🇰🇷 korea, south | bet365 poker - geo-restricted countries

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The country has abandoned its plans to develop online gaming. However, there are no licensed and legal online casinos or poker sites in Korea. Even so, many offshore internet gambling providers still welcome Korean players.

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Instead of regulation, Korea has prohibition_._ Gaming beyond licensed premises is illegal for players as well as website operators and service providers. Both can face criminal charges under Korea's 'Foreign Games Control' and 'Communications Secrecy Protection' acts.

You won’t be arrested for playing a few hands of online Punto Banco or spinning some slots reels. The law targets those who overtly provide such services. Still, you should be aware that you are technically playing at bet365 game sites illegally. Any steps you take to gamble illegally could fall foul of the law. This includes providing official documentation or visiting an restricted betting site.

Here are some of the restrictions social gambling and casino games you cannot play in South Korea:

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Participating in private poker games and games of chance through an online platform.
Providing software, hardware or any other means to facilitate the above mentioned.
Distributors of smartphones and PCs are required to install gambling blocking software if requested by authorities.
All forms of lotteries are banned except for sports ticket lotteries run by the Sports Promotion Foundation.
Slots in amusement centers are heavily regulated – mostly banned since 2013.
All gambling on ships is banned.
Advertisements for casinos outside of South Korea are banned.
It is illegal to pose as someone who operates a foreign gambling site to mislead others.
It is also illegal to run a clandestine casino or participate in one.

There are no penalties specifically aimed at regular players. Though laws against providing and participating in private games of chance are on the books, people hardly ever get prosecuted for these offences. Instead, the authorities tend to focus on cracking down public gambling dens and corrupt officials who turn a blind eye to them.

You are much more likely to get into trouble if you decide to set up an illegal poker club or accept money from other players to play on 888poker for example. Criminal charges could include fines and jail time.

Can I Play on GEO-Restricted Poker Sites in Korea?

Yes and no. You will not get into trouble installing the iPhone app of while in a café. You probably won’t be prosecuted for creating a account or even making a deposit either. However, you would be committing a crime if gaming regulators suddenly raided the site and the agents came knocking.

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Would they really prosecute you? Probably not unless you were a very big player or someone you know ratted you out to the authorities. Nevertheless, you would have to spend time and money hiring a lawyer and dealing with the courts to get a clear record. Would that be worth it for a bit of online poker entertainment?

We believe that it is better to simply stay away from online gaming sites that ban you rather than visit sites that are not officially available in your country. There are plenty of legitimate, fun activities to enjoy in Korea without breaking the law. Why put yourself in an awkward position for something you can get anywhere?

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On the operator’s side of things, offering your services to South Koreans goes against the licensing terms of most gaming jurisdictions. For example, hold a license from the Malta Gaming Authority, which forbids operators from using the authority’s logo or marketing support to attract players from South Korea and five other countries. Staying on the straight and narrow is good business sense too. Reputable brands like PokerStars go out of their way to appeal to as many governments as possible. They don’t want the hassle and bad press of being labeled as a rogue operation.

What Happens If I Get Caught While Playing Online?

If you get caught playing online poker or any other game on a restricted site, the first person to knock on your door is likely to be your bank or credit card company. Transactions with blocked sites bounce back and incur fees. Worse still, repeated attempts to deposit on a prohibited site may result in your cards being blocked.

If you get past the financial barriers, you might eventually receive a scare when the game provider suspends your account. Don’t panic - this doesn’t mean you are in trouble with the law. The site is simply enforcing its own policies and terms of use. You can contact support and ask how to unlock your account or choose a different poker site.

This leads us nicely onto the next step – finding somewhere to play. Most poker and casino fans in Korea like to play in their own language. However, this is impossible on restricted sites. Fortunately, many top gaming brands now enter Asian markets and offer multi-lingual platforms. It may take you a few minutes to familiarize yourself with a new lobby, but you will pick it up quickly enough. We can also recommend getting a third party e-wallet, such as , which allows deposits and withdrawals from most major gaming sites.

If you get further than that, the chances are you will get to collect your winnings. Of course, you will have to provide official ID to prove you are indeed the owner of that suspended account. Restricted sites usually request copies of your passport, utility bill and credit card (if used) before they release any money. When sending documents, make sure your email follows the rules - otherwise the casino staff may ignore you until you sort out your attachment limits.

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We feel duty bound to inform you that breaking the law has unpredictable consequences. Although statistically unlikely, there is a chance that getting caught could cause you trouble in the future. Potential problems range from long delays at border control to difficulties obtaining a visa, job or university place. Technically, you could even get arrested or fined - though we consider this highly improbable for low stakes players.

Will Poker Laws in Korea Change in the Future?

Gambling laws in Korea have been relaxed once in the past two centuries. In fact, the current government has hardened its stance on gaming in recent years. Indeed, another U-turn looks unlikely while the National Assembly is dominated by conservative Confucian values. Some local officials even see online gaming as a bigger threat to society than offline gambling.

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In 2014, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism called on Internet Service Providers to block access to all foreign lottery sites. Communications Commission later expanded the ban to cover all online lotteries - even those operated domestically. This move was criticized by politicians representing marginal constituencies where lottery tickets are a major source of tourism income.

The biggest shakeup of online gambling laws occurred in December 2016, when the Communications Commission announced a crackdown on foreign casino sites. The regulator told ISPs to start blocking access to internet domain names associated with online gambling. This measure came into effect from March 2017.

Anyone trying to reach popular gambling domain names (e.g. .kr) will automatically be redirected to the Korea Communications Commission site and greeted with an ominous anti-gambling message. Attempts to reach other domains (e.g..com) display only an error page.

South Korea is one of the few countries that blocks specific domain extensions instead of individual websites. This blanket ban requires constant updates to keep pace with the appearance of new gaming sites. Consequently, many poker fans in Korea wonder how effective this policy really is. Based on our experience, it’s pretty easy to get a VPN, find a mirror site or just Google alternative URLs for the sites you want to visit.

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A more fundamental question is whether the South Korean government has the resources to monitor every IP address in the land. It seems unlikely that authorities will be able to stop tech savvy Koreans from playing online poker, let alone sports betting or casino games. Indeed, the authorities appear more interested in catching big fish that operate illegal casinos or sports betting rings.

It appears the only reason South Korea is cracking down so hard on internet gaming is because the government controls the domestic casino market. Anyone rich enough can obtain a gambling visa to visit the country’s 16 land based casinos - where they can pump money into slot machines or blackjack tables until their hands bleed. Why bother traveling abroad when you can lose it all at Paradise City, Park Hyatt or the Lotte Hotel? Of course, such opulence does not come cheap and most Koreans cannot afford it.

Another reason why the government shuns online gambling is because it’s hard to tax. Land based casinos pay huge sums of money to operate in Korea and a portion of their profits goes to the treasury. In contrast, the communications ministry said it needed to block gambling sites to protect consumers and youths and prevent money laundering.

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Timeline of Korea’s Gambling Legislation

Gambling law in Korea has not changed significantly since the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910). Private games of chance have always been frowned upon by a hierarchy that feared lazy farmers would waste their money instead of working the fields. Today, the situation hasn’t really changed. The state still regards gambling as evil, but now also sees it as a security risk in the hand of foreign entities.

The Public Offices Election Act allowed citizens to vote for the president in 1948 and paved the way for the formation of a democratic constitution in 1958. A series of gambling offenses were outlined in the Narcotics Control Act in 1962, followed by the establishment of the Korea Racing Authority in 1964.

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The Horse Race Act of 1973 and the establishment of the Seoul Racecourse three years later opened the first state-controlled casino. Another trio of important gambling acts appeared during the 1990s – Lottery Business Act (1990), Private School Education Encouragement Act (1991) and Foreign Games Control Act (1996).

The latter made it illegal to run or advertise any foreign gambling site. It also placed responsibility on manufacturers of telecommunication devices, such as smartphone makers Samsung and LG, to block gambling sites. This legislation remains in force today.

A constitutional court ruling in 2005 confirmed that the communication act was sufficient to ban all forms of gambling and that a specific gambling law was not necessary. However, the Amendment to the Prize Promotion Act in 2010 created a loophole for sports ticket lotteries. This decree allowed organizations promoting sport, arts and science to hold lotteries using sports tickets.

Amendments to the National Prosecution Service Act in 2013 gave prosecutors the power to investigate gambling cases without authorization from superiors. This move was designed to speed up investigations into high profile cases of corruption involving large scale illegal gambling operations.

Finally, the revised Communications Security Protection Act came into effect in March 2017. This measure explicitly blocked access to online gambling sites and reinforced the ban on advertising foreign gambling services.

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Tips to Stay Safe When Playing at Blocked Sites

Restricted poker sites know their actions are not condoning their services in your country. With this in mind, some gaming providers simply close the accounts of players from Korea and other banned countries. Others chose to disable deposit options, bonuses and loyalty rewards.

If you happen to live in a restricted region, you may still be able to play online poker and slots using the following tips.

Make sure you have a third party payment option, such as Neteller, Skrill or Paysafecard. Many poker sites remove Visa and MasterCard options from their payments menu for players in Korea, India, Africa and other banned areas.
Use a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to a server in an area where the poker site still accepts deposits and allows play. We recommend using a European server.
Use the incognito mode or private browsing function in your web browser when you play online poker. This stops the poker site downloading cookies that contain information about your location - which could expose your true IP address and get your account suspended.
Look out for mirrors sites. Many poker providers create a duplicate site with a .fr extension for the French market, a .eu site for Europe and so on. When your access to the main site is blocked, try entering ‘country code’ followed by ‘pokersite.com’. It may just work.

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Even if you get stuck and can’t play online poker, remember there’s lots of great free-to-play poker software online - including the .