New Jersey Getting Tough on Casino Cheats

When Derek Bethea recently got sentened to 17 years in prison for a pastposting conviction, I had to look twice to make sure there was nothing more to it. But there wasn´t: nothing more than a pastposted $1100 bet on a craps table at an Atlantic City casino. He did have two previous casino-cheating convictions, and both were relatively minor pastposts on craps tables, $2,400 and $250.

Okay, I understand the third-strike rule, but come on!...we´re talking about littly rinky-dink casino-cheat moves. In the whole entire Tran Organization Scam that corrupted dozens of casino employees in the US and Canada over a five-year period and netted $20 million, no one convicted in that case got more than 5 years in prison.

So what´s this hard-nut-gig New Jersey´s got for casino cheats? I don´t know, but I advise you cheats out there to really think twice before plying your trade on the Boardwalk. And if you have to do it, you´d better be careful!