This is part 2 of a two part series – if you missed the first ten scams, click here to catch up.

Two years ago, Bill Zender and I sat down and started going through our notes from the past 20 years on casino scams. Our goal was to compile our “Top 20” scams for a presentation at the 2020 World Game Protection Conference. A kind of retrospective of the last 20 years where we could share our findings and lessons learned with students of the games. The conference never took place.

Editor’s note: The 2022 World Game Protection Conference takes place on February 15-17, 2022 at the Tropicana Las Vegas.

Top 20 Scams – 11-20

The Dealer Button Camera

A crooked baccarat dealer swaps out a button on his vest with a similar button concealing a miniature camera wired to a portable video storage device. During the shuffle the dealer video records a sequence of cards by “high riffling.” To keep the sequence intact, he follows with a “step through” false shuffle before straightening the cards and offering the cut card to an accomplice. When the dealer goes on a break he finds a private place, plugs his video storage device into a computer, reviews the video and texts the sequence back to accomplices at the table. Casino losses: $1M-$10M

The Card Mucking Teams

A baccarat player attaches a device up his sleeve known as a hold-out device. The device is like a robotic arm that holds a playing card. When the card can increase the value of a hand, the player will activate a switch that will extend the card into the players hand to facilitate a switch (muck). The switched out card is used for future hands. The “starter” card is obtained in various ways including stealing a card from the casino or counterfeiting. Casino losses: $10M-$100M

The Slot Machine Button Sequence Glitch

A player discovered that a certain type of video poker machine has a software glitch that can be exploited. The “double up bug” allows players to replay winning jackpots with higher wagers. The player sits at a machine playing one cent a spin. When he eventually scores a jackpot, he doesn’t cash out but immediately hits a specific sequence of buttons replaying the winning hand but with a maximum wager this time. Casino losses: $1M+

The Craps Call Bet Collusion Caper

Craps dealers in collusion with players pay long-odd “hop bets” that don’t exist. As the dice are rolled one of the players in cahoots with the dealers will mumble something that no one can understand, as if it was a call bet (or maybe not). After the dice comes to rest the crooked dealer will pay the player for a winning hop bet. Casino losses: $1M+

The Baccarat Card Carrier Thieves  

A team of thieves gather around a card storage cabinet in a high-limit baccarat room, obstructing the view of staff and surveillance. They break into the cabinet and steal a card carrier containing 416 pre-shuffled cards stored for future use on a game. They go to their hotel room for a short period of time where they open the carrier and record the sequence of the cards before returning them to the cabinet in the same manner they removed them. They wait until the cards are put into play and bet accordingly. Casino losses: $10M-$100m

The Camera Van Teams

A player with a concealed camera up his sleeve plays Three Card Poker with a dealer who inadvertently lifts her cards before placing them face down on the table. The player positions himself so that the camera can view the card values. The camera broadcasts the live play back to a van outside the casino. Accomplices view and identify the dealer’s hand and communicate with the player at the table via a hidden earpiece. Casino losses: $1M+

The Employee Slot Machine Riggers

A team of crooked slot employees with access to the inside of machines rigged them to pay out bogus credits. Using their expertise, they were able to change the “coin in” amounts and delete the history of the false and fraudulent amounts from the machines. The ill-gotten gains were cashed out by their wives and partners over a 4.5 year period who set up shell companies and multiple bank accounts to “wash” the stolen money. Casino losses: $1M-$10M

The Face-Up Baccarat Spread Camera

A casino using manufacturer pre-shuffled cards on their baccarat games introduces a procedure mandating that the dealer spreads approximately two decks of cards face-up across the table so that players can see the cards are mixed. A player in collusion with the dealer uses a concealed camera up his sleeve to record the two decks. The dealer conducts a false shuffle keeping the two deck sequence intact. The player leaves the game and reviews the video. On his return the player and his friends wait for the sequence to begin, calculate upcoming results and bet accordingly. Casino losses: $1M+

The Exploitation of Asymmetrical Cards

A woman searched for casinos that used automatic shufflers on baccarat, open faced shoes and poorly designed and manufactured cards that could be “edge sorted.” Conspiring with a big player they requested and were granted changes in the casino’s standard procedures. The most significant changes were dealing cards face down and having the dealer reveal each card to them individually before she instructed the card be turned straight over, or to the side. This facilitated a scheme where high and low cards could be identified before wagering in future rounds of play, gaining a considerable edge over the house. Casino losses: $10M-$100M

The Dealer Memorizing Cards

During the baccarat shuffle procedures, an unsupervised dealer takes approximately 20 cards, thumbs through them face up and commits the order to memory. He then conducts a false shuffle that leaves the 20 card sequence intact. In collusion with the players at the table he waits until the memorized sequence appears and calculates the results of the next 3-5 hands in his head. Before each hand is dealt, he discretely gestures to his accomplices playing at the table what to bet on. Casino losses: $1M-$10M

But Wait, There’s More…

There are plenty more scams that just missed the cut. Some are slight variations of scams on our list. Technology advancements in concealed cameras, wireless and computer technology have made some of the scams more sophisticated and efficient but the principles of gaining inside information remain the same.

In most of the scams listed there is more to the story. In some cases, I’ve purposely left some of the details out. In others, I admit I just don’t have all of the details. I also have no doubt there are other scams that could make our top 20 that we simply don’t know about. But hopefully there is enough information included to help casino managers understand major threats, review their own practices for vulnerabilities and take the necessary steps to reduce the risk.

At the World Game Protection Conference in February, I will discuss a lot of these scams in more detail in my CORE training seminar on table games protection. We will have a chance to dissect the scams and discuss what we learned as an industry to better protect our games.

World Game Protection Conference attendees will also have a chance to win a copy of Steve Forte’s latest book Gambling Sleight of Hand: Forte Years of Research. Simply read this article and while at the WGPC complete the survey on the show app naming in order your top 5 scams from our list. As a survey participant your name will go into the draw for the prize. On the last day of the conference we will hold a draw for the prize and announce the “WGPC Attendees Top 5 Casino Scams of the Century.”