Inside Asian Gaming

I n the first week of June, eight mega- high rollers arrived in style at the ritzy Bor- gata Casino in Atlantic City. They were all packing, loaded to the gills with cartridges of cash, and ready to attack the high-stakes Texas hold ‘em games spread across the floor of the Borgata’s giant poker room. Their plan was to fatten up their bankrolls and then invade the tables at Atlantic City’s richest poker tournament, the Borgata Summer Open, which was to begin in two weeks, with an entry fee of US$5,000 and a cool half-million going to the winner. There would also be other lucrative side games running parallel to the tournament. But the most lucrative game of all was high above the Borgata’s poker room, its ex- istence revealed by two classy grifters who carefully selected these eight high rollers to be their victims. One by one they told them of a super high-stakes cash game taking place in a penthouse suite. The game was open to those select players who had both the requisite bankroll (at least $500,000 cash) and the good sense to keep their mouths shut—after all, high-stakes poker is legal on the casino floor, but not in the hotel rooms above it. The allure up there The eight high rollers could not resist. There was nothing better than an organized high-stakes private game. First, there was no rake to pay the casino. Then there was the freedom for each high roller to do whatever he liked between hands, unhindered by ca- sino regulations. That may have meant a quick indulgence, a boost of narcotic energy or even a visit from a high-priced call girl to relieve the tension. The suite was certainly large enough to satisfy each of the high rollers’whims.But the The Walls Have Eyes Richard Marcus details a recent high-tech poker scam worthy of James Bond and Ocean’s Eleven 19