Last week, we posted some pictures that appeared on WIRED of Chinese cops burning and destroying gambling machines that look like arcade cabinets. Gambling is illegal in China, and it is constantly being cracked down on. Video game arcades as well as internet cafes are often covers for gambling.
Just this weekend, 30-plus people were detained in an arcade in Hubei province. The detained were partaking of illegal video gambling inside the arcade. The arcade was shut down and destroyed. Also last week, there was the story of a 17-year-old girl ran away from home because she was assaulted after during one of her father's gambling induce rages.
On top of all of that, God of Gamblers series that show and often glorify the role that organized crime has in gambling.
Often times gaming arcades are fronts for illegal gambling. The bells and whistles of real video games cover the sights and sounds of gambling machines. So every now and again, the Chinese government cracks down on arcades across the country looking for gambling machines, and when they find them, they destroy them.
(Top photo: Nate Lanxon | WIRED)
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