The Public Security Bureau of Sheshan District in Hefei successfully smashed an underground casino, capturing 16 gamblers, casino organizers, and service personnel on the spot. What makes this casino different from others is that all the gamblers were taxi drivers. Every morning at 8 o'clock after they received their cars, they drove to near the casino and then entered it to "play" until 5 p.m. when they had to hand over their shifts. According to these people's confessions, in Hefei, there might be more than 500 taxis not in operation every day as the drivers are "playing" in different underground casinos.
By Wang Tao
Taxi Drivers Run a Casino Specifically for Taxi Drivers
A taxi driver in Hefei named Zhou Yi (a pseudonym) once operated a small gambling den (underground casino). Every noon he would open the gambling den where all participants were taxi drivers. Zhou Yi has a friend named Chen Mou who also used to drive a taxi. In early December 2009, Chen found Zhou and proposed opening a larger gambling den together. Zhou wouldn't need to provide capital but only needed to specially contact taxi drivers to come and play, earning him 500 yuan daily as benefits. Moreover, those coming to the gambling den didn't need to carry cash; anything could be counted as money for betting. There were people specifically responsible for bookkeeping, and the gambling den even provided gambling funds for those who lost, which, of course, had to be repaid. The gambling den took a 10% cut from each bet. Both agreed readily.
However, Chen did not have the necessary funds. He then found his friend Li Mou. Li had previously run a large food stall and a small inn and was also involved in the business of placing slot machines in some stores, thus having some money on hand. Chen proposed that Li provide the funds and everyone would share the profits, to which Li agreed. Afterwards, they contacted taxi drivers Zhou Er, Zhou San, and Yao Mou. Zhou Er was responsible for helping bring taxi drivers to the gambling den to play, earning him 500 yuan daily as benefits. Zhou San was responsible for bookkeeping, and Yao Mou was responsible for collecting the gambling den’s cut, each earning 100 yuan daily as benefits.
Around 500 Taxi Drivers "Play" Daily
After making the initial preparations, on December 8, 2009, this underground casino specifically for taxi drivers' "entertainment" officially "opened" in a teahouse on Qingyang Road in the provincial capital city. That day, more than ten taxi drivers came to "play," with good results. Initially, the casino only played "Zha Ji," but a few days later, they started playing Pai Jiu. To avoid police crackdowns, they didn't fixate on one location but frequently moved between different teahouses on Qianshan Road, Fei West Road, Changfeng Road, and Qingyang Road.
According to the captured gamblers, initially, it felt very exciting. Everything was done in cash, and even if the cash was lost, it didn't matter. Anything could be used as stakes, and the casino would lend you money. Wins or losses were recorded. By 5 p.m., when they had to hand over their shifts, if they had lost everything, the casino would give them 200 yuan to cover the day's operational tasks, of course, this was also recorded and had to be repaid. The casino also provided cigarettes and lunch, so once inside, they didn't have to worry about anything themselves. There were many such places, with around 400-500 taxi drivers not working and "playing" daily.
Some gamblers even went to different venues daily just to "support" the place, receiving some benefits in return.
When Losing Becomes Desperate, Report It, Then Gamble Again, Then Lose Again
Because the casino "provided excellent service," many taxi drivers became addicted, playing from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily without fail.
Ahua (a pseudonym) is one such taxi driver who doesn't work and only "plays." When the casino first opened, he started gambling through a friend's introduction. But the final result was always the same: the winners were the casinos, and the losers were the "players." With a 10% cut per bet, all the gambling funds eventually flowed into the hands of the casino bosses. Additionally, the bosses lent money to the gamblers, causing the gamblers to lose more and more. After Ahua lost all his savings, he also accumulated a significant amount of gambling debt. On December 24, after losing again, he reported the case along with two friends to the Public Security Bureau's Sheshan Division's Public Order Brigade, but by then, the casino had already disbanded.
Upon receiving the report, the police took it very seriously, immediately dispatching specialized personnel to investigate the case while secretly gathering evidence at various teahouses where the casinos were frequently set up. What was both laughable and pitiful was that within a few days of reporting the case, Ahua continued to gamble and continued to lose. By the time the casino was smashed, he still owed more than 120,000 yuan in gambling debts.
"You go where, I go where — Repay"
Initially, to maintain the operation of the casino, Li and others had to pay daily venue fees, personnel wages, cigarette fees, lunch fees, etc., investing tens of thousands of yuan. Although they earned over 500,000 yuan in less than a month, all of it was debt. In terms of cash, they were still in deficit.
To recover the debts, Chen and others hired people to follow the debtors 24 hours a day. Although they did not use violence, they ensured "you go where, I go where." Some debtor drivers, fearing their families would find out, had no choice but to try to raise money to repay their debts. However, some people didn't care and refused to repay, while others, due to the high amount of debt, were unable to repay.
Spending money, but gaining accounts, Chen and others’ casino can be described as "poorly managed," but numerous gamblers were "severely harmed." Not only did they lose all their cash, but they also accumulated huge gambling debts, being pursued for repayment daily. At the same time, a large number of taxi drivers stopping work to gamble also exacerbated the difficulty of hailing taxis in the provincial capital city to a certain extent.
A Decisive Strike Capturing 16 People
On January 4, the casino opened at a teahouse on Changfeng Road. Around 11 a.m., after losing too much, Ahua again reported the case with his friends. Upon receiving the report, the Sheshan Public Order Brigade quickly mobilized nearly 20 police forces to rush to the scene.
After the police arrived at the scene, they captured 11 gamblers and five casino organizers and service personnel including Chen and Li. At the time, eight people were playing Pai Jiu, and four people were playing Landlord in another private room, one of whom was the organizer Chen Mou because at the time, they were one person short for playing Landlord, so he temporarily joined in.
During the investigation, the police discovered that the gamblers and casino organizers caught this time did not carry large amounts of cash. Originally, today's gambling den was for debt collection. After nearly a month of gambling, most participating taxi drivers had lost all their savings and owed a large amount of gambling debt to Li Mou. All 11 gamblers captured that day owed gambling debts, ranging from 10,000-20,000 yuan to as high as over 200,000 yuan. Just these 11 people owed Li over 500,000 yuan in gambling debts. The casino gathered these gamblers that day specifically to collect debts from them, with Li telling them to repay their debts before playing again.
Currently, six casino organizers and service personnel including Chen have been criminally detained, while the rest of the gamblers have been administratively detained.