| Alt Name: | Daebak |
| Genre: | Historical |
| Director: | Nam Geon |
| Starring: | Jang Keun-suk Yeo Jin-goo Jun Kwang-ryul Choi Min-soo Yoon Jin-seo Lim Ji-yeon Hyun Woo |
| Country: | South Korea |
| Language: | Korean |
| Num Episodes: | 24 |
| Producer: | Lee Hee-soo |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | TheKEntertainment ONDA Entertainment |
| Network: | SBS |
The Royal Gambler[1] 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.
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 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.
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] | ||||||
| width=100 | Nationwide | width=100 | Seoul National Capital Area | width=100 | Nationwide | width=100 | 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% | |||
| The Royal Gambler OST | |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | Various artists |
| Recorded: | 2016 |
| Genre: | Soundtrack |
| Language: | Korean |
| Label: | Loen Entertainment |
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]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | |||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | ||||
| Grand Prize (Daesang) | ||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | ||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama | ||||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | ||||
| Best Couple Award | ||||
| Top 10 Stars Award | ||||
| Idol Academy Award – Best "Drudge" | ||||
| Idol Academy Award – Best Eating |