online poker in Japan

Hi

Not only online but gambling except public one like horse racing is illegal in Japan. The police in Japan answers online gambling is also illegal. Some cases have been reported that the owners of house who have customers participate in online casino gambling were arrested. And recently participants in underground cash game poker have been arrested too.

But concerning online gambling at your home by yourself, no one has been arrested yet. Think this is info you want.

Hey autheking,

I have posted in the Japanese Community in hope that one of them can speak good English and come here in an attempt to explain their situation.

Its a long shot, but lets keep our fingers crossed ♦

Hi I'm Japanese community moderator

I can say you wouldn't have any problem for playing online poker in Japan,Unless you gonna play online poker in front of police officer ♦ ♦

Generally Japanese government does not approve any kind of gambling stuff.However for online gambling such as online poker ,online sports betting etc, which the server is on the foreign country, there is actually no LAW to restrict Japanese players.

But if you play live poker at some kind of underground place, you might get troubles so don't go there and play online

Enjoy your trip and hopefully you will have nice experience in Japan. Cheers ♠_cool:

Thanks drummerSHIN !

thaks alot drummerSHIN and MattDenness !
i am actually going for an internship and my internet connection may be proxy covered. my univ here has no problems but will the Japanese guys report me if they find out that i am playing poker? Should I just stay safe and not play at all?

If you wanna play on your desk in the company , I wouldn't recommend that. However if you gonna play at your room or any private space it's should be no problem.

However if you have to share the room with company coworker, might need some attention especially if the coworker is Japanese.

But as I already mentioned, playing online poker in Japan is not illegal yet. So don't be so nervous and take it easy ♦

Also if you gonna come to Tokyo we could meet up somewhere and have drinks ♠_biggrin: ♠_biggrin:

hey thanks for the info drummerSHIN. I will actually be living in Osaka. I will get in touch with you if anything pans out. Thanks again.

Originally posted by autheking
hey thanks for the info drummerSHIN. I will actually be living in Osaka. I will get in touch with you if anything pans out. Thanks again.

I'm envious about going to Osaka. Enjoy the food. I found it incredible. Especially Okonomiyake (japanese cabbage pizza) Also must eat the Chu Toro from Kama Sushi (in Umeda - good luck finding it)

Isn't pachinko gambling? I mean, sure you only win metal balls, but I hear you can trade them for prizes and cash.

pachinko works in borderline legality afaik the trade systems work in a way to exploit a legal loophole.

Originally posted by autheking
hey thanks for the info drummerSHIN. I will actually be living in Osaka. I will get in touch with you if anything pans out. Thanks again.

had actually lived in Osaka for few years.
There is lot of nice food and interesting culture so enjoy that !

Originally posted by gavinonymous
Isn't pachinko gambling? I mean, sure you only win metal balls, but I hear you can trade them for prizes and cash.

Actually Japanese people define that Pachinko is totally gambling. When people finished Pachinko the cashier gonna give them some stuff which like pen or kind of crappy things.

So they don't exchange the metal ball directly into the money , and after that they gonna exchange the crappy stuff into the money.

That's why it works, and also the Pachinko industry give bribe to Police.

the Pachinko industry give bribe to Police.

That is why you gotta love Asia. Its hard to get in serious trouble

Originally posted by breena

the Pachinko industry give bribe to Police.

That is why you gotta love Asia. Its hard to get in serious trouble

However if I do some poker tournament in public which prize will pay same way as Pachinko, I gonna get trouble.

That's a one of the most strangest thing in Japan , Japanese government doesn't approve any gambling except Pachinko.

That's why many people discussing nowadays why Pachinko is approved and Casino doesn't.