Who doesn’t know this feeling? You enter a large casino and look forward to a legendary evening with lots of fun, fast-paced casino action and big wins. But have you ever noticed that your every move and action is being closely watched? Anyone who enters a large casino, like i.e. doctor spins casino, these days is under observation for their entire stay. Every visitor, every gaming table and a large part of the casino floor are recorded by camera systems and can be tracked in real time and afterwards.
As a visitor, you usually don’t notice anything. The cameras are discreetly integrated into the casino ambience and usually remain undetected by the player. After all, the fun of playing shouldn’t be spoiled by the feeling of being watched. From my own experience, I can say that I never really noticed the surveillance systems before until I paid close attention to them.
But why does this casino surveillance exist at all? Are the casinos suspicious of their visitors or what exactly is behind it? Security is particularly important in casinos. This is mainly due to the large amounts of cash. For this reason, there is a sophisticated security system at various levels in the casino. The main aim is to prevent theft and illegal activities.
In addition to protecting assets and valuables such as slot machines, gaming tables, etc., the focus is also on the safety of casino guests and employees. Anyone who enters the casino wants to find a pleasant and safe environment. Card counters and tricksters should not stand a chance and attempts at deception should be prevented.
While today’s casinos are mostly safe, there have been some spectacular cases, especially in the past, in which fraudulent geniuses managed to trick the casinos and steal a lot of money.
Casino Scam 1: Wrong Shuffling
One of the biggest casino fraud cases ever was uncovered in 2007. The scam was as simple as it was ingenious and worked – without any high-tech equipment and without attracting much attention. We are talking about Phuong Quoc Truong, better known as Pai Gow John.
In total, he managed to steal an incredible $7 million from over 25 American casinos. All that was needed for the scam were trained dealers who shuffled the cards in such a way that they did not change their order. Since this required a lot of practice, Pai Gow John gave training courses in which he explained the shuffling technique in detail.
At his peak, he employed over 30 croupiers at the same time. They performed the shuffling technique they had learned in various casinos. Pai Gow John and other members of the so-called Tran organization then played at the selected tables.
His system worked best in mini baccarat. Here, players are even allowed to openly note the order of the cards that have already been played. Later, blackjack tables were also targeted. Since card counting is not permitted here, the recurring order was passed on to the players via microphone and hidden headsets. Whenever a known sequence of cards was repeated, the stakes were drastically increased and huge winnings were made.
His scam remained undiscovered for several years. His own trained dealers were his downfall, as some of them became greedy and demanded more money for their services. Pai Gow John, however, did not allow himself to be blackmailed and instead simply found new dealers.
His alienated dealers turned to the FBI in revenge, who managed to deceive Pai Gow John and pose as corrupt dealers. Little by little, more informants were brought in and the masterminds of the organization were exposed. From then on, the members were followed at every step. There are numerous video recordings, telephone recordings and correspondence that leave no doubt about the fraud. By 2007, 42 people from the Tran group had been charged with organized crime and sentenced to several years in prison and fines running into millions.
Casino Scam 2: The Contact Lens Scam
Another spectacular coup. A group of three Frenchmen and an Italian tried to cheat the Cannes Casino in 2011. They probably also had help from one of the poker dealers. He marked the playing cards beforehand with an “invisible color” that is outside the field of vision for the human eye.
The ink, however, is visible with special infrared contact lenses. This meant that the card value was also visible to anyone who had the high-tech lenses in their eyes. In just one evening, the gang managed to win over €70,000 at the cash game tables in the French casino.
Because the group of four behaved very suspiciously, security staff quickly noticed them. However, it remained unclear how the scam worked and so they were let go without being checked. The incident was reported to the police and was investigated very closely.
The suspicion of fraud was confirmed when one of the four men returned to the casino almost two months later and again won over €21,000 playing poker. In the meantime, police investigations had uncovered further evidence that suggested the contact lenses had been purchased and that agreements had been made with two croupiers in the casino.
When the man went to collect his winnings, the police were already waiting for him. He was fined €100,000 and given a two-year prison sentence. He also admitted to giving the contact lenses to friends, which led to further convictions and arrests with similar sentences.
Casino Scam 3: The Roselli Brothers
Two brothers, better known as the “Roselli brothers,” were responsible for one of the biggest casino scams of all time. This case is without question one of the most notorious casino scams: it mainly affected casinos in the USA and South America, which were defrauded of a total of around 40 million US dollars.
With the help of a hacker, the Rosellis identified people with excellent credit ratings. The two then opened accounts in their names, into which the crook duo deposited $50,000 each to increase credibility. After leaving the money in the respective accounts for around six months, they received a loan in the amount of the deposited capital. Within a very short time, they were able to double their bets and open additional accounts.
It was important to the two of them to divert suspicion. To do this, they had an accomplice who played baccarat or craps. Since the bets were mostly lost, the casinos saw no problem in granting them further loans.
This scheme allowed them to earn high roller status and increase credit limits to over $1 million per account. What’s more, winnings were kept but losses were never paid back.
Like a professional gangster team in the textbook, the brothers managed to disappear without a trace after emptying all the accounts and without being caught. All the leads that the investigating authorities followed in the case came to nothing and ended up with innocent citizens whose identities were stolen and their credit ratings completely destroyed. The Roselli brothers, whose names were even stolen, will go down in history as the biggest casino fraudsters the world has ever seen.
