Chinese Student Caught Cheating British Columbia Casino tells Judge that his Humiliation is enough of a Punishment--and the Judge Agrees!

University Bet-Capping

25-year-old Thomson Rivers university student Mingzhe Xu was arrested in front of his classmates in a classroom a few days after surveillance cameras caught him capping bets three times at the Lake City casino in Kelowna, British Columbia. He did it twice on a roulette table and once on a three-card poker table and he had a cohort, who just happened to be a dealer at the casino. The pair earned more than $1,500 for their cheating exploits that occurred on two different days in October 2016.

Xu's lawyer told the judge that his client's crime was unsophisticated while Xu, in a letter to the judge, said he was under a lot of stress at the time because he had been the victim of a phone scam, been in a car accident and learned that his mother had cancer.

He added how humiliating it was to be taken out of his university class in handcuffs.

Apparently Judge Meg Shaw agreed, or at least felt sorry for the casino-cheating student. She ordered him to repay the casino the $1500 he cheated it out of and dismissed all other charges.

As for the cheating dealer involved with Xu, he lost his work card and still faces an additional cheating charge.

My take: Apparently the judge does not empathize as much with cheating dealers than cheating players with mitigating circumstances. As for what the dealer actually did besides look the other way, I have no information. In any case, I agree that the young student be given a break.