Baccarat Dealer In Court for Alleged Cheating
A former baccarat dealer at The Strat Casino in Las Vegas is in court facing charges of cheating at the Las Vegas property. Ying Yu faces considerable jail time if the court finds her guilty.
Local TV station KLAS reported the casino suspected the baccarat dealer of cheating in 2020. A casino manager requested an investigation into Yu’s tips in June 2020. The review showed evidence of Yu “dumping” to players and receiving larger tips as a reward.
A Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) investigator explained to the court the process known as dumping.
“The method usually involves overpayment from the dealer, dealers switching wagers from losing to winning outcomes, or some type of sign to a player to affect the outcome in the players’ favour.”
Evidence shows Yu returning close to US$5,000 in losing wagers. The former baccarat dealer failed to collect a player’s losing bets on four occasions, and the unknown player tipped Yu more than US$100.
Police issued a warrant for the baccarat dealer’s arrest in October 2020. However, the authorities never apprehended her. Officers pulled over a car registered to Yu this week and discovered the outstanding warrant. Yu was not driving, but officers later arrested Yu at her residence.
Yu Is Not The First Cheating Baccarat Dealer
Something about the game must make baccarat a target for cheats. A baccarat dealer running a high-stakes table sees massive bets placed and vast sums of money won and lost in a short period of time. Baccarat is the game of choice for VIPs in addition to well-heeled gamblers.
Yu is not the first baccarat dealer arrested for cheating in the United States and will not be the last.
Ming Zhang is nearing the end of an 18-month prison sentence for his role in a million-dollar scam. Zhang worked at the MGM National Harbor casino in Maryland. Studies show this is the most cheated casino in the United States. Zhang started his shift as a baccarat dealer by exposing a portion of the deck. His accomplice photographed the deck before placing large bets when the unshuffled part of the deck came into play. The venue lost US$1,046,560 because of the scam.
Zhang received an 18-month prison sentence. In addition, he faces supervised release for three years once his jail term ends.
High Profile Cheating Closer to Home
There was an instance of a cheating baccarat dealer in Australia as recently as July 2021. CCTV at Star Sydney captured Hieu Duc Lam colluding with another employee and a patron in August 2020. The footage clearly shows Lam peeking and memorising the cards he was about to deal with. Lam informed his accomplice using a secure messaging app about the order of the cards. The scam banked the pair $467,700 in less than a month.
Star sacked Lam after he pleaded guilty to 15 counts of dishonesty at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court in January 2021. The judge sentenced Lam to two years in addition to performing 250 hours of community service work.
At the time, Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chair, Philip Crawford, stated Star was correct in sacking Lam.
“A casino special employee is licensed to supervise and facilitate gaming activities. Their role is to help safeguard the integrity of casino operations from criminal influence, serious misconduct or exploitation, and a special degree of trust is placed in them. This case demonstrates a clear breach of that trust.”
The Mega Money Phil Ivey Scandal
Poker legend Phil Ivey was involved in a punto banco scandal featuring an unaware baccarat dealer. Ivey and his friend used a system known as edge sorting to gain a significant advantage at casinos in the United Kingdom and New Jersey, United States. Ivey won several million dollars, but the casinos refused to pay him his winnings. He lost several court battles, but Ivey eventually settled outside the legal system.
