China Gambling Laws

Is gambling allowed in China: the short answer

No, not in mainland China. All forms of gambling are illegal under Chinese law, and that includes online gambling, which is banned outright¹. The single exception within the People's Republic of China is Macau, a special administrative region with its own legal system, where casino gambling is legal and mainland Chinese citizens may play freely².

There is one more narrow exception on the mainland itself: the state lotteries. The central government authorizes exactly two of them, the China Welfare Lottery and the China Sports Lottery, and under the Regulations on the Administration of Lotteries no other lottery may be issued without State Council approval, and foreign lotteries may not be sold anywhere in the country³. If you want to know what those games are like, how much tickets cost and what they pay, see our pages on the China lottery, Double Color Ball and Super Lotto.

Two everyday situations sit outside the ban, and they matter if you live in China. The first is recreational mahjong and card games among friends. Official guidance says these are not treated as gambling and are generally not punished when they are not for profit, when the stakes are small, or when a chess and card room only charges a fixed venue or service fee⁶. The second is small-scale play generally: official interpretation states that taking part in gambling involving very small amounts, purely for recreation or entertainment, does not constitute a crime⁷. The line is profit and scale, not the game itself.

Everything else is off the table. Horse lottery betting, for example, is illegal, because the State Council has authorized only the welfare and sports lotteries, and every other lottery is unlawful⁸. Casino-style poker with cash is not permitted anywhere in mainland China⁹.

The exception: state lotteries and permitted pilot websites

The two state lotteries are the only legal gambling products on the mainland. The China Welfare Lottery funds social welfare programs and the China Sports Lottery funds sports development, and both are sold through a licensed network of physical shops, with games ranging from draw lotteries like Double Color Ball and Super Lotto to sports betting on football and basketball matches. You can read about the full range in sports betting in China and jingcai sports lottery betting.

What you cannot do is buy any of it online. This is the point most people get wrong, so it is worth being precise:

• The state has never approved any institution or individual to sell lottery over the internet, and offline lottery shops are the only legal purchase channel⁴
• All online lottery platforms claiming to accept bets are illegal, and there is, in the official phrasing, no such thing as online lottery in China¹⁰
• China Sports Lottery has never authorized any website, app or mini program to sell its products, so any sports lottery sold online is illegal¹¹
• Selling or buying lottery tickets via the internet is strictly prohibited, and violators are investigated and punished¹²

A few pilot programs have tested telephone or account-based sales for specific games in specific provinces, but even those pilots came with strict conditions, including a flat ban on opening betting accounts for minors¹². For a normal buyer, the practical rule is simple: if it is not a licensed shop counter, it is not legal.

Foreign lotteries deserve a specific mention. Selling them inside China is prohibited, and buying them through any online platform based in China is likewise illegal³. If you are a visitor or expat used to buying Powerball or EuroMillions tickets online, that habit does not carry over to mainland China.

Macau: the only part of China where gambling is legal

Macau is a special administrative region that keeps its own laws, and it is the only place in the People's Republic of China where casino gambling is legal². It is also, by revenue, the largest casino market in the world, bigger than Las Vegas, and its casinos are the only places in China where gambling is legal².

Who can play there? Mainland Chinese citizens and Macau residents may enter and play freely, and foreign visitors are equally welcome¹³. There is no rule barring mainlanders from Macau's tables, which is why the city has for decades been the default gambling destination for the whole country. Entry to casinos requires being of age and showing identification, and visitors cross the border from Zhuhai or arrive by ferry or flight from the mainland.

The practical side of a Macau trip is covered elsewhere on this site: see casinos in China for the market as a whole, and our venue pages for Galaxy Macau, City of Dreams Macau, Grand Lisboa, MGM Macau and MGM Cotai, each with entry rules, games and how to get there.

One thing mainland visitors should understand before planning a trip beyond Macau: Chinese law treats cross-border gambling as illegal. Chinese embassies have warned citizens that taking part in cross-border gambling is suspected of violating Chinese law even when the overseas casino is legally operated in its own country¹⁴. Reporting has noted that while no rule in Chinese law explicitly forbids gambling in a foreign country, the official position treats gambling by Chinese citizens abroad, including online, as illegal¹⁵. The authorities' own statements go further: leaving the country to gamble, gambling online, and providing funds or technical support for gambling all violate the Criminal Law and the Public Security Administration Punishments Law¹⁶. In practice, the people pursued are overwhelmingly organizers, agents and people who run cross-border gambling operations, not casual visitors, but the legal exposure exists and it is stated openly. If you are weighing a trip to Cambodia, the Philippines or elsewhere specifically to gamble, read our page on gambling trips abroad from China.

Rules for minors: lottery, venues and betting accounts

China has a single gambling age, 18, and it applies across every legal product:

The rules apply to everyone in mainland China, citizens and foreigners alike, and they are enforced at the point of sale. A shop assistant can refuse a sale if a young-looking buyer cannot show ID, and venues that let minors play face regulatory consequences.

For foreign visitors, the age rules are the same as for locals. There is no lower working age for tourists, and no separate regime.

Enforcement in practice

How does all this actually play out? Enforcement in mainland China is layered, and the severity depends on your role.

For ordinary players, the starting point is administrative. Organizing gambling for profit, or making a living from gambling, is pursued under the Criminal Law¹⁹. The same distinction runs through the official guidance on small recreational play: tiny amounts among friends are not a crime, but stakes described as "relatively large" push a player into punishable territory⁷.

Online gambling is treated more severely than it might look. Authorities have warned that even small bets are illegal²⁰, and official notices on online football betting state that organizing it, acting as an agent for it, or merely participating in it can constitute the crimes of opening a gambling house or gambling, carrying administrative or criminal liability²¹. So the friend who runs a WeChat group taking World Cup bets is in a categorically worse position than someone who plays a hand of mahjong at home.

Cross-border enforcement is where China has been most active in recent years. Public security organs state that participating in cross-border gambling, and committing it inside or outside the border, are criminal and illegal acts that they will crack down on severely according to law¹⁶. Chinese embassies abroad have issued direct warnings to citizens about casinos in Southeast Asia, and the official position is that any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online gambling and opening casinos overseas to attract Chinese customers, is illegal²². The people actually arrested and prosecuted are almost always the operators, the agents who recruit players, and the people who move money for gambling operations, but the warnings are addressed to everyone.

Poker deserves a final word, because it is the area where the rules surprise people. Cash poker rooms and casino-style tournaments are not permitted in mainland China, and online poker is effectively dead there since online gambling is illegal⁹. What does exist is a small number of licensed sports poker clubs, in cities such as Beijing and Sanya, where foreigners and Chinese can both play, but the play is for points or tickets rather than cash, and foreigners need to register with a passport⁹. If you are a poker player visiting China, that club format is the only legal option on the mainland, and the full picture is on our poker in China page.

For visitors and expats, the practical summary is short. Do not gamble online while you are in mainland China, do not buy lottery anywhere but a licensed shop, keep home games small and friendly, and if you want a real casino, take the short trip to Macau, where the whole industry is legal and open to you.