Gambling syndicate head offers lessons

By TONY WALL

The head of an Asian syndicate which has been accused of threatening rival gamblers and staff at Sky City Casino is offering to teach his "Chinese friends" how to beat the casino - for a fee.

Zhang Ping Wu has placed an advertisement in an Auckland Chinese-language newspaper bragging about his victories over the casino and offering to train people to become "first grade winners".

The ad is accompanied by the front page Weekend Herald article that first exposed the Wu family syndicate's activities.

It is understood Mr Wu is charging a "training fee" of $5000. He denies being the head of a syndicate but says in the ad, placed in the New Times Weekly, that he has designed a "system of tactics which is legal and reasonable of how to win".

He is telling callers that he has carried out an "investigative analysis of the whole system at the casino" and is offering one-on-one training sessions for slot machines and blackjack. His ad says the casino is "scared" of him because he has won so much.

A Sky City spokeswoman said the company was aware of the advertisement. "Our only comment is that we're comfortable that we have the procedures in place to ensure a fair gaming environment for all our customers."

The company had fought through the courts for its right to ban Mr Wu after he allegedly threatened a casino worker last year.

It won the case in the Court of Appeal, but then reached a settlement with Mr Wu that allowed him back into the casino.

Sky City says it is confident that armed with the Court of Appeal decision and new Casino Control Authority guidelines, it will be able to deal with threatening behaviour and syndicates in future.

The Herald has been contacted by casino regulars who say Mr Wu and his associates continue to use the same tactics as before. They occupy as many slot machines connected to a jackpot for as long as possible, wait until the jackpot is close to the point where it must be struck, then pump thousands of dollars into the machines and bet maximum credits.

In the past, the group, which communicates by cellphone, has had someone in the casino 24 hours a day. Mr Wu and his wife have an apartment across the street.

The Herald revealed in August how the syndicate had won hundreds of thousands of dollars and several cars on the casino's slot machines, and was accused of using threats to protect its turf.

Slot machine expert Josh Ogilvie, of Melbourne, said he was approached in downtown Auckland by a man who told him he was costing him money and should go home to Australia. Mr Ogilvie said the man told him: "One month you die."

He laid a complaint with police and fled the country.

In his advertisement, Mr Wu said he said he had been "falsely incriminated" by being named as the head of a gambling syndicate that had threatened people.

He had spent $100,000 fighting Sky City through the courts "to win back my rights as a customer". Mr Wu said he had seen many of his "fellow Chinese friends" lose so badly at the casino that they "lost their fortune, their family - everything".

"Having thought about it again and again, I have decided to share with all those friends the system of tactics that have taken so much money and efforts from me to design."

Mr Wu has told callers that slot machine training takes two days and blackjack training a week. It is made up of "theoretical" training, followed by practical sessions in the casino.

How much someone won depended on how much time they were prepared to spend at the casino.