Multistate Baccarat Scam Nets $1.5 Million, Cops Hunt Cheating Ring

Officials in multiple states are searching for a baccarat cheating operation that has targeted at least 10 casinos nationwide for over $1.5 million. 

This is based on records submitted to a criminal court in Lake County, Indiana, where the gang purportedly defrauded the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana of over $700,000. 

Split-Second Capture 

The group's technique included employing a cut card to briefly spread the deck, allowing a recording device to register the arrangement of the cards. 

The picture was subsequently transmitted to a partner who would examine the deck and inform other participants through hidden earpieces on the best times to place bets. 

The group visited casinos in five additional states from July 2023 to March 2024, including the Mohegan Pennsylvania Casino Resort in Wilkes Barre, the Golden Nugget and Imperial Palace casinos in Biloxi, Miss., and Bally’s Casino in Chicago, based on the filings reviewed by The Times of Northwest Indiana. 

Jianchu Liu, Fuxiang Liu, Qingyong Zhang, Honghui Wu, Daiqi Wang, and Yuhan Hu are individually being sought by Indiana authorities on charges of felony theft and gambling fraud. Arrest warrants have been issued for them. 

In April, Casino.org announced that Liu, a national from China, is also being sought in Pennsylvania due to a warrant that alleges he has committed two misdemeanor offenses related to winning through fraud or deception. 

Captured on Film 

Surveillance footage from Mohegan Pennsylvania captured Lui activating an application on his mobile phone while sitting at the baccarat table. According to a police affidavit, he ensured the screen was dimmed to stop security from observing his actions. 

Once Liu positioned the phone beneath a pile of baccarat scorecards, the dealer shuffled and permitted Liu to split the deck. According to police, the player was observed manipulating the dealer’s hands to "control how [the dealer] should hold the deck." 

Officials in Indiana noted a comparable method but mentioned that the group would shift from table to table until they located a dealer who was more inclined to allow the cheaters to briefly manage the deck. 

According to the affidavit, one dealer at the Hard Rock was suspected at first of being an insider. However, when investigators questioned him, they discovered the dealer was being controlled by the group because of his lack of experience.