Field guide

Baccarat Edge Sorting

How it works

An illegal practice where junket operators or VIP room managers offer off-the-books side bets with higher limits or different odds than the casino’s official games, often used to circumvent regulation and taxation. Junket operators run parallel betting ledgers in VIP rooms, offering side bets on baccarat outcomes with no regulatory oversight. These may involve much higher limits than licensed games and allow circumvention of China’s capital controls.

On the record

Levo Chan, former boss of Tak Chun Group, was sentenced to 14 years in 2023 for illegal side betting generating HK$1.5 billion in unauthorized wagers across Macau VIP rooms. Alvin Chau of Suncity Group faced 290 charges related to similar schemes.

Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction — the method is described so it can be recognised.