.
The initial ruling came down in favor of the casino in February of 2025. But High Court Judge Moses Susayan presided over an appeal.
In the judgment released on Monday, Moses wrote that because the bankruptcy dealt exclusively with gambling, the attempts by the casino were null and void:
The reality of the transactions was that it was a gambling contract or a composite gambling contract when viewed in totality, where its purpose was no other than for gaming or wagering. In the circumstances, the said contract contravenes Section 26(1) and the first limb of Section 31(1) of the Contracts Act 1950, and as such was null and void from the beginning.
The judge pointed to the long-standing law in the Civil Law Act of 1956, which treats gambling debts as debts of honor rather than as enforceable in law. The obligation to pay a gambling debt is morally binding only. Essentially, they’re traditional “gentleman’s agreements.”
That means Khuen managed to successfully freeroll the property. Had he won, he’d have presumably collected his winnings. But safely back in Malaysia, the casino has no legal standing to recover his losses.
This differs from the legal approach in much of the United States, where debts arising from regulated gambling, such as markers from licensed casinos, are treated as valid contracts.
Resorts World Expanding
Malaysia has just one legal land-based casino: Resorts World Genting in the Genting Highlands, outside Kuala Lumpur. That casino serves as the flagship location for Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group, which is rapidly expanding its overseas footprint, particularly in the U.S.
The Resorts World in Singapore is the closest geographically to Resorts World Genting.
Resorts World New York City, which may be adding poker, is the newest location in Queens. It’s up and running following a long licensing process in the Big Apple. Two more operate in New York, in the Catskills and Hudson Valley.
Other Resorts World locations include the one in Las Vegas, as well as international ones in the Bahamas and Philippines.
