Usually, when you hear of casino cheating, the accused has managed to earn a significant chunk of money. However, this was not the case for Petronius Linsao Cortez, a 52-year-old man from Auckland who won $125 while playing Baccarat at SkyCity. Mr Cortez has been charged with nine counts of breaching the Gambling Act, after he was accused of cheating at Baccarat.
The charging documents claim that he has broken the rules of the game by playing a wager after the result of the hand was revealed. He argues that he was unaware that he had broken any rules. Mr Cortez claims that no one told him had informed him that he was doing anything wrong while he was playing, and did not know that he was placing his bet late.
The rules of Baccarat state that players are prohibited from placing any bets after the dealer says “no more bets”. By the player’s own participation in the game, they automatically agree to the rules. However, Mr Cortez does not argue that he misunderstood the rules; he says that the dealer never called for “no more bets”. Mr Cortez had wagered $125 and doubled his money to $250.
In total, he won $125 and now faces up to one year in jail and a $20 000 fine. "Our stance is always clear we have zero tolerance for cheating and theft,” says a spokesperson for SkyCity. “We take our responsibilities in this area very seriously and work with the authorities to prosecute and trespass these individuals, so customers can continue to be assured of the integrity of all of our games."
Beyond that, SkyCity has not commented on the case. We will keep you updated on the case as further developments arise. This is certainly one of the more unusual cases of cheating, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
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