“I felt like my hands would stop shaking only if I stepped into the casino.”
My hands were shaking.
Food had no taste. I couldn't sleep at night, and I didn't want to do anything when I woke up in the morning.
Cheol-su (pseudonym, 50s), a restaurant owner who managed several eateries and dozens of employees.
Having amassed a fortune of over 1 billion won through the food industry, he could only think about one thing all day long.
'I have to go to the casino. I have to play roulette.'
However, he was in a position where he couldn't enter the casino.
He had voluntarily applied for an entry ban at Kangwon Land to escape the swamp of gambling.
But once he stopped going to the casino, his daily life seemed to crumble. His hands shook, and his motivation vanished. Even when he went to his restaurant, he didn't notice the customers.
In his mind, the roulette ball spun incessantly.
"I thought I would feel better if I went to the casino and played. It wasn't about wanting to win money; I just wanted to play roulette."
His thoughts tilted in a dangerous direction.
'Isn't there a way to get into the casino somehow?'
That was when an old friend came to mind.
He felt like he could enter the casino if he just had his friend's ID card.
From that day on, his friend's ID card began to swirl in Cheol-su's head instead of the roulette wheel.
The Magic of Roulette That Ruined a Millionaire
Cheol-su, who ran a restaurant in Yeosu, Jeonnam, was once an enviable businessman.
He operated several restaurants and had dozens of employees. Business was good, and his wealth grew steadily.
He had money and a family. Above all, he had a stable business that others envied.
It was curiosity that first led Cheol-su to the Kangwon Land casino.
Under the flashy lights, the roulette wheel spun, and chips moved across the table.
When the dealer threw the ball, the customers' eyes all turned to the wheel at once.
Depending on which number the ball stopped on, some cheered while others hung their heads.
Cheol-su was also drawn into that tension.
At first, it was light entertainment. He even won money a few times.
But even after leaving the casino, the moments he won at roulette didn't leave his mind.
He went back.
He went back again.
He didn't mind driving hundreds of kilometers from Yeosu to Jeongseon, Gangwon-do.
At first, it was a day or two. Later, once he entered the casino, he would stay for days.
He left the restaurants to his employees. Important business schedules were put on the back burner on days he went to the casino.
For him, the most important thing was no longer restaurant sales.
It was roulette.
Before he knew it, in less than two years of frequenting the casino, he had blown 400 million won.
It was a huge amount of money that even ordinary people would find hard to save in a lifetime.
Yet, Cheol-su couldn't stop.
"Even though I lost 400 million won, the thought of wanting to continue playing was stronger than the thought of winning that money back."
The pain of not being able to play became greater than the pain of losing money.
Cheol-su thought he should stop going to the casino before it was too late.
In March 2026, he visited Kangwon Land and voluntarily applied for an entry ban.
However, the entry ban only stopped his physical steps; it couldn't stop the roulette in his head.
Cheol-su contacted his friend.
"Let's see each other after a long time. Let's grab a meal."
It was a call from an old friend. There was no particular reason to be suspicious.
The two met at a raw fish restaurant.
They caught up and drank together. Cheol-su treated his friend more generously than usual.
After the meal, they moved to a high-end adult entertainment establishment.
Expensive whiskey was served. The drinking session lasted long, and Cheol-su paid for everything.
He spent over 3 million won that day alone.
That was a significant amount, but Cheol-su had a purpose.
When the alcohol kicked in and the atmosphere was ripe.
Cheol-su opened his mouth cautiously.
"My friend, do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"Lend me your ID for just one day."
The friend was taken aback by the unexpected request.
"Why do you need my ID?"
Cheol-su confessed that he couldn't enter Kangwon Land because of an entry ban.
He said he couldn't enter with his own ID, so he asked to borrow his friend's resident registration card.
The friend couldn't answer readily.
He knew that entering a casino with someone else's ID wasn't a normal thing to do.
But they were old friends.
He had drunk a lot, and it wasn't easy to refuse.
'Surely, nothing big will happen.'
In the end, the friend handed over his ID card.
Cheol-su let out a sigh of relief.
To him, it was as good as getting a key to pass through the casino entrance.
But the two didn't know.
That a single ID card would become the spark that would turn two old friends into criminals.
Cheol-su visited the Kangwon Land casino with his friend's ID.
As he got closer to the entrance, tension mounted.
What if I get caught?
But his heart was already inside the casino.
He presented his friend's ID card.
Whether it was luck or misfortune, he passed through the entrance without any issues on the first day.
The roulette table he missed so much appeared before his eyes.
The game began.
The roulette wheel spun. The ball bounced. The number was decided.
For Cheol-su, everything was welcome.
That day, he won about 3 million won.
But he gained something more dangerous than money.
It was confidence.
'So this is how I can get in.'
He thought he wouldn't be afraid of entry bans or ID checks anymore.
The success of the first day shattered his caution.
The next day, Cheol-su headed to the casino again.
It was the same ID card.
It was the same entrance.
But the result was completely different.
The security guard checking the ID stopped him.
"Please wait a moment."
His heart sank in an instant.
Cheol-su tried to act calm, but his mind went blank.
A moment later, the police arrived.
It was revealed that he had entered the casino using someone else's ID card.
Cheol-su, who had rejoiced at winning 3 million won the day before, ended up being investigated by the police just one day later.
He won money at roulette, but he had lost again in his own life.
The incident didn't end with Cheol-su alone.
The fallout spread to the friend who had lent his ID.
The friend, who lived in Gyeongnam, had to drive a long way to Jeongseon, Gangwon-do, to be questioned by the police.
The friend was bewildered.
He thought he was just doing a favor for an old friend.
He hadn't even played games at the casino. He hadn't won any money.
Yet, he himself was involved in a criminal case.
"I really didn't know it would turn out like this."
Only late regrets remained for the friend.
Cheol-su couldn't lift his head either.
He was tormented by the fact that he had dragged an old friend into a crime because he couldn't control his own gambling urges.
In the end, both were criminally punished for violating the Resident Registration Act.
One person used a friend's ID to enter the casino, and the other paid the price for lending it.
Cheol-su said he felt more guilt toward his friend than when he lost hundreds of millions of won.
"Losing money is my fault, so I can accept that, but what can I say now that I've made my friend a criminal?"
He couldn't continue speaking for a while.
He recalled the day he called his friend and treated him to expensive alcohol.
The 3 million won alcohol bill wasn't the problem.
If they had parted ways after dinner that day, if he hadn't asked to borrow the ID, their fates would have been different.
But it was already water under the bridge.
Gambling didn't just cost money
Cheol-su's story is not just a simple case of violating casino entry rules.
It fully captures the process of a businessman who once held over 1 billion won in assets and managed several restaurants losing his judgment as he fell into gambling.
At first, it was curiosity.
Next, it was fun.
And then he started losing money.
But even after losing hundreds of millions of won, he couldn't stop going to the casino.
He knew the danger enough to apply for an entry ban himself, but he collapsed again in the face of the agony of not being able to play.
He believed that if he entered the casino, his tremors and lethargy would disappear.
However, the place that thought led him to was not a treatment room, nor was it the path back to daily life.
It was a police interrogation room.
For someone experiencing gambling problems, intense cravings, anxiety, and nervousness can appear even after stopping the game. These symptoms may be signs that professional counseling and treatment are needed, but gambling again does not fundamentally solve it.
Perhaps what Cheol-su needed was not a casino entry ticket, but the courage to ask for help.
He looked back on his actions belatedly.
"Thinking about it now, I wasn't human from that point on. When you fall into gambling, you lose the ability to judge what is right and wrong."
Cheol-su lost 400 million won.
He neglected his business, and his daily life was shaken.
But what he regrets most bitterly is not the lost money.
It is the moment he asked his old friend to lend him his ID.
Gambling addiction sometimes destroys not only one's own life but also the lives of those around them.
The moment he got his friend's ID in his hands, Cheol-su thought he could enter the casino again.
But what he held in his hand was not a key to luck.
It was the beginning of a misfortune that made both of them criminals.
