Tim Alper is a journalist who covers betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats. He joined the CasinoBeats team in May 2025. He reports on breaking news and developments in the world of betting, casinos, and...
Read Full BioScores of Japanese “amusement casinos” are flaunting the nation’s anti-gambling laws, a police audit in Tokyo has found.
The Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Security Division conducted its first simultaneous spot-check of 80 “just-for-fun” casino “experience” providers in the capital this month.
“Amusement casinos are prohibited from exchanging chips and other items for prizes based on game results, or allowing customers to take chips and other items outside the establishment,” the newspaper wrote. “But police confirmed violations of these regulations in 48 venues.”
Police said they had found a total of 84 violations during their spot-checks, conducted between December 13 and December 20.
Japanese Amusement Casinos: Crackdown Begins
In Japan, amusement casinos are legal entertainment venues where players use betting chips to play casino-style games such as poker, blackjack, baccarat, and roulette.
Patrons typically pay an entrance fee that often covers unlimited alcoholic and soft drinks. They can then buy chips and use them to place bets in the casino. However, unlike regular casinos, these chips are not redeemable for prizes or money.
As such, the venues profess to offer patrons “real casino-like experiences” without placing real-money bets. In theory, they comply with Japan’s strict anti-gambling laws. However, media outlets have reported that irregularities are common at many of the capital’s amusement casinos.
Police auditors also found evidence that 69 of the venues, or 80% of the total, used the Web Coins points system.
This allows users to accrue points on a smartphone app and use these to play games at multiple amusement casinos.
The newspaper said some reports claimed Web Coins are often “exchanged for cash online.”
Police said some amusement casinos also provide patrons with information about where they can find illegal gambling dens.
Links to Illegal Gambling Dens?
When the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department raided an illegal gambling den in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward in March this year, one of its patrons told investigators: “I started going to amusement casinos. And [the staff there] told me where I could find places to gamble real money.”
Yoichi Torihata, professor emeritus of financial theory at Shizuoka University, said that many “referral sites” that contain information about Japan’s amusement casinos “are run by overseas casino companies.”
The academic said: “There is growing latent demand for connecting domestic amusement casino players to actual casinos where they can bet real money.”
Speaking to the Japanese broadcaster TBS News Dig, a Tokyo police official said: “Employee awareness of the illegality of certain activities is low at [amusement casinos].”
The official concluded: “We would like to comprehensively raise employees’ awareness of these matters.”
In nearby South Korea, police have uncovered evidence of similar wrongdoings at “hold ’em pubs” nationwide.
In May this year, South Korean police announced a new four-month crackdown on the pubs – popular gambling “experience” venues.
Officers believe many of these pubs secretly house illegal betting dens and offer patrons discreet betting services. Thus far, the crackdowns have seen officers charge almost 5,000 people with gambling-related offences.
