Saturday, March 08, 2008

Some Really Bad Luck for a Big-Time Casino Cheat

Imagine being incarcerated for having ripped off a casino in one state and then when you're released from prison, the moment you're stepping foot outside the iron gates into the fresh air of freedom, you're greeted by state troopers from another state who have a warrant to arrest you for another casino you ripped off two years prior and thought you'd gotten away with it. That's exactly what happened to Ellis Quinn Jr., a notorious craps pastposter, and I really feel bad for him because about the only craps pastposter more notorious than he...is the person typing these words!

Hailing from Tennessee, Quinn, who'd been imprisoned in Missouri, is now back behind bars in Shreveport, Louisiana, after being charged with pastposting (placing bets after the winning outcome) $60,000 of late winning bets at the Sam's Town Casino. He'd been in the Missouri prison for the exact same charges, which are called cheating and swindling casinos. Quinn had been captured on the Louisiana casino's video surveillance pastposting large craps bets on numerous occasions while playing craps between May 26 and 27, 2006. He allegedly pastposted on 32 rolls of the dice. This surely doesn't say much for the floor staff working the craps pit in that casino! But unfortunately for Quinn, the surveillance crew evidently stumbled onto his moves.

And if that doubleheader isn't bad enough, strike-three is waiting for Quinn in Nevada. There's an outstanding warrant for him in Las Vegas for...you guessed it!...the same craps pastposting charges. Much like the infamous craps cheater Brent Eli Morris (who is in my Cheaters Hall of Fame), Quinn, in spite of his talent, just didn't know when to stop. Greed obviously got the better of him.

Perhaps Doug Pierrelee, a police spokesman, said it best: "If you're a cheater, even a very successful cheater like Quinn, and you don't crap out with the casino, you will with the law."

I will not be putting Ellis Quinn Jr. in my Cheaters Hall of Fame anytime soon!