Winners & Losers: Don’t Lend Gamblers Money as BTS Member Scammed

Why Trust Techopedia Gambling
Why Trust Techopedia Gambling

Lee Jin-ho gambling debt

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my lost weekend in Las Vegas with Norm Macdonald. I mentioned that I loaned him $1,000 after he went bust at blackjack, craps and sports betting.

Luckily, he paid me back. Unwisely, I broke my rule to never lend money to people for gambling. Mitigatingly, he also lost $40,000 in the course of helping me to write an article.

So, I felt a little bit of guilt. Also, I knew that he had plenty of dough and would also pay me back. Still, it’s a bit of a mug’s game to loan money to skint gamblers, even if they’re broke only for the moment.

The casinos are all too aware of this, which is why Las Vegas has a division of the District Attorney’s office that does nothing but chase down unpaid casino markers – which, essentially, are loans from the casino to gamblers.

They won’t break your legs for failure to pay, but they will ruin your life and throw you in jail.

Korean Star in Deep Trouble

The peril of propping up gamblers was driven home last week.

News broke that smiling comedian star Lee Jin-ho, borrowed money from some of South Korean entertainment’s biggest names, including BTS star BTS’ Jimin, to pay off gambling debts.

No shock here: He stiffed them. Lee posted an apology on social media in which he claimed to be making good on his debts and vowed a desire to do so “until the day I die”.

Lucky for Lee, he borrowed money from fellow singers and actors and not the mob. If it was the latter, he might be on track to die sooner than anticipated.

Ironically, his character on his ‘Knowing Bros’ Netflix show is supposed to be super sharp with a nickname that translates to reflect his knowledge on many topics.

Unfortunately, one of the topics does not appear to be gambling or money management.

Police Investigation

Lee Jin-ho gambling debt

It’s been reported that he is in the hole for “hundreds of millions of Won”.

Assuming those are Korean Won, it puts him in debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  • Making things even worse, online gambling is highly illegal in South Korea, and that is where he did his betting.
  • So, now, in addition to owing money to others on the Seoul entertainment scene, Lee is being investigated by law enforcers for wagering on one of Korea’s rogue sites.
  • And he blames Covid-boredom for his impulse to start gambling in the first place. Lame.

A guy I know who works for a Seoul newspaper told me that the South Korean government is super down on gambling among Koreans.

So, Lee is further in hot water because what he did broke the law of the land as well as the law of morality toward his showbiz friends from whom he mooched money.

Paying Back His Famous Friends

And that begs another question: If he’s being watched by the cops and presumably in a bad position to gamble, how will he get back the money to pay his friends?

It won’t be from a turnaround on the site. Netflix isn’t making it any easier for him either. The streaming service announced that Lee will be scrubbed from as many episodes of Knowing Bros as possible.

But, will remain on the new Netflix show Comedy Revenge, as it is impossible to edit him out of the team-based series.

He claims to have quit gambling, but, still, if the government wants
to come down hard on him, he can be fined up to 20 million Won.

On the upside, that translates to some $15,000, which is nothing
compared to what he owes his friends (presumably former friends) who were goofy enough to loan money to a chronic, in-the-red gambler.

Michael Kaplan
Gambling Author and Journalist
Michael Kaplan
Gambling Author and Journalist

Michael Kaplan is a journalist based in New York City joined Techopedia in November 2023. He is the author of five books ("The Advantage Players" comes out in 2024) and has worked for publications that include Wired, GQ and the New York Post. He has written extensively on technology, gambling and business — with a particular interest in spots where all three intersect. His article on Kelly "Baccarat Machine" Sun and Phil Ivey is in development as a feature film.