Compiled from: China Legal Education
 
The Spring Festival holiday is approaching, and visiting relatives and friends, as well as gatherings with friends, are inevitable. When a few relatives or friends get together, playing mahjong to pass the time is common. If such mahjong games among relatives and friends involve small stakes and small wins or losses, does it count as gambling? Many people say they feel "quite uneasy."

 
 

During the Spring Festival, if mahjong is played among relatives and friends as a leisure activity without the purpose of making a profit, public security authorities will not consider it gambling! So what exactly constitutes gambling behavior?
 
 
《[1] The People's Republic of China刑法》
Article 303
Whoever, for the purpose of profit, gathers people to gamble or makes gambling a profession shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also be fined.
Whoever operates a gambling establishment shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are serious, the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years, and a fine shall also be imposed.
Organizing citizens of the People's Republic of China to participate in gambling abroad, if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
 
 
《[1] The People's Republic of ChinaPublic Security Administration Punishments Law
Article 70
Whoever, for the purpose of profit, provides conditions for gambling or participates in gambling with a relatively large amount of money shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than 500 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days, and shall also be fined not less than 500 yuan but not more than 3,000 yuan.
 
 
[1] The author's perspective
In China, it is very common to play mahjong during gatherings for the New Year, but the essence of this activity should be entertainment, not gambling for profit. According to the above legal provisions, two factors are generally considered to determine whether playing mahjong constitutes illegal behavior: first, whether it is "for the purpose of profit"; second, the amount of money involved. It can be seen that ordinary mahjong playing among relatives and friends for entertainment is not considered gambling, but if the above two conditions are met, legal consequences may be incurred.

Gambling not only wastes money, affecting many people's work and life, causing family discord and a series of social problems, but can even lead to bankruptcy and desperation. At the same time, gambling can also induce other crimes, such as some open or secret casinos, which not only have usury businesses behind them but may also hide criminal organizations with gangster characteristics, causing great harm to society. Therefore, cracking down on gambling is not only about protecting personal property and personal safety but also a strong guarantee for maintaining social stability.