Sports Toto vs Proto Betting

Sports Toto sales were suspended in April for a system replacement

Sports Toto paused all sales starting April 13, 2026 at 7 PM, with every service shut down from midnight on April 14 while the operator replaced its systems³. Refund and exchange services came back at midnight on April 21, and sales restarted at 2 PM the same day³.

The overhaul also changed how Proto win-type and record-type products operate, starting April 21³. One visible change: Proto win-type match numbers expanded from three digits to four³.

If you held a ticket through the shutdown, your winnings were not affected. The operator confirmed that winning confirmation and prize collection continued normally during the suspension⁴.

Separately, Japan's toto and BIG sports lottery ran its own sales suspension from May 23 to May 27, 2026, for system work on the official site and partner channels⁴. That is a different market and a different operator, but worth knowing if you follow both.

Who runs each game and where you can buy tickets

Both Sports Toto and Proto are run by the same state-designated operator in South Korea. The operator is based at 12, Sejong-daero 12, Jung-gu, Seoul¹.

You can buy in person at retail outlets. The process is straightforward: visit an outlet, check the posted sales schedule, and choose the game you want to join⁶. Outlets sell face to face, and staff check photo ID if your age is unclear⁷.

Online, you can buy through the official website on a smartphone or PC⁸. Online sales run 24 hours a day, excluding system maintenance windows⁸. There is also a self-exclusion and self-assessment program that pops up on the online betting site¹.

For visitors and foreign residents: the rules do not differ by nationality. The age rule and the purchase limits apply to everyone. What differs is practical: you need a Korean payment method or a visit to a retail outlet, and online accounts require identity verification.

Sports covered and bet types: pools versus fixed odds

The two products work on different mechanics, and that shapes everything else.

Sports Toto (pari-mutuel). All winning bets share a pool. The product line splits into pari-mutuel games (high-chance pools, mid-chance specials, low-chance match games) and fixed-odds games (long list and winner list)¹. Sports covered include soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball, golf and Toto UO⁹.

Proto (fixed odds). Proto is a fixed-odds game on major domestic and foreign sports matches where you pick only the matches you want². The payout ratio is disclosed before you bet¹⁰. Proto has two main styles:

• Win-type: select 1 match, or 2 to 10 matches, and predict win-draw-loss, or win-draw-loss reflecting a base value such as a handicap or under/over²
• Record-type: predict specific elements such as match score, score difference, first scorer, total runs, or tournament winner¹¹

Proto also offers a long list (selecting events and predicting win, draw or loss) and a winner list (predicting correct scores, first scorers and match winners)¹⁰.

Odds, refund rates and how payouts are calculated

Proto odds are set by the operator based on the expected match result, taking into account team records, past results, injuries, recent form, media coverage, popularity and other factors². The annual refund rate for Proto products must stay between 50 and 70 percent, which means a set portion of sales goes back to customers².

Odds can change before sales close, due to factors affecting the match result or to manage the annual average refund rate. If you bought before a change, your bet settles at the odds at the time of purchase².

For Sports Toto pari-mutuel games, the payout is a share of the pool. In the basketball match game, first prize takes 100 percent of the refund pool¹². In the basketball special game, the Double and Triple types pay 100 percent to first prize¹³. The soccer match game refunds 50 percent of total sales⁹.

For fixed-odds tickets, the payout is odds times your stake. If a baseball or basketball match ends in a draw in the general win/loss type, odds of 1.0 apply to all types¹¹.

Limits: stakes, purchase caps and the KRW 100 million prize cap

Sports Toto has a maximum bet of KRW 100,000 per program¹. There is also a purchase limit of one person per draw¹⁴.

For fixed-odds tickets, the operator restricts sales if the expected winning odds multiplied by your individual bet amount exceeds KRW 100 million¹¹. The maximum payout is KRW 100 million per ticket¹¹.

Proto sets a prize cap of KRW 100 million per individual voting ticket. That cap applies per ticket, not to the sum across multiple tickets².

Some games allow multiple purchases and some do not. Baseball Toto Match and Basketball Toto Match allow multiple purchases¹⁵. Volley Toto Match does not allow multiple purchases¹⁶.

Settlement rules: void matches, extra innings and suspended games

Settlement rules differ by sport and by product, and they matter most when a game does not finish as scheduled.

Baseball. For Proto win-type, the settlement period runs from game start to the end of the final game, including extra innings and the tiebreaker². The same applies across all Proto products and types (general, handicap, under/over) and all Toto products: extra innings count, and the tiebreaker result counts¹⁷. If the organizing body defines shortened innings as a regulation game, bets settle as valid correct hits¹⁷.

Football. For Proto win-type, the settlement period runs from kick-off to the end of the second half, excluding extra time and penalty shootouts². For fixed-odds result-style tickets, the same window applies, with a first-half product running to the end of the first half¹¹.

Basketball. The settlement period runs from game start to the final end, including overtime².

Void matches. If a match schedule changes, it stays valid if the new date falls within the last target match date of the issuing round (Korea time). It is void if the new date is the next day or later. For baseball, it is void if the changed date is the next day or later in local time¹¹.

If a void reason under the ticket terms occurs, the match is voided even after the applicable time has passed². When a match is voided, odds of 1.0 apply to all types¹¹.

In special games, if a target game is not held, only that game type within the round is voided and refunded. For example, if game 3 is canceled, only the Triple is voided while the Double is processed normally¹⁸.

Doubleheaders. For baseball doubleheaders, the first game played is the target match. In the KBO league, both the first and second games may be used as target matches, though the second game may be excluded under system and product operation policy. A resumed suspended game counts as the first game of the doubleheader held after it ends¹¹.

Taxes on winnings and what happens if no one wins

The tax rule is the same across Sports Toto and Proto games. No tax is charged if your winning odds are 100x or lower and your refund is KRW 2,000,000 or less. No tax applies regardless of odds if your refund is KRW 100,000 or less⁹.

Above those thresholds, standard withholding applies to the winning amount.

Rollovers. Proto products do not have rollovers². If there are no winners in a Proto game type, the prize does not carry to the next round.

Sports Toto special games do have rollovers. In Baseball Toto Special Plus, Basketball Toto Special Plus, Basketball Toto Special N and Golf Toto Special, if there are no winners for a game type, the prize rolls over to the same game type in the next round¹⁸.

Results timing. Proto results are usually announced on the day the match ends².

Sales close times. Proto sales close at each match's start time. Matches held after 11 PM and before 8 AM the next day close in a batch at 11 PM, because the daily sales window for sports promotion voting tickets runs from 8 AM to 11 PM².