Cheating Casinos Back in the Day...What Would it Have Been Like?

Las Vegas in 1931

Did you ever dream you could step into a time tunnel and step out way back when and apply what you know now about making money to back then? I am not talking about betting on a historical or sporting event for which you know the outcome even though it has not yet taken place. I am talking about applying a specific skill that you have today to a task in the past. One analogy would be to have twenty-first century equipment or weaponry to be used in construction or deconstruction (war).

Well, I have had this dream (although in a fully conscious state, so it's more a thought than a dream) of applying my casino cheating ability to casinos way back when. Let's say I stepped out of a time machine into Las Vegas, Nevada in 1931, the year that casino gambling was legalized in the Silver State. What casino moves would I do in 1930s Vegas casinos?

First, let's take a look at what casino surveillance was like back then. There were no cameras. There weren't even catwalks (narrow corridors above the casino tables whose floors has one-way mirror patterns so that the action could be observed from above). At the time, the only surveillance was slick ex-cheats and cons walking around the casino looking for suspicious activity that could be cheating.

So, would I run up to a roulette table and do a third-section pastpost?

Absolutely not! That's because the casino wiseguys lurking around the tables knew how easy and popular it was to pastpost roulette tables. And...they would have a great chance of seeing the pastposter's hands out on the layout when they weren't supposed to be there.

How 'bout my famed Savannah roulette pinch move?

Well, she would have worked but there would have been the chance that one of the sharpies could see the high denomination check hidden from the dealer from a position behind the bet. That big-value chip would have been sticking out in the rear. The Savannah move was really primed for beating the surveillance cameras.

What about the bread-and-butter blackjack ten-oh-five?

You hit the nail on the head! This move would have been the best because it is done when the blackjack player's hands are supposed to be on the layout, mainly when picking up the winning chips the dealer just paid him.

Okay, I know this posting is just mental masturbation--but OH how I would love to go back in time for just one day and go to work on Vegas's old-time casinos!

PS: Now that I think of it, I could have made a fortune by simply collecting the gold coins and silver dollars used in those casinos and bringing them back to today! I wouldn't have had to cheat!