The Royal Gambler

The Royal Gambler^[1] (Korean: 대박; Hanja: 大撲; RR: Daebak; lit. Jackpot) is a South Korean historical drama starring Jang Keun-suk, Yeo Jin-goo, Jun Kwang-ryul, Choi Min-soo, Yoon Jin-seo, and Lim Ji-yeon. It replaced Six Flying Dragons and aired on SBS on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 (KST) from March 28, 2016, to June 14, 2016, for 24 episodes.

The Royal Gambler
Promotional poster
Also known as	Daebak
Genre	Historical
Written by	Kwon Soon-gyu
Directed by	Nam Geon
Starring	Jang Keun-suk Yeo Jin-goo Jun Kwang-ryul Choi Min-soo Yoon Jin-seo Lim Ji-yeon Hyun Woo
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	24
Production
Producer	Lee Hee-soo
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	TheKEntertainment ONDA Entertainment
Original release
Network	SBS
Release	March 28 (2016-03-28) – June 14, 2016 (2016-06-14)

Plot

This drama is about a prince who is forced to live as a commoner and uses his gambling skills to take revenge on the King. Dae-Gil (Jang Geun-suk) and King Yeongjo (Yeo Jin-goo) enter a match. Dae-Gil bets his life and King Yeongjo bets the entire Kingdom of Joseon on the outcome. Dae-Gil is the best gambler in the Joseon era. He holds deep resentment inside, but is also cool on the exterior. King Yeongjo is a man who never lowers his head without a convincing reason. Meanwhile, Dam-Seo (Lim Ji-yeon) exists solely to take revenge upon the king.

It is a fictionalised account of events leading to the accession of the throne by King Yeongjo, and also a fictionalised account of the 1728 Musin Rebellion.

Cast

Main cast

• Jang Geun-suk as Baek Dae-gil^[2]
• Yeo Jin-goo as Prince Yeoning (King Yeongjo)
• Jun Kwang-ryul as Lee In-jwa
• Choi Min-soo as King Sukjong
• Yoon Jin-seo as Consort Suk
• Lim Ji-yeon as Dam-seo
• Hyun Woo as Yoon (King Gyeongjong)

Supporting cast

• Im Hyun-sik as Nam Dokkebi
• Ahn Gil-kang as Kim Che-gun
• Song Jong-ho as Kim Yi-soo
• Ji Il-joo as Moo-myung
• Han Jung-soo as Hwang Jin-gi
• Han Ki-woong as Sa Woon
• Han Ki-won as Sa Mo
• Oh Yeon-ah as Jang Ok-jung
• Yoon Ji-hye as Hong-Mae
• Lee Moon-sik as Baek Man-geum
• Jeon Soo-jin as Hwanggoo Mom
• Kim Yoo-chul as Daegari
• Jun Jae-hyung as Gamoolchi
• Baek Seung-hyeon as Jang Hee-jae (Jang Ok-jung's brother)
• Heo Tae-hee as Sang-gil (Yeongjo's bodyguard)
• Lee Ga-hyun as Hwa-jin
• Cha Soon-bae as Jo Tae-gu
• Na Jae-woong as Choi Seok-hang
• Kim Ga-eun as Gye Sul-im
• Kim Sung-oh as Hwanghae-do's Gaejakdoo
• Hong Ah-reum as Yeon Hwa

Ratings

In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Episode #	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		TNmS Ratings[3]		AGB Nielsen[4]
		Nationwide	Seoul National Capital Area	Nationwide	Seoul National Capital Area
1	March 28, 2016	9.5%	11.1%	11.8%	13.0%
2	March 29, 2016	9.9%	11.0%	12.2%	13.7%
3	April 4, 2016	9.1%	10.1%	11.6%	12.5%
4	April 5, 2016	8.9%	10.4%	9.5%	10.4%
5	April 11, 2016	8.6%	10.4%	9.2%	9.8%
6	April 12, 2016	8.0%	10.2%	8.4%	9.3%
7	April 18, 2016	8.1%	9.3%	9.1%	8.9%
8	April 19, 2016	7.7%	9.2%	8.7%	9.1%
9	April 25, 2016	8.2%	9.5%	8.0%	8.5%
10	April 26, 2016	8.1%	9.5%	8.9%	9.7%
11	May 2, 2016	8.3%	10.5%	8.9%	9.4%
12	May 3, 2016	8.8%	10.8%	9.2%	9.8%
13	May 9, 2016	8.5%	9.8%	8.7%	9.3%
14	May 10, 2016	8.6%	11.3%	8.4%	8.8%
15	May 16, 2016	8.1%	9.4%	8.4%	8.3%
16	May 17, 2016	8.0%	8.8%	9.6%	10.4%
17	May 23, 2016	7.5%	8.7%	9.5%	10.5%
18	May 24, 2016	7.6%	8.6%	8.5%	8.8%
19	May 30, 2016	7.6%	9.3%	7.7%	7.8%
20	May 31, 2016	6.8%	7.9%	8.1%	8.1%
21	June 6, 2016	8.6%	10.2%	10.3%	11.4%
22	June 7, 2016	8.9%	10.8%	9.9%	10.0%
23	June 13, 2016	8.6%	10.3%	9.2%	9.1%
24	June 14, 2016	9.0%	10.6%	10.0%	10.2%
Average		8.4%	9.9%	9.3%	9.9%

Original soundtrack

The Royal Gambler OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Recorded	2016
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean
Label	Loen Entertainment

OST Part 1

Released date April 06,2016

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Time Stops (시간이 멈추면)"	Park Wan-kyu	4:07
2.	"Time Stops (시간이 멈추면)" (Inst.)		4:07
Total length:			8:14

OST Part 2

Released date April 19, 2016

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"I Miss You (그리워)"	Kim Bo-hyung (Spica)	3:32
2.	"I Miss You (그리워)" (Inst.)		3:32
Total length:			7:04

OST Part 3

Released date April 26, 2016

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"I Want To Love You (사랑하고 싶다)"	Postmen	4:17
2.	"I Want To Love You (사랑하고 싶다)" (Inst.)		4:17
Total length:			8:34

OST Part 4

Released date May 19, 2016

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Same Wish (같은 소원)"	Cheon Dan-bi	4:02
2.	"Same Wish (같은 소원)" (Inst.)		4:02
Total length:			8:04

International broadcast

In the United States, the drama airs in the Los Angeles DMA free, over-the-air on LA 18 KSCI-TV (channel 18) with English subtitles, Mon-Tue 9:15PM, from April 25 to July 12, 2016.^[5]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2016	5th APAN Star Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Choi Min-soo	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Jang Keun-suk	Nominated
	SBS Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Jang Keun-suk	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama		Won
			Choi Min-soo	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama	Yoon Jin-seo	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Yeo Jin-goo	Won
		Best Couple Award	Jang Keun-suk and Yeo Jin-goo	Nominated
		Top 10 Stars Award	Jang Keun-suk	Won
		Idol Academy Award – Best "Drudge"		Nominated
		Idol Academy Award – Best Eating	Jun Kwang-ryul	Nominated