Macau police recently cracked a poker card cheating case involving collusion within a casino, arresting eight local residents, five of whom were casino employees, including a table manager, supervisor, and dealer. The investigation found that the gang manipulated the order of the card shoe, allowing accomplices to know the dealing results in advance, thus consistently winning bets and causing the casino to lose about 4.54 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 581,000 US dollars).
Macau Judiciary Police spokesperson Lei Zhihao revealed that the remaining three arrestees were the core planners of the scheme. The case showed that the gang carried out the fraud twice, at the end of March and the beginning of May this year, with each involved employee illegally profiting from 170,000 to 500,000 Hong Kong dollars. The police seized 29,400 Hong Kong dollars in cash during the operation.
The cheating method involved rearranging the poker card shoe in a private room and then bringing it back to the gambling table, allowing the disguised gamblers to place precise bets. The eight suspects have been transferred to the prosecutor's office, facing charges of participating in a criminal organization and major fraud. The police stated that there are still suspects at large and reminded casinos to be vigilant against internal collusion and high-tech cheating methods to prevent severe financial and reputational losses.
