Is it risky to gamble on football matches among acquaintances?

The 2022 Cartel World Cup is a big event for football fans. The topics about this event is everywhere, such as in the subway, the office, restaurants and etc. Among those topics, you may have heard people discussed about bet on the winner. In some companies, some colleagues even set up a WeChat group, in which they bet on different winners.

However, they have not realized that despite the sports lottery tickets sold by the authorized lottery stations, the rest gambling methods are illegal, no matter individual or group betting, for serious situations, the relevant person may be prosecuted for criminal liabilities.

Some people may say, “it is just a game among acquaintances, by which we can enhance the relationship with colleagues and friends.” But such “game” may be deemed as gambling.

Article 70 of the “Law on Administrative Penalties for Public Security” stipulates that, “a person who provides conditions for gambling for the purpose of making profits, or participates in gambling with a relatively big amount of money, shall be detained for not more than 5 days or be fined not more than CNY500; and if the circumstances are serious, he shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days and shall, in addition, be fined not less than CNY 500 but not more than CNY 3,000.”

As for the definition of the “gambling with a relatively big amount of money”, there are different standards in different provinces and cities, generally speaking, in majority provinces and cities, if the amount reaches CNY400, it would be deemed as “gambling with a relatively big amount of money”. For example, the “Discretionary Standard of Shanghai Public Security Bureau on Punishment of Some Violations of Public Security Management” stipulates that individuals with gambling capital of more than CNY200 would be deemed as the “gambling with a relatively big amount of money”. For another example, the “Discretionary Standard for Administrative Punishment of Public Security Organs in Zhejiang Province” stipulates that the “gambling with a relatively big amount of money” shall have 4 situations, which are, 1) individuals with gambling capital reach CNY400; 2) the average gambling capital reaches CNY500 when a group of people is caught on site; 3) an individual wins or loses more than CNY20 in a single bet; or 4) an individual wins or loses more than CNY200 in a single gambling game. Therefore, minor gambling capital may be subject to administrative punishment.

If the amount of gambling capital or the number of participants reaches a certain level, the relevant person may be prosecuted for criminal liabilities. Article 303 of the “Criminal Law” stipulates that, 1) whoever, for the purpose of making profits, assembles a crowd to engage in gambling or makes gambling his profession shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall be fined concurrently; 2) whoever runs any casino shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall be fined concurrently; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years and shall be fined concurrently; and 3) whoever organizes a citizen of the People’s Republic of China to participate in gambling abroad (overseas), if the amount is huge, or there are other serious circumstances, shall be penalized according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Many people may say, “I only participate in gambling, and I would not constitute a crime of gambling.” However, the fact is that nobody would win in gambling except the party who takes the bets, which means if an individual loses in a gambling game, in order to win, he may continue to gamble by becoming the party who taking the bets, corruption or embezzlement. For example, the “gathering people to gamble” refers to 1) organizing 3 persons or more to gamble and having reaped unfair gains of CNY5,000 in accumulative total; 2) organizing 3 persons or more to gamble and the accumulative gamble funds reach CNY5,000 or more; 3) organizing 3 persons or more to gamble and the accumulative number of gamblers is up to 20 or more; or 4) organizing 10 or more citizens of the People’s Republic of China to gamble abroad and charging kickbacks or referral fees.

In addition, from the perspective of labor management, an employer could fire an employee who has been sent to the prison for gambling. If the employer’s internal rules and regulations have prescribed that an employee who is subject to administrative punishment for gambling, or is absent from work due to administrative detention for gambling, shall be deemed as serious violations of discipline, then he may also be fired.