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2014 News Archives |
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Electro-slots
According to an Associated Press article four
Russian citizens are being charged in St. Louis for
cheating in ten casinos throughout the US, using
electronic devices to exploit slot machines. Casinos
affected are in St. Louis, Kansas City, Missouri,
Illinois, and California. To read the December 10
article titled "4 Russian nationals accused of
casino scheme" click:
HERE. (12/2014) |
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Latent
Blackjack Bets
According to an NJ Advance Media article a man was
caught cheating at blackjack at the Sands Casino in
Pennsylvania by placing bets late. The article
reported that, "Further review of surveillance video
showed [that he] had collected fraudulent wagers on
at least three other occasions, according to police.
[He] is facing charges of prohibited acts and theft
by deception. He was taken to Northampton County
Prison where bail was set at $15,000 with a 10
percent option. Police said Sands Casino is also
seeking $255 in restitution." To read the December 8
article by Alex Napoliello titled "Manville man
tried to cheat while playing blackjack at Sands
Casino, police say" click:
HERE. (12/2014) |
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Cheating
Casinos
An interesting story in BlackJack Champ discuses
four methods that casinos used to use to cheat
blackjack players. The methods discussed are ones
exposed by Arnold Snyder and Mickey MacDougal with a
mention of Steve Forte. Methods include: The Anchor
Blackjack Strategy, The Turnover, The False Shuffle
and Second Deal, and The Short Shoe. To read the
December 2 article by Joseph Larsen titled, "4 Ways
Casinos Cheated Customers According to Arnold
Snyder" click:
HERE.(12/2014) |
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A
Bug In The System
A fascinating story ran in Wired Magazine that
outlined how two men found a glitch in the Video
Poker software that allowed them to receive multiple
jackpots. A simple explanation of how it was
exploited is explained, "The key to the glitch was
that under just the right circumstances, you could
switch denomination levels retroactively. That meant
you could play at 1 cent per credit for hours,
losing pocket change, until you finally got a good
hand--like four aces or a royal flush. Then you
could change to 50 cents a credit and fool the
machine into re-awarding your payout at the new,
higher denomination." To read the October 7 article
by Kevin Poulsen titled, "Finding a Video Poker Bug
Made These Guys Rich--Then Vegas Made Them Pay"
click:
HERE.(10/2014) |
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Court
Ruled Ivey A Cheater
A Daily Mail article takes an in-depth look at how
Phil Ivey beat the Crockfords out of millions and
the legal arguments used to justify the edge
sorting, "Ivey said he sees it as the professional
gambler's job to 'exploit the weaknesses' of
casinos, and try to even out the odds casinos always
ensure are stacked in their favour. Edge-sorting,
Ivey insisted in court, involves nothing more than
using information available to any player simply
from viewing the backs of the cards the casino
chooses to use, and by making requests of the house
which it is entitled to refuse…. Sadly for Ivey and
'advantage players' everywhere, Mr Justice Mitting,
begged to differ. The judge, who admitted he has
never been in a casino and sticks to bridge,
commended the American on his truthfulness but ruled
his actions amounted to 'cheating for the purposes
of civil law'." To read the October 10 article by
Tom Leonard titled "How a brilliantly cunning card
sharp and his Chinese moll cheated a London casino
out of £7million" click:
HERE. (10/2014)
>>>For another take read the October 9
Washington Post article by Justin Moyer titled
"Famed poker pro Phil Ivey, accused of cheating by
casino, loses court case -- and $12 million" click:
HERE. (10/2014)
>>>For an ethics take read the October 10
ESPN article by Jeff Ma titled "Why Phil Ivey got a
raw deal" click:
HERE. (10/2014) |
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Out
Of Retirement
According to a Star Tribune article, "A geriatric
foursome [in their 70s] ran a quick and nominally
profitable cheating scheme while playing poker at a
Minnesota casino one night last summer, according to
charges. …All four have rap sheets with convictions
for cheating while gambling in other states spanning
many years [since 1984]. …According to the charges:
Three of the men sat at a three-card poker table,
and while one of them distracted the dealer the
other two, seated next to one another, palmed cards
and swapped them under the table." To read the
August 23 article by Paul Walsh titled, "Charges:
Geriatric poker foursome cheated casino" click:
HERE. (08/2014) |
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Luminous
Marked Cards In Play
An article in The Day reported that, "A man flagged
by casino security officials as a 'known card cheat'
pleaded guilty Wednesday in New London Superior
Court to using invisible ink to mark cards at
Mohegan Sun on Sept. 15, 2013." The article also
reported that he, "…has cheating convictions in
Nevada, Iowa and Illinois and is facing charges in
Baton Rouge, La." The way he was caught was
interesting, "The ink he was using could only be
seen when the video was viewed in black and white.
…The police removed from [his] jacket pocket a small
piece of fabric with ink on it attached to a small
piece of a dollar bill. [He] was wearing both
eyeglasses and contact lenses, [he] admitted the
contacts, 'were designed to see things that you
normally wouldn't be able to see.'" To read the
August 20 article by Karen Florin titled, "Known
'card cheat' admits using invisible ink to mark
cards at Mohegan Sun" click:
HERE. (8/2014)
>>>To read the August 22 New York Times article by
James Baron titled, "The Invisible Ink Tha Wasn't"
Click:
HERE. (8/2014) |
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More
Edge Sorting
An article in The Day reported that, "Three gamblers
are suing Foxwoods Resort Casino in federal court,
claiming the casino owes them more than $1.1 million
they won playing mini-baccarat in December 2011, as
well as $1.6 million they had deposited with the
casino to cover any losses. Foxwoods has refused to
pay because it believes the three cheated." One of
the gamblers is Phil Ivy's accomplice in the
"edge-sorting" cases that are currently in
litigation and the emphasis of the case is that
"edge-sorting" should be legal. To read the August
11 article by Brian Hallenbeck titled, "Was trio
gambling or cheating? $1.1 million at stake in
lawsuit" click:
HERE. (8/2014)
>>>To read the August 11 Cardplayer article by Brian
Pempus titled, "Phil Ivey's Alleged Accomplice In
Borgata 'Cheating' Case Also 'Edge-Sorted' At
Foxwoods" click:
HERE. (8/2014) |
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Caught
Using Real Name
One of Nevada Gaming Control Board's seven most
wanted offenders, was arrested on July 23 at the
Sands in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He got caught when
he used his real name to get a players card. A
TribLive article spoke to Sal Piacente about the
methods employed to cheat, "…capping, pinching and
past-posting bets are longtime cheating methods that
remain popular even with the availability of
miniature cameras and computers. …Pinching, capping
or past-posting does not require a magician's
sleight-of-hand skills but only a moment of
distraction. 'It's a fast move. You act like you're
straightening your bets,' he says. 'When the dealer
gets distracted, bam, he's going to get hit over
there.'" To read the August 3 article by Mark
Gruetze titled, "Players Advantage: 'Most wanted'
casino cheater used old tricks, police say" click:
HERE. (8/2014)
>>>To read the July 27 Los Angeles Times article by
John M. Glionna titled, "Mistake finally trips up
'most-wanted' cardsharp" click:
HERE. (7/2014)
>>>To read the July 26 New York Times article by Dan
Barry titled, "Sought in Vegas, a Swindler Is Dealt
a Losing Hand Far From Home" click:
HERE. (7/2014) |
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A
Grand Opening Day
A Columbus Dispatch article reported that, "The last
of 10 people charged with cheating at Hollywood
Casino Columbus during its first weeks of operation
has pleaded guilty to a casino gaming offense." The
article also names all of the others that were
arrested, and for what, right after the casino
opened in October 2012. To read the August 1 article
by John Futty titled, "Judge sends casino cheater
into drug program" click:
HERE. (8/2014) |
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Three
Known Cheaters
A BlackJack Champ article profiled three known
cheaters and their methods. The premise was, "In
blackjack, professionals use advantage play
techniques like card counting systems to gain an
advantage over the house. In luck-based games like
slots and roulette, however, there isn't much you
can do to tip the scales in your favor. That's where
cheating comes in. We wouldn’t advise you to do it,
as it's easy to get caught and will result in a
lifetime ban from any casino as well possible
criminal charges. But some skillful cheats have used
a range of genius techniques to beat the casino over
the years." To read the July 29 article by Joseph
Larsen titled, "3 Famous Gamblers Who Cheated the
Casinos out of Millions" click:
HERE. (7/2014) |
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Repeat
Offenses Of Past Posting
An Associated Press article reported that a man was
sentenced to 17 years in state prison for cheating
in three Atlantic City Casinos. According to the
article, “Prosecutors introduced evidence that
showed the 57-year-old Bayonne resident had posted
bets at the craps tables after the dice had already
come out. The incidents occurred at the Borgata,
Resorts and Revel casinos last August. Bethea was
convicted in 2001 and 2005 for similar crimes.” To
read the June 13 article titled, “Bayonne man
sentenced to 17 years for casino cheating” click:
HERE. (6/2014) |
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Cheating
Panel Discussion
CBS Las Vegas ran a story about an upcoming panel
discussion about casino cheating at the Mob Museum
in Las Vegas. The article reported that, "The panel
will include George Joseph, the owner of Worldwide
Casino Consulting, and an expert in gambling
surveillance. …Joseph will join two other experts.
…Joseph says he’s been there before cameras were
installed, and watched the changes through the
years. Now, everything is recorded." To read the May
21 article by Dayna Roselli titled, "Mob Museum
Holds Casino Cheating Panel" click:
HERE. (5/2014) |
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Only
Way Out
Roderick Dee [who is known to magicians as Rod The
Hop] was removed from the notorious "Black Book"
after his death. According to a Las Vegas
Review-Journal article, "Dee, who became the first
new member of the list in almost four years when the
Nevada Gaming Commission made him the 34th entry
last July, died in December. Earlier this month, the
commission granted the control board's request to
remove Dee from the list. Death is the only way a
person can be removed from the Black Book, which
makes it a felony for that person to enter a Nevada
casino." To read the April 21 article by Howard
Stutz titled "Convicted slot cheat included in Black
Book dies" click:
HERE. (04/2014)
>>>To read the official 4/17/14 GCB Notice click:
HERE. |
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Chipgate
Resolution
After three months of investigations the New Jersey
Division of Gaming Enforcement and The Borgata have
released information about the resolution to the
cancelled tournament in January that was flooded
with counterfeit tournament chips. It appears that
the entire cheating scandal was perpetrated by a
single individual. The statements from both bodies
discuss the distribution of the frozen funds that
will be distributed as refunds to the affected
players that busted out and a prize of
$19,323 to each of the remaining 27 players.
(2014/04)
>>>To read the New Jersey Division of Gaming
Enforcement's official "Final Order" click:
HERE.
>>>To read Borgata's Resolution details
click:
HERE. |
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Ivy
League Edge Sorting
According to the New Jersey Law Journal The Borgata
has filed suit against Phil Ivy, his accomplice and
Gemaco Inc. to recover 9.6 million dollars in losses
at Baccarat. The article explains what happened in
detail and points out that, "It is the automatic card
shuffler that makes edge sorting possible, because
it keeps all cards facing in the same direction. A
dealer shuffling the cards by hand would turn part
of the deck. During a 16-hour session at the table
on April 11, 2012, Ivey won $2.4 million. [His
partner] sat with him and she gave instructions to
the dealer in Mandarin on how to lay down and flip
over the cards. …Ivey told Borgata that he sought
the special accommodations because he was
superstitious, but Borgata says that was a pretext
and his 'true motive, intention and purpose in
negotiating these playing arrangements was to create
a situation in which he could surreptitiously
manipulate what he knew to be a defect in the
playing cards in order to gain an unfair
advantage.'" To read the article by Charles Toutant
titled, "Borgata Sues Baccarat High Roller For $9.6M
Won Gaming the Deck" click:
HERE. (04/2014) |
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Tournament
Chip Upgrade
The Borgata Casino which hosted a tournament where
counterfeit poker chips were found earlier this year
has decided to take large tournament hosting
seriously. According to an Associated Press article,
"A cheating scandal at a casino poker tournament has
led to new security measures, including chips that
are more intricate, have more colors and include an
authentication element that can be checked under
ultraviolet light." The article continued, "Part of
the new security measures will include spot checks
of chips in play during games. 'We will be checking
chips randomly throughout the day using a new
process involving the UV lights,' Lupo said. He
described the checks as 'part of the new normal.'
The Borgata also will add more staff and will do
more chip counts each day during its tournaments."
To read the April 8 article titled, "Poker
tournament gets high-tech chips after casino
cheating scandal" click:
HERE. (04/2014) |
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Daubing
A Straits Times article reported that a man, "…who
is here on a social visit pass, used the ‘card
daubing’ technique on high value cards so he would
know which ones to bet on when playing games such as
poker and blackjack. The 30-year-old applied
coloured powdery substances to the back of playing
cards when he got the chance to handle them. This
was done either by hand, or using modified cash
chips that would deliver the substances… But the
ploy was discovered after he used a modified chip in
a losing bet and a croupier noticed the
irregularities on it." To read the April 3 article
by Ian Poh titled "Nepalese man jailed for cheating
in casinos by marking cards" click:
HERE. (04/2014) |
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Bridging
A Cough
The Bridge world was rocked by cheating, again. A
Mail Online article reported that, "…the usually
sedate world of bridge was in turmoil over the news
that two world champions have been found guilty of
cheating… The Germans apparently cheated during both
phases. They allegedly coughed during the bidding
phase to reveal which suit they were weak in, giving
them an unfair advantage. It’s claimed they then
coughed again during the second phase of the game,
indicating the best card to play." After they were
suspected of cheating the match was recorded and a
"Subsequent computer analysis of the recordings
apparently revealed the deception." To read the
March 30 article by Harry Mount titled, "What a pair
of knaves!" click:
HERE. (03/2014) |
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Cheating
For Tips?
A Grand Forks Herald article reported that,
Prosecutors said Tessin was cheating the house while
dealing blackjack in TJ's Sports Bar… making sure
patrons won so he got bigger tips. The maximum
prison sentence on the charge is five years if he
was convicted. To read the March 12 article by Steve
Lee titled "Man seeks deal in Grand Forks card
cheating case" click:
HERE. (03/2014) |
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Maryland
Live Surveillance
A Washington Post article about the surveillance
systems at the new Maryland Live Casino quoted their
general manager, "A number of known cheaters came in
and tried to take advantage of us, because we were a
new operation... To prepare for the onslaught,
Maryland Live brought in specialists skilled at
finding scammers who had hit other casinos. The
security agents began ejecting cheats that very
night… They really ran at us for about a month,"
Norton said, adding: "It hasn’t died down." The
article also quotes George Joseph about how security
systems have changed since the 1970s. To read the
February 22 article by J. Freedom du Lac titled "At
Maryland Live Casino, relentless surveillance
operation targets cheats, thieves" click:
HERE. (02/2014). |
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Blackjack
Counting Machine
A Cleveland ABC story reported that a man was
indicted for cheating at the Horseshoe Casino in
Downtown Cleveland. The article states that,
"Officials from the prosecutor’s office said the
agents had been contacted by a casino manager who
observed Harvey on surveillance and thought he had
some kind of card counting device… State officials
said counting cards with a device has been illegal
prior to the casinos opening in Ohio." To read the
February 21 article by Dena Greer titled "Man
charged with cheating at Horseshoe Casino with card
counter hidden in pocket" click:
HERE. (02/2014). |
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Piling
On Karabourniotis
A Ramona Patch article gave an update on the Archie
Karas case which reported that they have
surveillance videos of him marking cards during a
blackjack game at the Barona Casino. The article
concluded with, "Last year, Karl Bennison of the
Nevada agency said they have investigated
Karabourniotis multiple times, and arrested him on
four occasions. He described the defendant as a
'threat to the gaming industry in many
jurisdictions.'" To read the February 6 article by
Michelle Mowad titled "Hotshot Gambler Headed to
Court for Allegedly Cheating at Barona Casino"
click:
HERE. (02/2014). |
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A
Fatal Flush
An arrest was made in the Borgata case where
T$800,000 in T$5,000 counterfeit chips were added to
their tournament. According to a Press Of Atlantic
City article, "Casino employees tackling plumbing
problems at Harrah’s Resort last week discovered
something more than a little unusual clogging the
sewer pipes: $2.7 million in counterfeit Borgata
poker chips that had been flushed down a toilet.
…Spurred by the discovery at Harrah's, Borgata
employees later found an additional 160 forged
chips… and regulators canceled the tournament." In
one of the many bizarre circumstances of this case a
member of the 2+2 forum found a company in China who
gave the perpetrator a quote for the counterfeit
chips. That page can be seen by clicking
HERE. To read the January 24 article by Jennifer
Bogdan titled "$2.7 million in counterfeit poker
chips found in Harrah's sewer pipe" click:
HERE. (01/2014) |
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Counterfeit
ChipGate
Counterfeit T$5,000 chips were introduced into event
#1 of the Borgata Winter Open. The tournament was
originally suspended at the beginning of day 3 with
27 players left out of 4,812 entries. The following
day the tournament was cancelled until the
investigation is complete. An Associated Press
article quoted Tom Ballance, Borgata's president and
chief operating officer, "Thus far, investigators
have found that one or more tournament entrants
improperly introduced a significant number of
counterfeit chips into the tournament, gaining an
unfair advantage and compromising the integrity of
play for the event." To read the January 18 article
by Wayne Parry titled "Borgata ends fake
chip-tainted NJ poker match" click:
HERE. (01/2014) |
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