So what do I think of the soon-to-be Edge-Sort-Killing Card Shoe?

The magic edge-sort killing card shoe

Wow! It's great!

Imagine this!...A young UNLV student in Gambling Innovation class has just received a patent for a new card shoe she developed that will make Edge-Sorting impossible at all card games including baccarat, at which, as you all know, poker legend Phil Ivey edge-sorted his way to more than $20 million in winnings...or I should say 20 million in temporary winnings, as courts on both sides of the Atlantic decided edge-sorting is cheating, and I certainly concur.

So how does it work?

Young Brittney Martino's invention uses flashing lights to obscure the backs of the cards. Instead of explaining exactly how it works, I will take the liberty to copy and paste PlayUSA's description of it in its article.

“The purpose of the light(s) is to overlay colors or tones and white background on the back of the playing card. The wavelength, pattern (e.g., discontinuous distribution of light) and intensity of the shone light being sufficient to reduce optical contrast of different colors and/or shades on the back of the first playing card. The pattern can disrupt visible perception of the actual pattern printed on the back of the playing card. The emitted/projected pattern may be significantly different from the printed pattern, or only slightly vary from the printed pattern to confuse optical/visible reading of the printed image.

“Where the back of the card, for example, has red-and-white colors, the emitted light should be sufficiently red to color and blend the white into the red; when the back of the card is greenish, the emitted light should sufficiently match the green, and similarly with single colors or multiple colors on the backs of the cards and the emitters.”

Okay, you got through all that, and I say it is mighty impressive, perhaps the biggest table-game/game protection invention since Arthur Miller's hole-card reader device, now omnipresent on blackjack tables in virtually all casinos worldwide that take a hole card before players' hand decisions.

Except there is one little mitigating factor as to the new invention's usefulness.

Sorry to say, Brittney, as I know you are extremely excited about this and surely anticipating the millions in royalties coming your way, but your edge-sorting device is....

USELESS!

Well, I should say, "ALMOST USELESS!"

WHAT?

I'll tell you what...

I am simply saying that if casino personnel do their jobs and listen to, and implement, all the game protection procedures I and others have taught them, their casinos would need this device about as much as I need to shut my mouth!

Again simply stating, if the proper shuffling procedure in all table games (regardless whether or not automatic shufflers are in use) is strictly followed, then we do not need yet another high-tech gadget to protect us from doing our jobs.

I assume, based on my visits to train casinos, that many of you reading this article do not know how damn easy it is to nip edge-sorting in the bud without having to resort to this gadget, whose annoying flashing-light-and-color display are sure to bother some of your playing customers!

So how do we nip edge-sorting in the but? It's as simple as wiping out dice-sliding in craps by assuring that both dice tumble and hit the back wall.

We simply make a "turn" part of our shuffle process. This means to rotate half the cards in each pack being shuffled 180 degrees. So if you're currently doing the riffle...riffle...strip...and repeat, you now need to riffle...riffle...strip...TURN...and repeat.

It's that simple.

But you mustn't forget to have your dealers perform the turn before putting the cards into the automatic shufflers.

If you'd like to see the correct shuffle procedure including the turn, just search it in YouTube.

I don't know about you, but I am tired of seeing how technology has to entirely protect our table games when our human dealers and floor staffs can still do the bulk of the work.

So please...let's adhere to table-game-protection training and not table-game-technological reigning!

New Slot Machine Hacking Scam in Eastern Europe

Bulgarian Slot Cheats Busted

The Russian casino cheats have become famous in recent times for high-tech slot machine scams, but let's not shortchange the rest of the Eastern Europeans!

This time the sophisticated slot-cheat team is out of Bulgaria, a country that continues to produce both highly skilled international casino dealers and supervisors and just as skilled casino cheats. In short, Bulgarian casino people, whichever side of the tables they may be on, are very sharp.

The details of this new high-tech slot scam are sketchy but here's what I know:

Four Bulgarian individuals have been detained in Bulgaria by the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime, which seems to be like a US criminal task force investigating American organized crime. The four Bulgarians, who have not been named at this time, were found to have defrauded casinos and "gaming halls" by hacking into their slot machines to manipulate outcomes and payouts that are said to be "large," although no actual amounts or estimates have been given.

The investigation seems to be somewhat secretive at this time.

The report does say, however, that the four slot cheats devised a very sophisticated program for obtaining remote access to the victimized slot machines. It goes on to say they operated as a coordinated team where each of the four had a particular function. One cheat was showing false play on the machines while another was accessing the codes and meddling with them. A third was responsible for fabricating the devices they used to trick the software.

All in all, it seems like a very professional operation but no details as to how they were caught were given. I am going to guess, however, that an unhappy associate or girlfriend dropped the dime on them.

My take: I can identify very well with their multi-faceted team operation. The best coordinated casino-cheating teams in the world use the same modus operandi where each member is assigned a specific function, much like a military commando operation. Each cog is equally important to the operation, and if one member does not complete his function correctly, the operation falls apart.

I might mention that back in November I was called by a Bulgarian casino who questioned me about a roulette scam where they were sure the cheats were controlling the ball's landing to some degree, but had no idea how. They mentioned they though slot cheats were involved and wanted my opinion, but I told them I could not offer one without actively investigating the case with the video evidence they had. In the end, they didn't want to pay my fee.

But do I think this Bulgarian slot-cheating team had something to do with rigging those Bulgarian roulette wheels?

Most likely not, whether or not there actually was any rigging of those Bulgarian roulette wheels.