Macau Police Crack Down on Live-Streamed Illegal Baccarat 

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The suspect worse modified clothing with a concealed camera and used an earpiece to receive instructions.

Key Takeaways:
  • Authorities arrest man for live-streaming baccarat tables to mainland China
  • Suspect used concealed cameras, earpieces, and messaging apps to facilitate illegal betting
  • Case highlights ongoing challenges in enforcing Macau’s gambling regulations while crackdown intensifies

Macau’s Judiciary Police have detained a 43-year-old mainland Chinese man accused of livestreaming baccarat tables from a downtown casino to gamblers in mainland China and placing wagers for them in real time, according to Asia Gaming Brief. 

Investigators said he wore modified clothing with a concealed camera, used an earpiece to receive instructions, and operated through a messaging app. Police said he was hired by the hour from mid-May and had carried out the scheme at least eight times.

A Targeted Workaround

Authorities said the suspect earned about HK$1,000 (US$128) an hour and more than HK$20,000 in illicit gains, plus commissions. Officers seized chips, cash, phones, micro earpieces, a smartwatch and other gear, and later found more modified clothing in his Cotai hotel room. 

He has been charged with “illegal operation of online games of chance or online mutual betting.” 

The arrest comes as Macau steps up action against gambling-related crimes. 

The Judiciary Police recently said they also arrested two suspects in separate illegal gambling cases seizing assets worth up to nearly HD$10,000.

Illegal gambling has also seen a crackdown in South Korea with Kangwon Land being part of a recent law-enforcement sweep that targeted four suspected illegal gambling venues.