'Gambling God' placed bets of up to HK$1.5m

The casino dealer who earned about HK$50 million in tips and commissions from the HK$100 million Macau winnings of 'Yuen Long God of Gambling' Siu Yun-ping, said Siu bet up to HK$1.5 million at a time.

The Court of First Instance was told that Siu gradually increased the size of bets he placed over the years, and his wins and losses were in the tens of millions each time he gambled in Macau between mid-2007 and February last year.

The dealer, Wong Kam-ming, nicknamed 'Wong Ming Chai', was testifying yesterday at the trial of five alleged Wo Hop To triad members in relation to an alleged plot to murder and/or abduct him last year.

See Wah-lun, 30, Tang Ka-man, 31, Wong Chi-man, 26, Yeung Chun-kit, 22, and Chan Ho-leung, 35, have pleaded not guilty to charges including acting as triad members and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

See, an alleged senior member of the group, is also charged with conspiring with a 'Tsang Pau' to commit murder, and soliciting nine people, including the four other defendants, to murder. The court heard earlier that 'Tsang Pau', also known as Cheung Chi-tai, was the person in charge of the Chengdu gambling hall at the Sands Macao casino in Macau.

The prosecution said the offence took place after Siu had won more than HK$100 million in Macau casinos.

It said Wong was the dealer who took Siu to gamble at baccarat between August 2007 and January last year in Macau casinos, including the Guangdong hall of The Venetian casino, the Wong Kam hall of the Lisboa casino, and the Chengdu hall.

Siu had paid about HK$10 million to Wong in tips.

Siu testified earlier this week that he believed the plan to abduct and murder Wong was orchestrated because someone was angry he had won such a huge sum of money and wanted it back.

Wong, 40, began his testimony in the hearing yesterday by revealing details of the life of the 'God of Gambling' who started as a barber.

The court was told that Wong first met Siu when he was a barber and Wong worked at his mother's cafe in Yuen Long. Wong said Siu began building village houses in 2000.In 2004, Wong became a 'mud-chip dealer' - an agent who earns commissions through trading a casino's chips to gamblers - on a floating casino.

He said he then started a cafe with a partner in Yuen Long around 2005, but had continued to work intermittently as a mud-chip dealer in Macau casinos.

According to Wong, he began dealing in chips at the Macao Sands Chengdu gambling hall - one of three halls where Siu won HK$100 million on baccarat.

He said he and Siu initially visited the casino to gamble about 'once every 10 days or so' and Siu bet 'tens of thousands' on each game.

Wong said the bets got bigger and bigger - from HK$500,000 to HK$1.5 million - and he estimated Siu won or lost tens of millions gambling at Macau casinos.

He also said he was required to deposit one to two million dollars in a casino's account to become a mud-chip dealer, but such deposits were insufficient for him to be Siu's mud-chip dealer when his bets were so large.

Wong will continue to give evidence on Monday.