While the big inside dealer craps cheating trial goes on in Connecticut, another blackjack cheat dealer was very busy cheating her blackjack table in Mississippi. According to the casino, the blackjack cheat dealer, a woman, and her player accomplice beat the casino for almost ten grand in a single playing session. That is BIG money for a Mississippi casino in such a short period of time--probably too big. I bet that is why they got caught, looking to take too much cash too quickly. I don't yet know how the scam went down, but for them to beat the casino for ten grand that fast, I'm guessing it was a blackjack cooler, which is a deck prearranged for the player to win every hand that is switched into play for the original deck. The player then bets up to the maximum each hand. Problem with this move is that suspicious casino supervisors can call surveillance, who would have the deck switch on tape. So this is just another case of a dealer throwing her career away for a lousy percentage of ten grand.
Here's the news account of the incident:
A blackjack dealer and a patron at the Lighthouse Point Casino in Greenville, Mississippi were arrested and charged with cheating the establishment of close to $10,000 Tuesday afternoon. Shatawna Thomas, a dealer on a 21 + 3 table, and Renover White were picked up by Mississippi Gaming Commission officials and Washington County sheriff's deputies around 5 p.m. Both Thomas and White are from Greenville.
“This is still an ongoing investigation,” said John Gorman, enforcement branch director for the Central District of the MGC's Vicksburg office. “It was (Lighthouse) Casino surveillance that caught the action. They contacted us about what they thought was going on at one of their tables.” According to Gorman, Thomas is a veteran blackjack dealer. The pair allegedly amassed their loot in a relatively short period of time. “They were able to do what they did in less than an hour,” Gorman said. “It's highly unusual for someone to win as much as he did in such a short period of time.”
Thomas was arrested on the casino floor while White was apprehended as he attempted to leave the establishment with the money.
Gorman added that it had been some time since the MGC made an arrest in Greenville involving casino fraud (Can't tell you whether that means there hasn't been much cheating or the MGC enforcement agents are not that sharp). Officials for the Lighthouse Point Casino were not available for comment.
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