Billiard Player Chen Holds Press Conference

With all of the rumors swirling around regarding her alleged gambling debts and kidnapping, Women's Professional Billiards Association pro Jennifer Chen held a press conference in Japan during the All-Japan Championship to clear up some of the misconceptions.

She stated that the entire problem began back in May, when she was introduced to Mr. Yu, who visited her restaurant in Taipei frequently. Allegedly, Mr. Yu is not only a powerful figure in the billiard community, but he is a well-respected member of the legal council in Taiwan and a well-known politician.

Ms. Chen saw no reason not to trust Mr. Yu, considering his illustrious background and his recommendations to her from friends and other pool players. Knowing that Ms. Chen was having some cash flow problems, Mr. Yu invited her to place bets on baseball games with him, saying that he could provider her with accurate inside information. Ms. Chen had seen firsthand Mr. Yu accurately predict the result of a baseball game while it was still playing on television.

In order to place a bet, a person needs to apply for an account in order to receive a certain amount of “credits.” Though Ms. Chen did not have enough credits, Mr. Yu offered to help her and personally guaranteed the gambling debt up to $400,000 USD.

When she first started, Ms. Chen stated, she won a bit of money but then found herself losing constantly. Mr. Yu, however, allegedly told her not to worry and that he would share half of the bet on all teams that he recommended to her. Additionally, Mr. Wu was introduced to Ms. Chen, and he offered to act as her “backer” for 50% in return. If Ms. Chen were to lose, he would assume all losses, but in a winning situation, he would take 50% of the amount won.

But Ms. Chen kept losing and decided to quit, at which point both Mr. Yu and Mr. Wu allegedly demanded large amounts of money right away—amounts that they had guaranteed in the beginning. Mr. Wu and Ms. Chen were also partners in placing bets, so Mr. Wu knew Ms. Chen’s account information and pin numbers, which he allegedly utilized to ring up a large gambling debt in her name. 

Considering the large amount of personal stress she was under, Ms. Chen decided to close her restaurant and visit Hong Kong for a break. She stated that she was never kidnapped to Hong Kong, as was previously reported in some newspaper. While there, Ms. Chen was contacted by the Taiwanese Investigation Department, who allegedly told her that Mr. Yo was under investigation and his cell phone conversations have been tapped since they first met. Apparently Mr. Yu and Mr. Wu never had placed a single bet with any of their own money—they had wanted to lure Ms. Chen into placing on the losing teams to even out the odds.

The TID informed Ms. Chen that she was a victim of an organized criminal organization that deliberately set out to cheat people and then asked Ms. Chen to testify against Mr. Yu and this organization.

Because of the complexity of this case and because Mr. Yu is a powerful figure, Ms. Chen was afraid to return to Taiwan and has remained overseas. She alleges that she has also placed some bets with other brokers and has promised to pay them back. However, from here on out, Ms. Chen stated that her main focus will be on playing pool and becoming the best player she can be.