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Tokyo cops bust Kabukicho gambling parlor with robot dealer

Yuichi Sato
Yuichi Sato
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday announced the raid of a baccarat parlor featuring a robot dealer in Shinjuku Ward for illegal gambling, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 7).

On Wednesday at 8:20 p.m., police took Yuichi Sato, the 31-year-old male manager of parlor Atom, located in the Kabukicho red-light district, and employee Mami Ryu, 38, into custody for allowing customers to wager between 2,000 and 300,000 yen via touch-panel monitors as the robot dealt cards.

Officers also arrested five customers, including a 21-year-old male college student, who were present at the time of the raid.

According to TBS News (Nov. 7), street touts in Kabukicho promoted the parlor, which opened at the end of March, by mentioning that a “robot dealer” was in operation on the premises.

Investigators are now attempting to determine how management of the parlor obtained the robot, which was made in Taiwan, and whether its revenue was a source of funds for organized crime.

The bust of Atom for using a robot dealer is a nationwide first, police said.

The robot dealer at Kabukicho's Atom parlor
The robot dealer at Kabukicho’s Atom parlor