Inside Asian Gaming

Dec 2007 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 39 proficiency. Just like the London trio filmed the cards coming off the deck at the three- card poker table, a cheating team can very accurately gauge the angles necessary to ac- complish the same feat at the Texas hold’em and seven-card-stud tables. Of course, par- ticular dealers would either inadvertently aid or hinder the efficiency of the cheaters, but there are many dealers out there who, from the right angles, consistently expose enough of the downward spiralling cards’ faces to the tiny lenses up someone’s sleeve or hidden in a woman’s open handbag. What to watch for It’s very difficult to see even if you’re watching out for it, but you never know, you just might see something to clue you in. Here’s the scenario to be aware of. Ideally, the high-tech team will have two people with hidden micro-cameras on the table. This is not always possible due to playing conditions at any given moment, but if the team is patient they will not only get their cameramen to the game, but also into the positions best suited for their co- vert operation. With most dealers, those positions are the 2 and 3 seats to the deal- ers’ left and the 8 and 9 seats to their right. These positions supply the cameras with the best angles and the optimum fields of vision determined by the distances that the cards travel from the top of the deck on their way to the felt in front of the players. The cameras will nearly always miss several cards, especially those dealt to the players in the 1 and 10 seats because of the shorter distance, but in all cases they will pick up more than enough cards to give the cheaters a monster edge in the game. As demonstrated by the three-card poker scam, the images will be slowed down by a computer program and read clearly on monitors, then relayed back to players at the table wearing invisible audio devices in their ears. In most cases, the two players filming the cards will be the only team members in the game, as there is no inherent advantage in having a third player, unless, of course, the team wanted to get into added collu- sion play (they’re already playing in collu- sion) with another hand to participate in the whipsawing that sucks more money into pots. Still, the third player really is not necessary and would probably reduce the overall profit because in a ten-handed game they would have three dead seats (their own money) instead of two. River card risk If you think this type of cheating would completely run over a hold’em game, you’re right. But think what it would do to a stud game! How many hands are decided on that river card dealt facedown? And dealers tend to be more deliberate in their delivery of that last card to each remaining player, which only gives the cameras a bigger window in which to catch its image. If you’re wondering about tournaments, the threat of high-tech cheating is decidedly less, regardless of what may have happened at the Borgata Open. Firstly, and especially in no-limit events, players often risk getting knocked out in a single hand.This would nullify whatever chips they had won up to that point as there would of course be none left,and only the loss of en- trance and re-buy fees would stand. Secondly, tournaments are much more scrutinized by cardroom personnel, and many of them are already filled with cam- eras that are supposed to be there. Imagine the scandal that would brew if the network cameras discovered the illicit ones! And thirdly, as there are always high- stakes cash games going on during all the major tournaments, it is much more profit- able for the high-tech cheaters to join their low-tech counterparts in these games. So, in short, don’t worry much about high-tech tournament cheating—unless someone is using isotope imaging to mark the cards. Isotope imaging…what did I say?! Is that another high-tech cheating formula coming to brick and mortar poker? Not exactly, but there are high-tech card-marking schemes in the works. Can you guess what they en- tail? Well, if there’s one technology that’s on the cutting edge of just about everything, naturally it would be that same technology that takes poker cheating to new heights in the coming years. Of course, I’m talking about laser technology. Laser-sharp scams We’ve already heard about laser scan- ners in cell phones being used to predict where roulette balls will land. Several of these scams have proliferated, the most fa- mous of which was the 2004 Ritz Roulette Scam, where another trio of two men and a woman beat a bunch of London casinos out of US$3 million. The next step in laser cheating technol- ogy is going to revolutionize marking cards at poker tables. Forget all that invisible and disappearing daub that is the avant-garde method of today’s advanced card-markers. Within a few years we will see—or at least suffer unknowingly—the effects of tiny la- ser pens that card-markers will use to shoot beams onto the backs of their hole cards, which will result in tiny discolorations that can only be seen with special lenses and at certain angles. Laser-engraving technology is already used for marking everything from retail bar codes to paper, wood and plastic products, and the transition to using that technology to covertly mark the backs of playing cards is just over the horizon. And these laser guns will be made to resemble the normal assortment of objects players routinely surround themselves and their chips with at poker tables. Are there any other nefarious high- tech gadgets in the works to cheat you out of your money at brick and mortar poker games? You bet. The only problem is that I don’t yet know what they are. But as soon as I do, I will let you know. I can tell you one thing now, however. The high-tech cheaters out there are more determined than ever. They will go to great lengths to develop products and strategies to part you from your money. Don’t panic though. Just remain vigilant. Like in any poker game,if you get the feeling that some- thing not kosher is going on, just get up and go find another game. Don’t hang around trying to figure out if someone at the table is videoing the deals or “beaming” the cards. It will probably be too difficult. Richard Marcus, a former baccarat dealer and recognized authority on numerous as- pects of Asian gambling and cheating, now offers detailed training and seminars to ca- sino staff, including dealers, floor personnel and surveillance. His engaging and authorita- tive insights have been featured at The World Game Protection Conference, the Asian Casino Executives Summit, the Peru Gaming Show as well as many international TV segments about casino surveillance and the armies of cheaters who battle against it. http://www.richardmarcusbooks.com/ protection.htm