Casino Games in South Korea

Where casino gambling is legal in South Korea

Casino gambling is one of a short list of legal gambling forms in South Korea, alongside horse racing, cycle racing, boat racing, lotteries, sports promotion betting tickets and bullfighting⁶. What makes casinos unusual is how access is split: land-based gambling is not prohibited as such, but the law channels Korean citizens into a single venue while leaving the rest of the casino floor space to visitors⁷.

The practical result is simple. If you hold a foreign passport, you have your pick of 17 casinos across Seoul, Incheon, Busan, Jeju and a few other locations. If you are a South Korean citizen, exactly one casino door is open to you, and it is in the mountains of Gangwon Province. Everyone else in the country who wants table games is looking at online options, which the government does not permit, or at the other legal products such as the lottery or sports betting.

The full picture of what is legal, for whom, is covered on our gambling in South Korea page. Here we focus on the games themselves: what is on the floor, how it plays and what it pays.

Kangwon Land: the one casino open to Koreans

Kangwon Land, at the High1 Resort in Jeongseon county, Gangwon Province, is the only casino in South Korea where Korean residents and foreigners can walk in together². It is also the largest casino in the country, with 200 table games and 1,360 slot machines and video games².

The casino was built to revive a former mining region, and it remains the one place a Korean national can legally play baccarat or blackjack at a live table. Everyone entering pays a KRW 5,000 levy that covers 24 hours³, and you must be 19 or older⁸.

The floor offers the full range you would expect from the biggest venue in the country: baccarat, blackjack, roulette and the other staples described below, spread across a large resort with hotels, ski slopes and entertainment. If you are a Korean resident planning a trip, or a visitor who wants to see the one casino locals can use, our Kangwon Land Casino at High1 Resort page has the entry rules, directions and details.

Foreigner-only casinos: 16 venues and what they offer

The other 16 casinos in South Korea are foreigner-only: you need your passport to get in, and Korean nationals cannot enter¹. The largest of them is Paradise City in Incheon, which its operator describes as the biggest foreigner-only casino in the country⁹.

The spread of venues and games looks like this:

A few patterns are worth noticing. Baccarat, blackjack and roulette appear at every venue; they are the backbone of the Korean casino floor. Beyond those three, you will find regional favorites: sic bo and tai sai (dice games) in Seoul and Busan, casino war and poker variants at Seven Luck, and big wheel on Jeju. Electronic table games, where a machine deals and players bet on touchscreens, are increasingly common alongside live tables¹⁰.

Staff check passports at the door to verify nationality, and the same minimum age as Kangwon Land applies¹⁷. Smart casual dress is the norm; you do not need a jacket and tie, but beachwear will not get you in. For venue-by-venue detail, see our pages on casinos in South Korea, casinos in Jeju and casinos in Busan.

Table games you will find: baccarat, blackjack, roulette

Three games anchor nearly every casino floor in the country. Here is how each one works, using the rules posted by Korean operators themselves.

Baccarat

Baccarat, also known as punto banco, is one of the oldest and most popular casino games in the world, and it is especially popular among high rollers and Asian players¹⁸. It is a pure game of chance: no skill you can develop will improve your odds¹⁹.

You bet on one of three outcomes: the player hand wins, the banker hand wins, or the two hands tie²⁰. Two cards are then dealt to each side²¹. Card values are simple: aces count 1, cards 2 through 9 count their face value, and 10, jack, queen and king count 0¹⁹. Only the rightmost digit of a hand's total counts, so a hand totaling 12 counts as 2, and 25 counts as 5²¹. Nine is the highest possible total, and the hand closest to 9 wins²².

If either hand totals 8 or 9 on the first two cards, that is a "natural" and the round ends immediately, with bets paid²². Otherwise, drawing rules take over. The player hand draws a third card on totals of 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7²³. The banker then follows a fixed table: with 0 to 2 the banker always draws; with 3 it draws against any player third card except 8; with 4 it draws against a player card of 2 to 7; with 5 against 4 to 7; with 6 against 6 or 7; and with 7 or higher it always stands²⁴. You never make these decisions; the dealer applies the rules automatically.

Payouts at Korean casinos follow the international standard. A winning player bet pays 1 to 1. A winning banker bet also pays 1 to 1, minus a 5 percent commission, so you receive 95 percent of your winnings⁴. A winning tie bet pays 8 times your bet, and your original stake is not collected⁴. Some tables run a "no commission" variant, where banker wins are paid in full except when the banker wins with a total of 6, in which case you get only half your winnings⁴. Tables also differ in squeeze options (whether you reveal the cards yourself), side bets such as pairs, and limits⁴.

The house edge is the lowest of any table game: about 1.06 percent on banker bets and about 1.26 percent on player bets⁵. The tie bet is the trap, at roughly 14.36 percent¹⁹. Bet banker or player and ignore the tie, and baccarat is as cheap as casino gambling gets.

Blackjack

Blackjack is the one game on the floor where your decisions matter. The object is to beat the dealer's hand by totaling 21, or as close to 21 as possible, without going over²⁵. Every player and the dealer receive two cards, but only one of the dealer's cards is face up²⁵. Cards 2 through 10 count face value; tens, jacks, queens and kings count 10; and an ace counts as either 1 or 11, whichever helps you²⁵. A two-card hand of an ace plus a ten-value card is a "blackjack," worth 21²⁵.

Your options each hand are⁴:

• Hit (take another card)
• Stay (stop)
• Double down
• Split pairs
• Surrender (give up half your bet and withdraw)
• Insurance against a dealer blackjack
• In Korean casinos, a pair side bet

Go over 21 and you bust, losing the hand automatically; if the dealer busts, all remaining players win²⁰. The dealer has no choices: with 16 or less, the dealer must draw until reaching 17 or more²⁰.

Roulette

In roulette, the dealer spins the ball and you bet on the number or color of the pocket where it lands²⁰. Each player uses their own colored play chips, which you buy at the table before the game and convert back to money chips when you leave²⁰. Full payouts and the wheel differences are covered in the roulette section below.

Blackjack: rules, payouts and house edge

A natural blackjack pays 3 to 2, so a 10,000 bet wins 15,000⁴. If the dealer also has blackjack, the hand is a push and your bet is returned²⁰. A standard winning hand that beats the dealer pays 1 to 1²⁶. Some tables pay only 6 to 5 on a blackjack, which is worth checking before you sit down, because it changes the math dramatically²⁶.

The house edge tells the story. In an eight-deck game paying 3 to 2, following basic strategy, the house edge is around 0.5 percent⁵. At a 6 to 5 table, that jumps to about 2 percent⁵. Basic strategy itself is a solved problem: stand on 12 to 16 when the dealer shows 2 to 6, hit those hands against a dealer's 7 through ace, and the dealer's fixed rules (drawing on 16, standing on 17) do the rest.

The raw odds give you a feel for the game. Players win about 42 percent of hands, the dealer wins about 49 percent, and about 9 percent are ties⁵. The chance of being dealt a natural blackjack is about 4.8 percent⁵. Hand strength matters a lot: a total of 20 wins about 92 percent of the time, 19 about 85 percent, 18 about 77 percent, and 17 about 70 percent²⁶. If you are dealt a 10 and a king against a dealer's 6, your odds of winning are about 77 percent; against a dealer's ace, they drop to about 63 percent⁵.

Card counting can in principle cut the house edge by a further 1 to 2 percent²⁷. In a Korean casino it is a tough grind: games are dealt from eight-deck shoes, and live-dealer versions online quote house edges as low as 0.46 percent under favorable rules²⁸. Counting is not illegal, but casinos can and do ask players to leave.

Roulette: bets, payouts and house edge

Roulette comes in two main versions. The European wheel, with its single zero, is still offered in many casinos as an alternative to the American game, and its layout makes it the better deal for players²⁹. European roulette returns about 97.3 percent to players over the long run, which corresponds to a house edge of about 2.7 percent¹⁹. The American wheel adds a second zero, which pushes the house cut higher still.

The bets split into two families. Inside bets target specific numbers and pay big: a straight-up bet on a single number pays 35 to 1, a split (two numbers) pays 17 to 1, a street (three numbers) pays 11 to 1, a square (four numbers) pays 8 to 1, and a line (six numbers) pays 5 to 1³⁰. Outside bets cover broad groups and pay modestly: red or black, odd or even, and low or high all pay 1 to 1, while columns and dozens pay 2 to 1³¹.

The payout odds on a single number, 35 to 1, are lower than the true odds against hitting it, which is exactly where the house gets its edge³⁰. Inside bets have lower win chances but much higher payouts; outside bets win more often but pay less³⁰. There is no strategy that changes this: every spin is independent, and no betting pattern alters the house edge.

Bet limits and purchase caps

Korean regulation imposes a purchase cap on gambling: for most gambling businesses, the upper limit on a purchase or bet is up to KRW 100,000, with a higher cap of KRW 300,000 applying at Kangwon Land³². On top of that, casino operators are required to set a minimum and maximum betting limit for each table, and you may not bet above or below the table's limits³³.

In practice, this means every table you approach will have its limits displayed, usually on a sign at the table or in the game menu²⁰. All wagers must fall within the table's lowest and highest amounts²⁰. Low-limit tables let you play for small stakes; high-limit rooms, especially the baccarat rooms that cater to VIP players, run into much larger amounts per hand.

If you are used to Las Vegas or Macau, the practical difference is the ceiling: the regulatory caps mean even the biggest whales at Kangwon Land face a KRW 300,000 purchase limit, while foreigner-only casinos operate under the general KRW 100,000 cap structure³². Check the limits at the table before you buy in, and plan your buy-in around the minimums.

Online casino games for players in South Korea

Online casino gambling is a different matter from the land-based scene. Officially, online gambling is prohibited in South Korea, even though land-based gambling is not⁷. Real-money casino games and bingo are generally not allowed for players in the country, though government-run lotteries are legal⁷.

Despite that, offshore sites do serve the Korean market. There are over 40 online casinos that cater to Korean players, including sites where you can play using Bitcoin⁷. The international casinos that accept South Koreans typically offer live dealer games, including live blackjack, roulette, baccarat, poker, game shows and live bingo, and support payment methods used in South Korea such as bank transfers, e-wallets and cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum³⁴. Korean-language options and support for the South Korean won make play and transactions easier on these sites³⁴.

The practical risk is plain: players caught gambling online can face penalties and charges⁷. That risk falls on the individual player, not the offshore operator, and it applies to Korean citizens and residents rather than to short-term visitors. If you want the fuller picture of what is and is not permitted online, see our pages on online gambling in South Korea and gambling laws in South Korea.

For a first visit to a legal casino, the short version is this: bring your passport, meet the minimum age given earlier, expect baccarat to dominate the floor, and check the table limits before you sit. The games themselves are the same ones played in Macau or Las Vegas, with the same payouts and the same house edge working quietly against you on every hand.