At 2 a.m. on Sept. 19, one very lucky Taiwanese tourist (31) visiting Jeju island won a jackpot of around 966 million won (854,000 USD) at Paradise Casino Jeju Grand. This is the largest-ever overall jackpot on a casino slot machine in Korea’s history.

Captured image courtesy Paradise Casino, Jeju Grand

This record-shattering jackpot award is the maximum amount which can be made on the ‘Paradise Mega Jackpot’ which is being co-operated by four different casinos. These include Paradise Casino Jeju Grand, Incheon Paradise City, and Walkerhill Busan.

The Paradise Mega Jackpot machines are all run by Paradise Co. Ltd and connected via a broadband connection. Paradise Co. Ltd is South Korea’s foreigner-only casino operator.

Paradise Casino Jeju Grand originally planned to pay about $600 million, the amount with tax deducted, in cash at noon. However, the payment was made via account transfer for safety reasons.

“In general, the Jackpot award at a domestic casino used for exclusively foreigners in Korea is at most about 100 million won or so, which is still very difficult to win,” said one casino staff member from the Paradise Casino.

Captured image courtesy Paradise Casino Jeju Grand

In Korea, Articles 246 and 247 of the Criminal Act prohibit gambling, although exemptions are made for public welfare and tourism - this is where the casinos fit in.

Koreans are only officially allowed to enter one casino - Kangwon Land in Gangwon Province. This makes the casino a forbidden fruit for most Koreans.

However, the law doesn’t apply to foreigners, who can make visits to the casino as they like.