Casinos are where lots of money can be found, aside from banks, of course. Some people go to casinos to play and have fun, while others are in for something more sinister — cheating inside casinos.
One good example of this is how a poker champion arguably won millions of dollars in a casino. Only to find out that the casino won’t pay him due to him allegedly cheating the game. It was a problem that ensued for some time after a lawsuit had been filed against the casino for refusing to pay his “winnings.”
The suspected cheater defends his stand by saying that he had no idea that what he was doing was wrong. Unfortunately, the saying, “Ignorance of the law excuses no one”, is enacted in this situation. The case was dealt with in court and the complainant lost the lawsuit after it was ruled that what he did was considered as cheating.
What Really Happened?
Crockford, the player who technically lost the game against poker champion Ivey, refused to pay the supposed winnings of the latter. This amounted to a whopping £7.7 million.
Crockford says that Ivey cheated using the edge sorting technique. And Ivey admits that he used the technique. However, he argues that it wasn’t a cheat. Instead, it was his personal legitimate advantage.
Edge sorting is when the player spots any differences on the playing cards, to keep track of his next decisions. This then led to Ivey suing Crockford. Unfortunately, the lawsuit proved fruitless as the Court of Appeal and London High Court ruled against Ivey’s favor.
Top Casino Cheaters
It sure is surprising and at the same time interesting to know that these scenarios happen. However, these situations where people cheated are not really that rare. In fact, these things happen often, sometimes on land-based casinos and sometimes in online casinos. Here are some of the most infamous casino cheaters:
- Dominic LoRiggio
Dominic LoRiggio is a big-time cheater. He’s an expert on cheating blackjack and craps tables, after practicing it for hours at end. The cheating (or some would refer to as a technique) he does is called controlled shooting.
He does this by controlling how the dice lands. This is done by letting it hit the back wall of the table and letting it land as gently as possible with the help of his hand’s guidance.
- Tommy Glenn Carmichael
Tommy Glenn Carmichael is one of the most notorious casino cheaters ever known. His malicious scheme has been going on for more than 40 years, and luckily for him, it gained him millions of dollars — until now. He started out by scamming coins from slot machines.
And as technology improved, so did his techniques. In 1991, he invented the light wand which sucked the coins out of slot machines. The success of his ingenuity was too profound, that he began making it his business.
He sold his light wand to wannabe casino cheaters. It’s reported that some would even spend as much as $10,000 just to use it in one day. Unfortunately for him, he was arrested three times. The first time was in 1996, and then on 1998 and 1999.
- Ron Harris
Ron Harris is a computer technician at day and a full-time hacker/cheater by night. He started out as a quality assurance guy that checked the performance of slot machines.
Through the years, he mastered his craft and thought that he had all the resources to exponentially increase his income. And so he decided to cheat using Bally’s keno machines’ info. In one occasion, Harris was reported to take home $100,000 in one night, thanks to the 1 million: 1 odds he fixed.
Most Common Casino Cheats
According to Worldwide Casino Consulting, the gambling industry loses millions of dollars yearly due to casino cheating schemes. And this figure is expected to rise due to the constant improvement of technology.
However, the government is already trying to combat the problem by placing punishments on caught cheaters. A good example is in Nevada where gamblers caught cheating can face one to six years in prison, or perhaps a fine of $10,000. There are even times when the cheater can face both punishments.
So how do these guys cheat? Well, here are some of the most common ways. But take note that cheating in casinos isn’t always illegal. The barrier between cheating and technique is blurring because of the players’ growing ingenuity. Sometimes, you just need to have your own technique to ace the jackpot.
- Slot Machine Bill Validator Device
This cheat/technique is one of the oldest ones in the book. This is done by attaching a piece of string to a slot machine coin. There should be a paper clip attached at the end to prevent it from falling into the machine. It’s a simple way to get easy cash, in this case — coins.
- Card Counting
Card counting isn’t really a cheat unless you use a counting device to do it for you. What this cheat/technique does is that you tally the card values on your mind. It’s through this that you’re able to determine the high to low ratio of the cards on the deck.
- Marking Cards
This is perhaps the easiest and simplest way of gaining an advantage. With this cheat/technique, you simply mark the cards either by denting it on the corner or scraping off some ink. While there are also others that do far more complicated techniques, such as using infrared markings to spot which is which.