Las Vegas casino dealer accused of cheating to get tips

KFOR
 
Las Vegas casino dealer accused of cheating to get tips
Wild Casino

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Investigators with the Nevada Gaming Control Board have accused a Las Vegas baccarat dealer of cheating to benefit a player and receive tips, court documents said.

In June 2020, a gaming investigator received a complaint from The STRAT Hotel & Casino about the dealer, Ying Yu, and a potential incident of dumping.

“Dumping a game, as referred to in this case, is a method used by a dealer that is outside the normal procedures and rules of the game to fraudulently benefit the player,” the investigator wrote in court documents. “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 effect the outcome in the players’ favor.”

A casino manager had asked for a review of Yu’s tips from two days “due to the amount she received,” investigators wrote in court documents.

The gaming control board alleges Yu did not collect losing wagers from a player, but “waited until [he] won to pay [him] out on four occasions,” the investigators wrote in court documents. “It is believed, Yu was doing this to receive tips from [the player] after he won.”

Investigators said they could not find a connection between Yu and the player, and that the player returned the losing wagers, which amounted to nearly $5,000, after learning that “Yu failed to collect those wagers.”

“After Yu failed to collect [the player’s] losing wagers on these four occasions, [the player] would tip Yu more than $100,” court documents said.

When the investigator talked to Yu, “[she] seemed to be visibly upset and denied any wrongdoing.”

The board issued a warrant for Yu’s arrest in October 2020, court records showed.

Metro police pulled over a driver who was in a vehicle registered in Yu’s name on Tuesday, they said. Police learned of Yu’s outstanding warrant and went to her home.

Officers took her to jail on a charge of cheating in a gambling establishment. Judge Diana Sullivan released Yu on her own recognizance on Wednesday.

The cheating charge is a Category C felony, which carries prison time and a fine if convicted.