Online Gambling with Exchanged Game Money... Supreme Court: "Punishable"

"Staking Game Money and Determining Gains or Losses by Chance Constitutes Gambling"

Yonhap News

The Supreme Court has ruled that participating in online sports betting games using game money purchased from a currency exchanger can be punished as gambling.

According to the legal community on September 17, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Lee Heungku) recently overturned a lower court ruling that had acquitted Mr. A, who had been prosecuted for gambling, and remanded the case to the Seoul Northern District Court.

Mr. A was prosecuted for purchasing game money from a currency exchanger by making a total of 62 deposits amounting to 15.4 million won between May and November 2021, and using it to play sports betting games on an online gambling site. In these games, players predict the outcome or score difference of sports matches and, if correct, receive game money from the operator at predetermined odds. Mr. A then exchanged the game money he received back into cash.

The first trial sentenced Mr. A to a fine, but the appellate court ruled that his actions constituted only a "speculative act" and not gambling, and acquitted him. Under the Act on Regulation of Speculative Acts, a speculative act is defined as "an act in which property or economic benefits are collected from multiple people, and gains or losses are determined by chance, resulting in economic gain or loss."

According to Supreme Court precedents, gambling is defined as "two or more people staking property against each other, with the gain or loss of that property determined by the outcome of chance." The appellate court had determined that Mr. A's actions, in which he received game money from the operator depending on the game results, did not constitute gambling.

However, the Supreme Court found that gambling and speculative acts are not mutually exclusive concepts. The Court stated, "Given the exchangeability of the game money used in this case, it qualifies as property, and the outcome cannot be predicted with certainty or freely controlled," adding, "The acquisition and forfeiture of game money through this game depend on chance."

The Court concluded, "Participating in this game, in which game money as property is staked and the gain or loss is determined by chance, constitutes gambling."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.