First Singapore gambling cheat is sentenced

Unlike our own rather long winded system, justice in Singapore is swift  and only a couple of months after the grand opening the Resort World Sentosa (RWS) casino the first cheat has been sentenced. The casino opened its doors on February 14^th and on March 28^th Hou Yongwei  a 26 year old Chinese national tried his luck at the “Tai Sai” table (Tai Sai is a variant of craps where the punter places bets on the outcome of three dice) by placing a S$600 bet at odds of 10/1 but unfortunately for him he tried the old past posting trick which means he placed the bet after the dice were uncovered hoping the dealer would not notice. The dealer did notice and after reviewing the CCTV footage the police were called in. Hou, a construction worker  was subsequently sentenced to 10 months in jail for the offence which could have been up to 5 years. District Judge Ronald Gwee said that a clear message needed to be sent that crimes in the casino would not be tolerated. Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Ngoh praised the vigilance of the dealer and the casino surveillance team.

The sentence does not bode well for another case this time involving a cashier who allegedly stole S$10,000 whilst on duty on April 6^th; Lim Ee Wah could face up to seven years behind bars but could get off lighter than that of she pleads guilty and refunds the cash. Fortunately past posting is not possible at an online casino so the temptation is not there but we applaud the swiftness of the sentencing sending a clear message to would be cheats.