A high roller who lost $17 million in less than week playing baccarat is suing Crown Casino for "deceptive and misleading" conduct, claiming he was playing on a dodgy table.
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Yu Zhusheng claims he discovered a problem with the game after placing a $300,000 bet at the end of an epic losing streak just before 2am on a Sunday morning.
Baccarat, known colloquially as the 'Game of Kings', is a casino card game favoured by wealthy punters because statistically it delivers a higher probability of a win than many other high-stakes games.
In Crown's Mahogany Room, players are able to track the progress of the game on an electronic monitor that displays the 'shoe history', which is the outcome of each hand that has been dealt.
Some veteran players believe they can create a system for anticipating future hands despite baccarat being predominantly a game of luck.
Mr Yu alleges he had been playing for nearly an hour early on March 1 when he placed a $300,000 bet.
"The monitor adjacent to the baccarat table at which Mr Yu was seated displayed the result of the latest hand on the screen before the card had been turned up by the dealer and recorded that the banker had won that hand when in fact the card turned up by the dealer revealed that the player had won that hand," according to a writ filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Mr Yu claims that Crown had engaged in "conduct that was misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead and deceive" as a result. It is unclear whether he is alleging the monitor malfunctioned or it was tampered with.
"If Mr Yu had been aware that the monitor representation was untrue, he would not have gambled at Crown Casino and lost that sum of money," the writ said.
A veteran baccarat player, who asked to remain anonymous, said the monitor was nothing more than a "gimmick".
"It's a game of chance. People think they can run a system in baccarat but it's just a furphy," they said. "Look at it this way: If a couple of points were accidentally added to the scoreboard at a footy match, does that actually change who won? Of course not. It's the same thing here."
Mr Yu's solicitors did not respond for a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for Crown said it had not been served with a notice about legal proceedings, but strongly refuted the allegations.
She said in situations where there was a dispute with a player, Crown investigated the matter. If the player has not happy with the outcome, they were always referred to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation on-site inspectors, she said.
