Dubai Man Jailed For DIY Gambling Game

thinking man behind bars

A Dubai man who ran an inventive gambling game in the territory has been sentenced to one year in jail, as well as a £21,000 fine and deportation.

The defendant was arrested when he was caught running a gambling game on a street in the Frij Murar district in June last year. The inventive game involved the man laying a belt in a spiral pattern on an ironing board. Participants were invited to put a screwdriver in one of the spirals and bet on whether the screwdriver would remain hanging on the belt when it was pulled. If the screwdriver caught in the belt, the punter would win, otherwise, the defendant pocketed the stake.

At a hearing back in August, prosecutors asked for the strongest possible punishment appropriate to a case of street gambling and he was jailed for one year, fined £21,000 and made subject to a deportation order. At the same time, the court ordered that all of the items he had used for gambling were confiscated. The defendant had appealed the sentence, but earlier this week, the Appeals Court turned down his plea for clemency and found that he should serve his punishment.

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Gambling is not illegal in Dubai, but it is heavily regulated, and the Dubai authorities take severe action against any unauthorized gambling activities.

The defendant had been caught when police officers on a routine night patrol spotted him running his gambling game in a district near a well-known Dubai bank, where a large number of local people had gathered in the area to take part. After his arrest, he confessed to the crime and it was subsequently discovered that he had committed a number of other gambling infractions.

Thinking man shadow behind jail bars image taken from shutterstock.com

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