Not even casino promotions are safe from cheaters who are always looking for an advantage for hitting the jackpot.
That’s the experience of Norman Beck, vice president of claims and security for Dallas-based SCA Promotions. The promotion company, which works with gaming and other industries, has seen its share of people trying to cheat to win promotions, which in many cases today have prizes of up to $1 million. He said he expects them to go higher in the future and feature games that involve electronics.
Beck, who said he’s been on a lifelong quest to learn about cons, swindles, and gambling, said his company guarantees the payout for casinos and other groups that hold promotions meant to build customer loyalty. He’s always on the lookout for cheats and advantage players and makes sure promotions aren’t ill-conceived or executed improperly.
Beck will be one of the featured speakers at the 15th annual World Game Protection Conference, March 23 to 26 at Tropicana Las Vegas. The conference will focus on game-protection lessons of the last 20 years, artificial intelligence in casinos and the need to stop slot cheating.
Beck’s job is to take the risk out of promotions by spotting potential shenanigans from cheaters and systematically thinking of every conceivable way someone could unfairly rig the promotion. A big part of that is checking the math to make the promotion safe from cheating.
“Somebody is always looking for an angle. Most of them aren’t very good. I have figured out over the last 28 years how you don’t get scammed and things casinos may not think about,” Beck said. “I try to be preventive at the front end rather than reactive. If a casino wants to run a new promotion, I figure out how someone would try to cheat the game to win. I figure out a way to keep that from happening.”
For example, on dice-throw promotions, no one knows ahead of time what combination is needed to win; after the throw, an envelope is opened and only then is the winning combination revealed. “They don’t know what it takes to win,” Beck explained. “That’s a simple solution, so you don’t need to worry about the dice and who controls them.”
Beck once had the Russian mob try to cheat a scratch-card game at a Michigan casino promotion worth $1 million. SCA tested the card and found it had been altered.
SCA has administered more than 20,000 promotional events across hundreds of casinos worldwide. It’s covered bets and promotions from 42 cents to $1 billion, including a $10 million promotion for matching wheel spins at the Venetian in Las Vegas, golf hole-in-one events, and blackjack, craps, roulette and promotions involving other games that casinos use to drive traffic to their properties. A two-day slot tournament at Caesars Palace awarded a Rolls Royce to the one lucky out of 100 players. Caesars Atlantic City held a promotion for 64 players to win their line of credit; the smallest was $100,000 and the largest was $1 million. SCA was responsible for any payout larger than $100,000, which didn’t happen.
“It used to be million-dollar promotions for casinos were uncommon and now it is pretty much the norm,” Beck said. SCA has done dice throws at the former Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas for $1 million. “I just did one (in South Carolina) where five to six people went into the Whirlwind of Cash with money blowing around and if they got the pre-selected bill, they won a hundred grand.”
The odds of that happening are one in a hundred with 100 bills in the machine, Beck said.
“We sell the sizzle by offering a chance for people to win a big prize,” Beck said. “The casino doesn’t want to take a risk and would rather pay us a flat fee and know what their budget is rather than take a hit on a million-dollar loss.”
#WEEKENDreport – World Game Protection conference speaker says casino promotions a target for cheaters. –@BrianBuckWargo, CDC Gaming Reports. https://t.co/nubF5KcDGi @scapromo #CDCgaming
— CDC Gaming Reports (@CDCNewswire) March 8, 2020
Beck said SCA may lay off the risk with Berkshire Hathaway, Lloyds of London and AIG, for example, or use other methods to cover it, including in-house. They’ve had to pay out $1 million several times for keno games matching 10 numbers.
“I never mind winners. Knowing they have a chance brings customers to casinos.
These promotions are effective enough for casinos that I have been doing it for 28 years and traveled all over the world,” Beck said. “If people didn’t win, I wouldn’t be in business. It just has to be done squarely.”
“I am sure over the years I have been cheated and didn’t know it. Hopefully, not that often.”
To register for the conference, https://www.worldgameprotection.com/register/
