The Royal Gambler () 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.
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 Yeo Jin-goo as Prince Yeoning (King Yeongjo) Jun Kwang-ryul as 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 shareTNmS RatingsAGB NielsenNationwideSeoul National Capital AreaNationwideSeoul National Capital Area1March 28, 20169.5%11.1%11.8%13.0%2March 29, 20169.9%11.0%12.2%13.7%3April 4, 20169.1%10.1%11.6%12.5%4April 5, 20168.9% 10.4% 9.5% 10.4% 5April 11, 20168.6% 10.4% 9.2% 9.8% 6April 12, 20168.0%10.2%8.4%9.3%7April 18, 20168.1%9.3%9.1%8.9%8April 19, 20167.7%9.2%8.7%9.1%9April 25, 20168.2%9.5%8.0%8.5%10April 26, 20168.1%9.5%8.9%9.7%11May 2, 20168.3%10.5%8.9%9.4%12May 3, 20168.8%10.8%9.2%9.8%13May 9, 20168.5%9.8%8.7%9.3%14May 10, 20168.6%11.3%8.4%8.8%15May 16, 20168.1%9.4%8.4%8.3%16May 17, 20168.0%8.8%9.6%10.4%17May 23, 20167.5%8.7%9.5%10.5%18May 24, 20167.6%8.6%8.5%8.8%19May 30, 20167.6%9.3%7.7%7.8%20May 31, 20166.8%7.9%8.1%8.1%21June 6, 20168.6%10.2%10.3%11.4%22June 7, 20168.9%10.8%9.9%10.0%23June 13, 20168.6%10.3%9.2%9.1%24June 14, 20169.0%10.6%10.0%10.2%Average8.4%9.9%9.3%9.9%
Original soundtrack
OST Part 1
OST Part 2
OST Part 3
OST Part 4
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.
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient Result2016 Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama Choi Min-soo Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama Jang Keun-suk Grand Prize (Daesang) Jang Keun-suk Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama Choi Min-soo Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama Yoon Jin-seo Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama Yeo Jin-goo Best Couple Award Jang Keun-suk and Yeo Jin-goo Top 10 Stars Award Jang Keun-suk Idol Academy Award – Best "Drudge" Idol Academy Award – Best Eating Jun Kwang-ryul
References
External links