What Do I Think of the Casino Scams on the UK BBC TV Show "The Real Hustle"?

To say it in a word: TERRIBLE! None of the three protagonists, Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement, have the slightest casino or poker cheat know-how regardless of what it says in their biographies. Their casino and poker scams, which can all be viewed on YouTube, are all elementary and at times are portrayed with inaccuracies. They have even gone as low as to portray card-counting on one of their episodes, as if we haven't already seen enough of this. Their casino and poker scams lack originality if nothing else.

It appears to me that the show's scams and hustles, are simply written up to suit the characters. However, I must say that some of their pickpocket and beating-restaurant-check scams are entertaining. A funny thing is that The Real Hustle's producers contacted me back in 2007 when they were filming segments of the casino stuff in Las Vegas. They assumed I would be glad to work with them and consult for free. When I told them my TV fee was a mere $1,000 per day, they balked. Then, since I was already in Vegas on another gig, unbeknownst to them, I offered to work for them for $500 a day. They never responded.

The Real Hustle TV Show is also CHEAP!

3-Card Monte Cheat Scams Up Across US

Collegiate spring-break seems to bring waves of 3-Card Monte cheat hustlers literally out of the ocean and onto the strands lining both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In Florida alone, there have been more than fifteen arrests of card cheats hustling vacationers with the scam during the past two weeks. The card scam is also on the rise in inner-city districts across the US, where it of course originated and is prevalent all year round. Police in Florida and California are especially angst over the 3-Card Monte scams because they are often gang related and lead to violence when victims realize they've been cheated or the gang hustlers fight over the profits.

For those of you not familiar with the scam, it's the one where a hustler spreads three cards usually over a box or collapsible table. Using either queens or aces, one is suited red while the other two are suited black. He shows you the cards face-up and then proceeds to turn them face-down and swivel them across the box or table, making it look easy to follow the red queen or ace. He always has confederates working with him who bet and manage to pick out the red card, winning their bets. But when you or another legitimate sucker makes bets (paid at even-money although no one ever wins), the red card manages to disappear.

Avoid this scam because the only thing you might get out of it is a bloody nose...or worse!

Missing Casino Cheat "Big Al" Grossman Brought Back to Connecticut to Face Charges in Foxwoods Craps Cheating Scam!

Source: theday.com

"Big Al" Grossman, who was among the missing last year when an alleged coconspirator went on trial for a craps cheating scam at Foxwoods Resort Casino, made his first appearance Tuesday in the New London courthouse where major crimes are tried.

Allen M. Grossman, 53, is accused of being part of a crew that colluded with casino employees to cheat at craps between November and December 2007. The ringleader of the crew, Richard S. Taylor, was convicted in May 2009 and is serving a 10-year prison sentence. A dozen casino employees were arrested and fired in the scheme.

During Taylor's trial, the state broadcast a casino surveillance video that prosecutors said showed a Foxwoods dealer paying Grossman for late or losing bets. The state police casino unit had obtained a warrant for Grossman's arrest, but Grossman had changed his address and could not be located.

Grosswman was arrested as a fugitive from justice in Nassau County, Long Island, on Jan. 22. He waived extradition to Connecticut. Members of the casino unit brought him back to the state on Feb. 18. He was initially arraigned in the lower level court and ordered held on a $200,000 bond. Judge Susan B. Handy kept the same bond when Grossman appeared before her Tuesday. She appointed attorney John M. Newson as a special public defender and continued the case to May 11.

Grossman, nicknamed "Big Al" by the dealers at Foxwoods, lives up to his moniker, standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 300 pounds. He told state police after his arrest that he had been living in Brooklyn and serving as the manager of a local restaurant called "Mr. Biggs" at the time of his arrest. He is being held at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution in Montville.

My Take: Well, Richard Taylor got 10 years in prison for masterminding this scam. I don't think Big Al will go away that long, but he's probably looking at a year or two behind bars. If he gets locked up in the same prison as Taylor, I have some advice for the rest of the inmates there: Don't get involved in a prison craps game with this pair!!!

Will There Ever Be a Film Based on My Book American Roulette?

This is the question I get asked several times each month. As I say to those e-mailers, unfortunately there are no current plans to make a film based on my book and life story. Naturally, this has been quite disappointing for me. I had always thought that my story was very interesting and especially entertaining, and--objectively--better than the story of the MIT blackjack team that was made into the movie "21." And given the huge financial success of that movie (even though I thought it was pretty bad), I figured for sure that Hollywood producers would be banging down my door to buy the film rights for American Roulette. But it hasn't happened.

Why? Honestly, I am perplexed and have no answers. Maybe, in Hollywood people's eyes, what makes the MIT story so attractive is that the people doing the card counting were college students, while the people doing the cheating in American Roulette were more like "Goodfellows" guys, who I'd think would be absolutely appealing to moviegoers. After all, the movie by that name was hugely succesful and popular.

Maybe one day it will happen. It took Frank W. Abagnale's memoir "Catch Me if You Can" more than twenty years to make it to the big screen as a Steven Spielberg movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. So there is still hope for me and American Roulette as it's only been 6 and a half years since the book came out.

So, all you movie producers out there: the film rights to American Roulette are still available!

Tran Organization Head Phuong Quoc Truong Gets 6 Years in Prison For Masterminding World's Biggest Casino Baccarat Scam!

Actually Phuong Quoc Truong got off light if you ask me. If you compare his sentence to other notable convicted casino and poker cheats responsable for major cheating scams, you'll probably agree. Just take a look at Richard Taylor's case for corrupting dealers at only one casino, Foxwoods in Connecticut, to put down a $100,000 inside Craps scam. He got 10 years for his efforts. But Truong was the brains behind the world's most massive and encompassing casino scam, corrupting dozens of dealers in two countries, victimizing at least 30 casinos and taking down anywhere from $7 million to $20 million, depending on which account of it you read.

Truong will also serve three years of supervised release when he's out of jail, forfeit $2,791,146 in cash as well as homes, property, cars and jewelry, and will make restitution to various casinos in the amount of $5,753,416.

Truong had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, after facing initial charges of conspiracy to organize and run a racketeering enterprise, conspiracy to commit several crimes against the United States, conspiracy to steal and launder money, and conspiracy to steal property from tribal gaming casinos.

Thirty-seven defendants have pleaded guilty in this Tran Organziation case, which makes it the biggest casino conspiracy crime ever busted in the entire world. Most of the casinos targeted were in the Western United States, though some Canadian casinos were also victimized.

To read more about the Tran Organization's false shuffle scam, click here.

Poker News Daily Update on Pitbull Poker Superuser Online Poker Scam

Pokernewsdaily.com has just released this comprehensive article on the Pitbull Poker superuser scam, a smaller version of the giant UltimateBet scam where crooked insiders manipulated the software to see opponents' hole cards.

Article:

Almost nine months have gone by since the Pitbull Poker scandal was blown wide open and to date, justice has yet to be served. The small poker site, formerly part of the Flash Poker Network, was first put under investigation by members of the TwoPlusTwo community. Many of these members suspected the site had players that had access to see hole cards at a table, also known as superusers. During the scandal, the two owners of the site closed up shop in the middle of the night, sticking players with bankrolls at Pitbull Poker.

Poker News Daily caught up with former room manager Dave Brenes, who stated that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and has not heard from either of the owners. As of now, there have been no updates and no resolutions in the matter, leading many to believe that nothing will ever be resolved in the case.

Representatives for Poker News Daily were able to reach the embattled former poker room manager for Pitbull Poker on Thursday. Brenes told PND that he has moved on from Pitbull Poker and is holding down a temporary job while looking for something long-term. To his knowledge, no employees or customers have recovered any funds since the owners closed the company doors and disappeared. Message boards for casino and poker site affiliates confirm that players owed funds through business dealings with the company have yet to be compensated.

Brenes concluded the conversation by stating that he has not heard anything from either of the owners, Kevin Baronowski and another identified in an earlier article as “Justin.” He claims that he is just as much of a victim as anyone else and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His tone was much more upbeat and hopeful now that, in his mind, the controversy is behind him.

The controversy first started back in July 2009, when “chesterboy” from the TwoPlusTwo forums posted that he suspected that there were superusers on Pitbull Poker. Most posts like these are ignored for the most part by the community, but this player was actually a prop player and a respected longtime member of the community. Others stepped forward once he broke his silence and the site was suddenly placed under the microscope of intense scrutiny. While representatives for Pitbull Poker said there were no shady dealings at the site and that they were working to produce hand history files to back up their claims, players demanded their funds en masse.

Pitbull Poker closed its doors in the middle of the night without informing the company's employees. On-site staff called police, who did not stop owners from disconnecting and removing computer equipment. The next day, the poker room was down and all players with account balances were suddenly left in the dark. Scores of players called for justice, with some losing hundreds and others losing tens of thousands of dollars.

Players on the site weren’t the only big losers thanks to the shocking actions of the site's owners. Affiliates stepped up to say that they hadn’t been paid either, with one, “JC Hawk," leading the charge, claiming he was owed well over $100,000 from his poker site NLPT.tv on top of cash investments he made into the site directly. Hawk gathered as many individuals as he could to join his cause and worked with the Costa Rican government to help bring the owners of Pitbull Poker to justice.

Some players, including “chesterboy”, decided that they could no longer be part of the world of online poker. In an announcement on the forums, he stated that he would be leaving poker for good and joining the United States Army. In December, JC Hawk continued to state that he was pursuing legal matters against Baronowski. It was Hawk’s guess that Baronowski had fled Costa Rica and was in hiding in his native homeland of Canada.

Since the turn of the new year, there have been few new developments in the case and at this point, the prospects of affiliates and players recouping any owed funds seems to be low. Many in the industry have claimed that this story is a perfect example of why regulation and legalization of online poker is vital to protect consumers from this type of apparent fraud.

Singapore Resorts World Casino Cheating Becoming More Brash!

One form of casino cheating probably thought of by every single person who has ever entered a casino, both legit gamblers and cheats alike, is simply grabbing up a handful of big denomination casino chips right off a blackjack or craps table and stuffing them in your pocket, and then bolting for the door if someone happens to see you in the act!

Well, Singapore's new Resorts World Sentosa Casino has gotten its first taste of this. Not nearly as professional as my Harley-Davidson grab-the-chips-and-run exploits of 1980s, this 56-year-old fledgling casino cheat in Singapore, Ooi Boon Huat, allegedly pocketed ten $500 chips from a mini-baccarat table belonging to another player.

Ooi told the judge that he wasn't guilty because the player would have lost the chips to the casino anyway! Well, I imagine the judge cracked up upon hearing that, and unless the judge really hates casinos, I don't think he's gonna buy Ooi's excuse. He did tell the casino chip thief, "I know you like to go to the casino but please keep away." That was worth a laugh from me!

In addition to that advice, Ooi faces up to three years in prison.

Any Truth to News of First RFID-Aided Casino Cheat Bust?

Supposedly, and I mean supposedly, a professional roulette pastposting team suffered a cheating bust at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas when a $1,000 chip tagged with an inner RFID chip alerted the dealer to their pastpost move. The way it was to have gone down was that one member of the team, after number 32 came out, slipped the $1,000 chip underneath a $100 on the 3rd-Dozen bet at the bottom of the layout that pays 2 to 1. The cheat team was looking to get paid $2,200 instead of the $200 the original legitimate $100 bet was owed. The dealer was instantly notified of the pastpost when his screen beeped at the sudden late presence of the $1,000 chip, and the roulette team ignorant of RFID technology was caught and its claimer (the person who claims the pastposted bet) arrested.

This was reported to me by three different e-mails from people who are not my sources. The fact that there has been no official documentation or news articles about this "major" incident makes me think it is untrue. I mean, after all, had there been a professional casino cheat team busted because of RFID technologoy, you would think the casino related newswires on the Internet would be buzzing with this, pushed heavily by those in the business of marketing RFID technology to casinos.

In fact, I have not even heard of a roulette team or any of its members being busted at the Wynn in recent times. So, again, I don't believe it happened.

My advice to all you casino cheats out there concerning RFID chips is still the same: Don't worry about them. RFID remains a non-entity as far as casino cheating goes.

Which Online Casino and Poker Portals Can You Trust?

More and more online poker and casino information sites are popping up every day. Among the promises they all make are their effectiveness in steering online poker and casino players to safe online gambling sites where they won't get cheated and where their account information and credit cards and personal information are protected. Of course you expect them all to make these guarantees. But which ones can you trust? How do you pick an online gaming informational portal to give you sound advice as far as poker cheating and casino cheating go, as well as the protection of your personal and credit histories?

Not an easy question to answer. First of all, we don't know the motives of the people operating these portal sites nor do we always know a 100% of their affiliations. If they are affiliated with certain sites, quite naturally they are going to promote those sites as the best online and the safest against cheating and information stealing. I guess the only way to minimize the possibility of taking advice from dishonest poker and casino portals is to stick with the ones that have been online the longest. So before you decide to click onto an online poker room or casino from the pages of informational portals, do a checkup on the portal itself. You can do this simply by searching these sites on any of the "Whois" web pages. You will get all the domain information, physical location, etc. Also check and read through the poker forums on this subject. Then, of course, there are the poker and casino anti-cheat safety ratings on this website.

Does this mean the biggest and oldest the better? Yes, it does, but it does not mean that you are 100% safe taking their advice. It only means that you are most probably receiving the best advice out there as far as honesty is concerned.

Beware of Facebook Poker Cheat Scam!

Source: sportsmedianetwork.com

It seems one of the apparent latest scams going on is for people to open a Facebook account, or an account on a similar social Networking site, and in the guise of being a very well known poker pro. Then the scam begin and when these poker pro players start asking for money transfers between poker sites, or even a small loan, or for you to receive a piece of their winning action. First of all we are under the impression that no legitimate poker pro would ask for money from other online poker players as these matters are held in private and are usually held within a very small group of trusted associates. No matter how legitimate the person appears to be, or how enticing offer they might make to you, make sure you always protect yourself and your precious money. No way should you give anyone person or player instant poker credibility simply because of a name or a picture appears on a social networking site.

How serious has this scam gotten. Well one player reports that he has been friends with no less than twelve (12) Daniel Negreanu’s and another company has reported where the offender posed as the highly respected poker Pro Willie Tann, and other messages from “Mike matusow” in the past about buying a piece of his action in the Sunday Poker Tournaments. All need to keep in mind; it only takes a few minutes and a quick stop at Wikipedia for a person to create a bogus Facebook account. Don’t let yourself be fooled by these scammers. If you want to take a look at a poker site on Facebook look for Poker Host and they are very legit and will answer any and all of your question as they really understand online poker players and the poker community on the Internet.