Gambling in China

The gambling scene

Gambling on the Chinese mainland has been outlawed since 1949, and that ban still stands: there are no casinos, no betting shops run by private companies and no licensed online gambling sites⁶. What exists instead is a state monopoly on the games the government allows: two national lotteries, a sports betting network sold only through official shops, and a small number of licensed "mind sports" poker clubs where prizes are not cash.

Around that official world sits an enormous informal one. Mahjong and card games like Dou Dizhu are played in homes, parks and commercial chess and card rooms across the country, and recreational play with small stakes is generally not punished⁷. The state's line is simple: play for fun with small amounts and you are fine; organize or play for profit and you are not⁸.

If you want the full picture, we have separate pages on gambling laws in China, the history of gambling in China and gambling scams in China, which covers the fake platforms and underground operations that target both locals and visitors.

Casinos and resorts

There are no casinos on the Chinese mainland. The closest thing to a resort gambling scene is across the border in Macau, a special administrative region with its own laws and dozens of major casino resorts, including Galaxy Macau, City of Dreams Macau, MGM Macau, MGM Cotai, Grand Lisboa, StarWorld Hotel and Casino and the SJM and Melco properties. Our casinos in China page explains the mainland situation and how the Macau option works for visitors.

One thing worth knowing: Chinese law also prohibits cross-border gambling, meaning mainland citizens are not supposed to travel abroad to gamble, and the authorities have run campaigns against offshore sites recruiting mainland members⁹. Our page on gambling trips abroad from China covers what that means in practice.

The lottery

The lottery is the heart of legal gambling in China, and it is huge. Two organizations run it: the China Welfare Lottery, whose games include Double Color Ball, Kuaile 8, Qilecai, 3D and scratch cards, and the China Sports Lottery, whose flagship is Super Lotto¹. Tickets cost CNY 2 per bet for the main draw games, and prizes are capped at CNY 5 million per bet for the top tiers².

The games break down like this:

Ticket price: CNY 2

A few notes on the big games. Double Color Ball is the most popular lottery in the country: you pick 6 red numbers from 1 to 33 and 1 blue from 1 to 16, and matching all seven pays up to CNY 10 million, with a nationwide shared prize pool¹². Super Lotto has you pick 5 numbers from 01 to 35 plus 2 from 01 to 12, with fixed prizes from CNY 15 up to CNY 10,000 at the lower tiers and floating top prizes¹¹. 7 Star Lottery is a 7-digit game where the first six positions run 000000 to 999999 and the seventh from 0 to 14¹³.

The daily games are cheaper and faster. In 3D, a direct pick that matches the winning number position by position pays CNY 1,040, while group plays pay CNY 346 or CNY 173 depending on the combination¹⁵. Pailie 3 works the same way with the same prize structure and a 21:25 nightly draw¹⁶. Kuaile 8 is a keno-style game with prizes from CNY 3 up to CNY 8,000, capped at CNY 250,000 on multi-bet tickets¹⁷.

There are also high-frequency games, with video lottery draws every 20 minutes and bet ranges tightened to 2 to 20 times in a 2019 rule change¹⁸, and scratch cards, such as the CNY 30 "Hao Yun Lai" tickets launched across Beijing¹⁹. Shanghai even ran a 3D prize promotion worth CNY 27 million over 40 draws to mark the game's 20th anniversary in 2024²⁰.

Each game has its own in-depth page: the China lottery, Double Color Ball, Super Lotto, 7 Star Lottery, 3D, Pailie 3 and Pailie 5, Kuai 3, high-frequency lottery games and scratch cards.

Sports betting and racing

Legal sports betting in China means the China Sports Lottery, sold only at official physical shops; the authorities are explicit that these shops are the only regular and legal channel for buying sports lottery tickets³. Betting on football and basketball is organized around single-match games and parlays, with fixed odds set in advance by the state lottery center²¹.

The main products:

• Single-match football betting: CNY 2 per bet, single or multiple bets, with multiples from 2 to 99 times²²
• Win-draw-loss football betting: single-match, parlay, single and multiple betting styles, with prize caps of CNY 100,000 on singles, CNY 200,000 on 2 to 3 match parlays, CNY 500,000 on 4 to 5, and CNY 1 million on parlays of 6 matches or more²³
• Basketball big/small and winning margin games: CNY 2 per bet, with the same ladder of prize caps up to CNY 1 million on 6-plus parlays²⁵

Online football betting, by contrast, is a crime, and money lost to it is not protected by law and cannot be recovered²⁷. Our sports betting in China page covers the shop experience, Jingcai betting explains the sports lottery products, and the 14-match football lottery covers the classic long-odds game.

Horse racing is a newer story. A 2008 trial event in Wuhan was the first time since 1949 that people on the mainland could bet on horse racing, though winners received scratch-off lottery tickets rather than cash²⁸. The real milestone is the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Conghua Racecourse in Guangzhou, which begins regular international-level thoroughbred racing at the end of October 2026, the first of its kind on the mainland²⁹. See horse racing in China and Conghua Racecourse for more. For actual race betting, Hong Kong's Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses and HKJC horse race betting remain the regional options.

Poker

Poker on the mainland exists in a narrow legal space. Cash poker is a criminal offense, so the legal venues are licensed "mind sports" clubs that charge membership fees and pay prizes in points or tickets rather than money⁴. The Mo Li Poker Sport Club, established in 2012, is described as the longest running and the only legal poker room in mainland China, and there are a few others, such as the Xian Baoyulin club in Xian⁴. Foreigners can enter these clubs but must register with a passport⁴.

The biggest event ever held on the mainland was the 2012 China Poker Carnival at the MGM Hotel in Sanya, Hainan, the largest Hold 'em tournament the mainland had seen³⁰. Competitive poker also has official backing in one form: the first national Er Da Yi championship in 2016 ran online qualifiers across five platforms, including Lianzhong and Tencent, before a live final³¹.

Online poker is essentially dead in China, with no Chinese-owned or operated poker sites, since online gambling is illegal⁴. Read more on poker in China, online poker in China and Chinese poker (Shisan Zhang), the 13-card game popular across the region.

Local and traditional games

This is where Chinese gambling culture really lives. Mahjong is played everywhere, and the official position is that recreational mahjong, not run for profit or with only small stakes, is not treated as gambling; chess and card rooms that charge only fixed venue and service fees are also left alone⁷. Commercial mahjong parlors offer automated tables, charge by the hour and sell drinks and food³².

The card and tile games worth knowing:

• Mahjong: the national game, with regional rule sets and a rich tile history, including the "flower" and "king" tiles that can act as any suit or wind³³
• Dou Dizhu (Fight the Landlord): the most played card game in China, three players, one against two; its most famous digital version, Tiantian Doudizhu, comes from Chanyou Technology³⁴
• Big Two (Choh Dai Di): a climbing game where 2s and jokers rank highest³⁵
• Guandan and Zheng Shangyou: partnership climbing games from Jiangsu and Anhui
• San Da Yi: a Shanghai shedding game that also has a national competitive championship³¹
• Pai Gow: Chinese dominoes, played in pairs and in casinos across Asia
• Tien Gow (Tian Jiu): the older, 32-tile domino game
• Four Color Cards (Si Se Pai): a 7-card-type game using the same characters as Chinese chess, with groups of 1 to 4 cards³⁶
• Traditional Chinese card games and Chinese dice games and Fan-Tan: the wider family of local games
• Bo Bing: the Mid-Autumn dice game played at family gatherings for mooncakes rather than money

Where people play these outside the home is the chess and card room (qipai shi), a neighborhood institution found in every city. Local enforcement notices give a flavor of the line the authorities draw: gambling for profit using game machines, mahjong, dominoes, dice, Mark Six, the internet, WeChat red packets or Texas Hold 'em is prohibited, while the rooms themselves operate openly³⁷.

Online

Online gambling is illegal in China, full stop. That covers offshore casinos and betting sites, online poker and even online sales of the state lottery; the only legal way to buy sports lottery tickets is in person at official shops³. Despite that, hundreds of offshore sites accept Chinese players, and the risks for those who use them are real: hefty fines and imprisonment are among the consequences, and money lost to illegal online betting cannot be recovered through the courts⁵. The authorities have also targeted gambling websites that recruit mainland citizens as members¹⁰.

Our online gambling in China page goes into what exists, how payments work and what the practical risks are. One legal corner of online play is card and mahjong apps: platforms like QQGame host Dou Dizhu, Big Two and other games for entertainment, with no cash stakes³⁵.

Money and payments

Lottery tickets are bought with cash or mobile payment at official shops, and the paper ticket is the only prize redemption voucher, so keep it safe³. Prizes are paid at shops or lottery centers depending on size, and when you redeem a computer lottery prize over CNY 3,000, your real-name identity is registered³⁸.

Tax is the part that surprises people. A single lottery win of CNY 10,000 or less is exempt from individual income tax; anything above that is taxed in full at a 20 percent rate³⁸. All prizes won by the same person in the same draw of the same game count as one win, and lottery institutions file tax declarations for winners of more than CNY 10,000 on computer and instant lottery games³⁹. Our gambling payments in China and tax on winnings pages cover the details.

Who can play

The short answer: everyone aged 18 and over can buy lottery tickets and use the legal sports betting shops, and foreigners can also enter the licensed poker clubs with a passport. Minors may not buy lottery tickets or claim prizes²⁴. Casinos, cash poker and all online gambling are off the table for everyone on the mainland.

Visiting and living there

For a visitor, the practical gambling experience in China is this: you can walk into a lottery shop, hand over CNY 2 and take a shot at Double Color Ball or Super Lotto alongside everyone else, and you can watch or bet on football at a Sports Lottery shop. There is no casino in the country; the nearest ones are in Macau. Online betting sites are not available while in the country, as gambling in mainland China is strictly prohibited.

Recreational play with small amounts, purely for entertainment, is not a crime, so joining a mahjong game with friends or in-laws is a normal part of social life⁸. Our gambling in China as a visitor page covers the practical details, and gambling scams in China is worth a read before you travel, since tea-house card tricks and fake online platforms do target visitors.

Getting help

China has no official channels of support for gambling-related harm, because the market is not regulated⁵. The one landmark was a volunteer-run help line set up in the 2000s, which was overwhelmed by calls even though it was banned from advertising its number⁶. If you or someone you know is struggling, our gambling help in China page lists what actually exists, including international resources you can reach online.