Why are trading card game companies getting away with "booster" packs?

Some years ago several European countries launched investigations about so-called "loot boxes" in video games. This is because if the contents of said "loot boxes" can be sold to others with real-world money, they may in fact infringe on the lottery and raffle laws of many countries. And, in some countries, they might even be infringing even if the contents cannot be sold for real-world money.

Most countries that have lottery laws define a "raffle" as having these characteristics:

1. The customer purchases a sealed product with money.
2. The contents of the sealed product are randomized and may have different monetary values.
3. The product is sealed, ie. it's not possible to know what's inside before the purchase.
4. The contents may potentially have more monetary value than what was paid.

Because of these characteristics it is generally considered a form of lottery or gambling, and thus subject to the lottery laws of most countries. The reason why lotteries and raffles are restricted in many countries are varied and complicated, but the main point here is that they are restricted by law: If you want to organize a raffle, which fulfills the legal definition of one (as described above), you need a license to do that, especially if the monetary value of some of the randomized sealed products is significant. Most gambling that involves real money, or products with real and significant monetary value, is either completely banned or heavily restricted.

This is the reason why especially some years ago there were investigations in several European (and some other) countries about whether so-called "loot boxes" in video games fulfill the definition of a raffle, and thus whether they are subject to legal restrictions and licenses.

Some countries, such as France, have in fact banned these "loot boxes" as a form of gambling.

For quite long it has puzzled me how trading card game (TCG) companies, such as Magic The Gathering, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh get away with their so-called "booster packs". That's because they seem to fit perfectly the legal definition of a raffle:

1. A "booster pack" is a sealed product that you buy for real money.
2. The contents are randomized.
3. The contents are sealed: You do not know what cards there are in each pack before you buy it.
4. In many of the games (including the three mentioned above) some cards have a very significant aftermarket value.

While these booster packs typically cost something like 4-5 €, some cards can sell in the aftermarket for tens, hundreds and in some rare cases even thousands of €.

These booster packs appear to me like they fulfill the legal definition of a raffle to a T. Yet, somehow, I have never even heard of them being investigated on that subject.

It truly puzzles me why.