A POKER cheat from Edgware was jailed for nine months on Monday and banned from entering any casinos.

Yau Yiu Lam, 45, of Bernhert Close, and two accomplices, used high-tech gadgetry to fleece a South London casino.

The trio were caught when Bit Chai Wong, 39, the gang's front woman, won £3,500 in 50 minutes in a series of poker games in 2005.

Police were alerted to the scam when security staff spotted a white Ford van parked near to other casinos in the run up to their arrest.

Wong's winning streak also gave her away when she turned £31,000 into £69,000 in one week.

Lam hid a micro-camera up his sleeve and aimed it at the croupier.

During the course of the game pictures of the dealer's cards were beamed to computer monitors via a transmitter Lam wore around his waist.

Fan Leung Tsang, 41, from Paddington, watched two monitors in the parked van, one had a live feed and showed the game as it happened, the second slowed the footage down so Tsang could clearly see the cards being dealt.

He would then instruct the players, who were wearing barely visible ear pieces, whether to bet or not.

The three, originally from China, were arrested on the casino floor following a joint operation between police and security staff.

They pleaded guilty to cheating at gaming contrary to section 17 of the 1845 Gambling Act in December 2005 at Southwark Crown Court.

The Metropolitan Police's gaming unit believe this was the first time such a sophisticated method of cheating was used in the UK.

Police said the two men were the brains of the operation while Wong, of Bedfordshire, became the trusted face within gaming circles.

All three had travelled extensively and had recently been to Las Vegas Tsang and Wong got a nine month suspended sentence and 150 hours community service.

All were given an "exclusion requirement", preventing them from entering any casino.