Two individuals were recently found guilty by a court in New Zealand for their part in a scheme to defraud the Sky City Casino of more than $7,000.
It all started in 2011 when Xio Dong Lu (age 28) and Zhou Zhao (age 32) approached longtime roulette croupier Bo Du (age 33) with a get rich quick plan. The cheating technique was not complicated and longtime roulette would have knowledge of such a scheme
The croupier Du let his accomplices place bets on the table after the ball had dropped in the correct number slot. In casino circles this is known as “past posting” and is also a popular cheating technique used in sports gambling, specifically horse racing.
While the casino had an electronic monitoring system to prevent past posting on the roulette table, Du was able to circumvent it by releasing the ball early. Before the security system thought it was time for all bets to be cut off, the ball had already landed in its slot and the illegal bets had been paid out.
Du was sentenced to nine months of house arrest and ordered to pay $20,000 in damages to her former employer, the Sky City Casino.
The manager of Internal Affairs at the casino, Rob Abbott, stated that “the department remains vigilant to the potential that gambling offers for illicit activities.” However, industry sources say this recent scandal may prompt a re-examination of the roulette games at Sky City especially the “rapid roulette” tables that offer a faster paced game with an electronic wheel.
Sky City remains the only casino in Auckland, NZ and didn’t appreciate the negative media attention. In light of this cheating scandal they have affirmed their commitment to redoubling their anti-fraud efforts in the future.
