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Cheating By Casinos & Dealers
“A Thing Of The Past, Until The Next One is Caught”

Tightly Regulated 

It is so hard to imagine in this day and age how a company like Enron could mislead their very own shareholders. Aren’t these companies tightly regulated on the stock exchange? Of course they are, by a Federal Government Agency called The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  I guess when there is money to be made, some companies will do just about anything and everything to line their pockets. It’s pretty hard to imagine the SEC preventing this from happening. There are 1,000’s of companies, and not all of them are honest ones. 

Anyhow, enough about the stock exchange. This is a gambling site for crying out loud!!! 

Casinos are no longer run by the Mafia as many once were.  The casinos are run by reputable companies, many who are on the Stock Exchanges, and/or by rich individuals without any Mafia connections.  So out with the old, and in with the new; just very rich companies who can do whatever they want in a society where money talks.  Well, almost anything. The gaming industry is very tightly regulated by gaming commissions.  These commissions are for the most part government agencies, and are put in place to protect people from injustices, exactly like the SEC for example.

These gaming commissions are very powerful.  They could walk right into a casino and close it down.  They can confiscate decks of cards right off the table at any time.  They don’t mess around, and they shouldn’t, considering that the gaming industry pulls in $30 billion annually. 

So it only makes sense that cheating by the casinos is a thing of the past. Right? It is a documented fact that some casinos have in the past, done things like take Aces out of their decks. One would have to assume these kind of things just do not occur anymore.  A large company with a lot to lose surely wouldn’t be crossing the line of right and wrong. Does this give you any comfort? 

Many, MANY Years Ago 

I’ll never forget the most shocking display of cheating I have personally witnessed in a casino in Vegas.  It isn’t often you seen Dealers and Casinos actually cheat, “even through a really bright light”. Although this was reported and was a serious breach of security, there may not have been actual intent to cheat.  It may have been just a case of laziness.  I was sitting at third base, watching the action in the casino, with no one at my table at 1st base.  This gave me a clear view of the next table, where the cards were spread on the table, no one playing, and a lovely young lady trying to remain awake. 

Two gentleman approached her table and she dealt up the cards; maybe 4 decks.  They placed down one bet each and she dealt the cards. They both lost, and decided to leave.  This really caught my eye, because I was wondering why they made her shuffle and left when they could have just played at my table.  Imagine how surprised I was to see the dealer pick up the cards and not place them in the discard rack.  The cards went from her hand, right into the front of the shoe.  She sat there and that was it.  I was certain the two guys were coming back with very large bets, and I was excited to see how this was all going to unfold.  They never did return, she never did reshuffle, and eventually there was minor action at the table and it was all a thing of the past.  Until I reported it that was (I still know exactly who the shift managers are at this huge Vegas casino.! 

I have read in magazines, books, and newspapers, stories of ways casino and dealers have been caught cheating. To be fair, usually these are isolated cases, which end up in charges and terminations to employees, as compared to casinos closing.  Most casinos have too much to lose to implement a policy of cheating.  After saying that, there may be offshore casinos, like on cruise ships, and definitely some internet casinos which are not regulated.  You should always be leery and follow your gut.  If it feels wrong, it’s likely wrong! 

In the past, casinos have taken certain cards, like Aces out of the deck.  Maybe this didn’t really affect the game too much, but it isn’t right.  There are documented cases of devices which could possibly have a more than random effect on how the cards are dealt.  If you can’t see the cards, be alert.  With modern technology, it is nothing at all to have a card read.  For a machine to know what a card is, is very simple.  In fact, there are companies out there today with these kind of Blackjack tables. I have seen them at the Vegas Gaming Shows, just in the past couple of years.  The idea isn’t to cheat. The idea is so the casino could have a program telling them which cards come out of the deck, so they can easier track the actions of Card Counters. The guy in the security room could track your actions if they wanted, analyzing the counts with the bets you make to determine if you are counting cards.  My point is, “Where do you draw the line?” 

I have been made aware of something called, “The Delay”, used in automatic shuffling machines.  The cards are dealt out of machines with the cards loaded in the back, and they shuffle the same decks over and over.  You cannot see the way or method used to shuffle the cards.  You can’t see anything.  When the dealer deals the cards a laser shoots out another card which sits in the shoe, waiting for the dealer to take it.  It makes a clicking noise when they do, and another card fills the empty void.  When the dealer deals, the machine recognizes a split second delay after the dealer receives their Up Card.  This delay occurs while the dealer waits for the first decision of the player on the dealer’s left.  The computer chip now realizes how many players are at the table, for instance at a full table. The dealer receives the 8th and the 16th card out. This would be the dealer’s up card. It would be easy for the machine to spit out favorable cards. Of course casinos do not use cheating devices, but the point again is, if these kind of things makes you skeptical, why play at those kind of tables.  If you ever played Pai Gow, you know how easy it is for a machine to count seven cards. 

The Dealer 

More common in a casino is for the dealer to work with a player, or just cheat himself, in turn cheating the casino.  You’ll notice the dealer always claps his hands and raises palms up.  He isn’t doing that for the goodness of his health.  That is done to ensure he is not palming a casino chip which then ends up in his pants or even his mouth.  Dealers are great people, but they like us, are every day people.  Like in any occupation, especially those tempted with money, some people will try cheating, usually only to regret it for the rest of their lives.   

As time goes on, we will be updating any new methods found in casinos in our site.  We are letting the past go, but future methods and actions by casinos will be brought to you here through articles and emails in the 21’s Voice members section. If you hear of any stories circulating, check out our Forum and post them for others to read.  It is always a lot of fun to listen to how creative people are, as well as follow their stories.