Casino Tricks/Cheats

[copacabana]

A friend runs an underground casino here in Asia.

He thinks he is being conned by some locals, but not sure how. Running at a loss for several months to the same characters despite a healthy turnover.

He offers BJ, Roulette and Baccarrat.

What would be the most obvious cheats from these 3 games that he would need to look out for, and how would he stop them?

Thanks

 

[sherman]

does he use cameras at all?

 

[sherman]

man i'd love to run a small casino in my house but i dont have the balls....

 

[copacabana]

Yes he has cameras.

But I believe he doesn't know what to look for.

 

[newton0038]

A friend runs an underground casino here in Asia.

He thinks he is being conned by some locals, but not sure how. Running at a loss for several months to the same characters despite a healthy turnover.

He offers BJ, Roulette and Baccarrat.

What would be the most obvious cheats from these 3 games that he would need to look out for, and how would he stop them?

Thanks

BJ: Dealer in on it, card counting ( not cheating but Vegas thinks it is), chipping his/her bets( if the player picks up their cards vs. no touch) dealer exposing the down card.

Roulette: Dealer in on it, late chip drops, bet switching (usually on outside bets), biased wheel ( need ALOT of spin info to determine this)

Baccarrat: Dealer in on it. depending on which Baccarrat you play dealer/player or just the dealer handling the cards. Player could be marking cards, dealer could be checking his own shuffle to produce alot of ties which can hurt the take if they hit at 40% and pay 8-1 and the players "always seem to hit the ties with big bets"

 

[copacabana]

Many thanks Newton, thats a great help.

 

[newton0038]

If you have a dealer that is over exposing the hole or down card in BJ it can get quite costly. The show American Casino that is filmed at Green Valley Ranch in Vegas dealt with a pair of players that were catching the over exposure. They did not lose as much as they could have, but another property in Vegas got hit to the tune of about $500,000 in less than 2 days.

 

[newton0038]

Glad I could help.

 

[acw]

A friend runs an underground casino here in Asia
Where in Asia?

 

[Noreaga+]

maybe they are doin him like boiler room and bringing in counterfeit chips

 

[Baker]

I would tell him to look for a reverse past post (aka Savana).

This is when a player puts a higher value chip under a lower value chip and switches it to two lower value chips if the bet is a loser. It is tough to catch. If the bet is a winner and they check the cameras there is nothing to see as on winning bets nothing is changed, the original bet is left standing. You have to check the tape on the losing bets of the big winners to see if they are taking their big bets back if a bet loses.

This is one of the only things I can think of that can be that tough to catch if the dealers aren't involved. It's a lot tougher to catch than a regular past post where you would see something watching the play on tape.

Baker

 

[RPM]

if he knows who the guys that are beating him are, maybe he should just nicely explain their business is not wanted....

 

[copacabana]

Jka

 

[sharky99]

He could get hammered by a good past posting group

 

[acw]

Jka
I guess Jakarta? Where?
I just asked around and was told that the semi official ones are all closed.

A friend runs an underground casino here in Asia.
If it is one of those literally under (the) ground ones, then even if I get 10% rebate on my chips, I will still not play there!
Anyhow the Black Jack rules in the semi ones were so in favour of the player that a perfect basic strategy player already had a edge, so if these guys are/were indeed playing Black Jack and had the flux just a bit on their side, then no hope for your friend, he will lose.

 

[CardFather]

Underground gambling or casinos are a playground for accomplished cheats. They probably have been busted in regulated casinos or at the very least have a lot of steam. Underground is somewhat of a "safe-haven" for them. There are so many angles they could be shooting, several of which have been mentioned in this thread.

Roulette past posters, "Savannah Players" (reverse past-post), are some of the most difficult to detect, due to their incredible skill. I have had to slow mo video tape and watch it several times to pick up a really good roulette move.

There are far more cheats that mark cards than any other scam. One of the toughest to detect is a very tiny razor which is super glued to an index fingernail. The marker will then make minute almost undetectable marks, usually in the center, of the back of the cards.

Another remarkably undetectable marking scam uses an ink that can be seen through a specially made contact lense. The thing that differentiates this "invisible-ink scam" from others is that the ink used completely dissappears after about 45 minutes. This gives the team ample time to make a nice blackjack haul and leave no evidence.

The world of scamsters is densely populated with gifted single-0 hold out artistes as well. Of course frequent deck changing and counting can stop these thieves in their tracks.

The best defense is to simply bar or max bet a suspected cheat. Anyone taking frequent wins from a game that has a 1% house edge should be heavily scrutinized.

 

[SVT_Cobra]

He should probably hire a security expert from another casino. I'm sure he can get a contact from some one. If he determines that they are cheating, pull the scene from Casino with the cattle prod, back room and hammer.