For those of you who missed this, well known high-stakes poker pro Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern published an open letter on major online poker forums today where he challenged those responsible for the image of the game to take a stand against threats to the public perception of poker’s integrity. The letter, which has generated fairly significant threads on Pocket Fives and 2+2, apparently was sparked largely by an interview Josh ‘JJProdigy’ Field gave to Poker Road. Heck, Iggy even cast an early ‘Post of the Year’ vote for Stern. Field’s live poker debut at the Aussie Millions, along with a string of online tournament scandals this past year, has brought the issue of a level playing field in tournament poker back to the forefront. Obviously, Stern is fed up with all the cheating scandals at online poker sites, and I kind of sympathize with him. Here is what he had to say:
Open letter to the poker community on integrity, and our responsibility as gamblers.
I recently listened to the PokerRoad webcast with JJProdigy, and within minutes felt sick to my stomach. I was genuinely ashamed as a professional poker player that these were my peers. Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok showed a genuine apathy toward JJ’s malicious pattern of cheating at online poker, even sympathy for his situation. Late in the show, Gavin mentioned that he knew of players who stole tournament chips from prelims at the WSOP to save for the ME, and stakers who would confiscate their horses chips for their own tournament, and yet they are still accepted members of the poker community. This is a travesty, and just because there is nothing the tournament directors and casinos are doing about it, does not mean that you Gavin can do nothing. You are a voice for the poker community. OK, you are not exactly the Jay Leno of poker radio, but at least do your part, NAME NAMES.
This is an incredibly fragile time for poker in America, and one thing that is sure to help us, is maintaining a reputation as people with integrity. The old image of card sharks as cheats and liars has been really cleaned up, especially with Travel Channel, ESPN, and every other mainstream and clean representation of poker. People like JJ, who Joe referred to as a “stand up guy for coming on the show,” are the rotten apples that spoil the bunch. Thirty years ago, who would have thought that the stereotypical image of a poker player in 2008 would be 21 year old college kids with silly hoodies and sunglasses, who play most of their poker on the computer? We are no longer the seedy backroom hustlers, we are out in the open, honest, and fair—most of us.
When I play live poker, I often talk to live players and ask them if they play online. Frequently their response is “nah, I don’t trust online poker, I think its rigged.” I used to always assure them that online sites are as safe as Visa or Mastercard, and they have nothing to gain from cheating. Can I really tell them this honestly though? I used to always tell them the mere possibility of being caught is way too much of a risk for the sites, especially when they can earn easy money being legitimate. But is the risk truly too great?
I was at a sports bar the other day, and I have gotten used to the site of poker on the TVs at bars at this point. Something that has not yet been conditioned in my brain though, was the site of AbsolutePoker ads during the commercial. Did ESPN really sign a contract, to show advertisements with a site that was unequivocally caught to have a major cheating flaw in its system? A site which scrambled to cover up the evidence, a site where the major cheaters in question were executives from the company itself? If that contract was signed before the scandal, then so be it, let it run its course. I truly hope though that there is at least one advertising executive at ESPN who remembers his business school course on business ethics. Just like it would be frowned upon to give press to a company known to be corrupt and illegitimate in another field, so too it should be frowned upon for a massive network like ESPN to turn their cheek to any ethical standards. If they were contractually bound before the scandal, then I truly hope that someone at ESPN will end their relationship with Absolute.
Card counters in blackjack, are not cheaters. They are simply people smart enough to discover a flaw in the system. Multiaccounters, colluders, chip dumpers in tournaments, are all cheaters. Yet all these people can roam free in any casino, any tournament area, and feel free from any scrutiny by any tournament or casino bosses. The casinos are brutally efficient in weeding out the card counters, they even keep records with rival casinos about the card counters because it suits both their interests to do so. If someone is caught counting cards at the Bellagio on Monday, do you think he will be able to walk into the Venetian the next week? Fat chance.
Card counters are not cheaters, and yet they are so vigilantly and unequivocally barred from casinos. Yet known cheaters are banned from one site and not the next, or are banned from one tournament and not the next. Why is there no unity amongst the casinos or the sites in this case, but such fervor for unity in the case of card counters? Oh right, money, it’s always about money, and never integrity. Card counters win money from the casinos, multi accounters and cheaters pay rake just like everyone else, they are only stealing from us. This is why the burden is on the PLAYERS to pressure the casinos, the sites, and even TV networks to be harsher about this, and why people like JJProdigy should not feel comfortable enough to sit down face to face with two important figures in the poker community.
I realize I am being optimistic, and perhaps naïve, but what do we have to lose? When users on PokerStars demanded that JJ not be allowed to play at PCA, he was banned. This is a perfect example of what we are capable of if unified in our belief in integrity and honesty. And I call on PokerStars and FullTilt to show the same enthusiasm and dedication to a preservation of integrity that I hope all poker players believe in.
Every day we are getting closer and closer to the possibility of an improvement with regard to UIGEA, and yet far too many of us are sitting here and watching the rotten apples fall right into the basket with the ripe apples. In all my time in poker (a mere four or so years), I have always been told that a gamblers word is everything. Integrity, honesty, ethics, were all virtues in poker that anyone in the community had to have, as it was an integral part of the oil that keeps the poker machine running. I can’t even count the number of times I have made financial deals with trusted poker friends who could easily have run off with five, and even six figure sums of my money or equity, and I would have no way of doing anything about it. Why do I put myself in such situations? Because I know there are certain people in this world that I could hand my whole roll to and say, “hold this for a second,” and in no dimension or situation, would the thought of stealing from me ever occur to them. These are the people that gamblers are supposed to be. That is how our world should work, and how it works when it is at its best.
Make no mistake, multi accounting is not light cheating. It is as heavy a form of cheating as you can have in tournaments. On the radio show JJ said that he rarely, but occasionally did play with one of his own accounts in a tournament. We all probably remember ZeeJustins infamous “open more sit and gos to negate the ethical advantage” line. The fact of the matter, is that it doesn’t matter how many tables there are in the tournament, you will eventually wind up at the same table as yourself. Even if you aren’t, the mere presence of two accounts in the same tournament is a travesty.
Perhaps one of the only moments where there was a hard question, was when Joe (or possibly Gavin) asked JJ why he wouldn’t give the money he won cheating to charity, and JJ had no answer. Why not Josh? Why is it so difficult to come to terms with the fact that you are in possession of illegitimate funds? The money is yours in name, but we both know most of it does not belong to you. And how dare you have the audacity not to think it a responsibility as a demonstration of repentance and of reform, that you must give up your illicit funds. What kind of apology of “I am sorry, I stole your money,” ends in “but I am going to keep it, sorry.” As long as you keep your million dollar savings account, or whatever it is, you are still no better than bank robber to me.
Shame on both Gavin and Joe for saying that Greg Raymer was out of line for the following quote: “It is obvious to me that he has no real remorse. If he’s at my table in a live event, I’ll gladly out him to the table, and point out that we all need to be alert because this guy is willing to cheat anytime he thinks he won’t be caught.”
Out of line? I only hope that every WSOP winner, as an ambassador for poker is so morally and ethically conscious as Greg. I applaud you Greg, as being a person who can shape and alter this little world of ours, showing integrity and class first, and greed and ignorance last. JJ responded by saying that Greg doesn’t know him, and thus should not pass judgment. You are in no place to say who is right and who is wrong to pass judgment in this community. Once you have shown such a clear breach of ethics and integrity in this business, the worst should be assumed. I am friends with several people who know JJ well and they all say he is a good kid who is trustworthy (aside from cheating). I have no doubt this is true, but to expect that you won’t be bashed and labeled as a cheater, after being basically the biggest cheater at online tournaments, in the history of the game, are you serious?
Amanda Leatherman almost always does a good job as a representative for poker in her interviews. She isn’t the most knowledgeable about the game, but she gets the job done and is generally on point. But take a step back for a moment please, the next time you are about to interview the Jesse James of online poker, do not sugar coat the questions and smile at him like you smile at Daniel Negreanu. He does not deserve those smiles, he does not deserve the “how are you” introduction. By breaking that code that we as gamblers almost… ALMOST unanimously follow of morals and ethics, he loses the right to get treated like everyone else. People should not ask him, how are you, they should ask him, why the **** are you in this room, why are you flying to poker tournaments, crawl back under the hole you crawled out of, and stay there because you are not one of us.
Gavin, do not let JJ of the hook either, by telling us how much other people have done it. Mob mentality exists because people feel that when in the presence of their peers, their responsibility is deflected from them to the rest of the group. Do not let JJ become one of the group, because no, not everyone did or does it. I have never multiaccounted. Not when I was 16, 18, or now that I am 21.
JJ, you said you have changed your beliefs because you realize you are no longer a child, and you are becoming an adult. If you want to be a man, then act like one. Criminals who confess and agree to give information for a free pass do just that, they give information. Saying “I am sorry” is meaningless without action. Give the money to charity, name names of other cheaters, tell us exactly how to catch people like you, and show a general commitment to ethics and moral values which are expected of you, and you will be forgiven with time.
The only chance we have as poker players of keeping our game clean, is a complete and utter revulsion and rejection of cheaters. Casinos and poker sites need to start working together to develop black lists and suspected cheaters. Sites say they do everything they can, but they do not. If someone is banned from one site for cheating, they should then be banned from every card room in the world, and every other site. This is possible, entirely possible, and it would put a MAJOR damper on the willingness of cheaters to cheat. Let’s face it, JJ cheated because he was “underground” anyway, and there would be no repercussions in the long run. If cheaters know the punishment will fit the crime, they won’t cheat anymore.
I do not know what I can expect to accomplish with this, but at least I will go to bed knowing I did my best. I plan to play this game for a little while longer, and I am concerned for its legitimacy knowing that cheaters can sit with the peers they cheated money from, and smile and joke about someone calling them out for their actions.
I am well known/connected in the online poker community, but I have no real connection to the bigger names in the live game, I only hope that this gets read by some of the role models and important figures in the live community, because they are the ones who are mainstream and well regarded by the public. Please do not let JJ be an example of what you can do in this world, cheat for 3 years, decide to stop, and carry on normally. Please let his kind know that they are not acceptable.
-Dani Stern
MORE ARRESTS IN INTERNATIONAL BACCARAT SCAM
Casinos have to constantly guard themselves against cheating groups that come in and try to scam money, this week three more people were arrested in an investigation that has gone on for over five years. If you don't remember it, a highly corrupt criminal group of Vietnamese known as the "Tran Organization" bribed pit bosses and dealers in casinos across North America to employ false shuffles in baccarat games. The scam went on for years and may have reaped as much as $30 million. The mayor of Seattle's son, who worked as a pit boss in a Washington State casino, was convicted of a crime for accepting a bribe in this scam.
Last May, seventy seven people were arrested and charged in the scheme.
Now, after further investigation, three more people have been charged in the ongoing case. Two of the people were dealers at Casino Rama in Orillia. The other person charged is a resident of Toronto.
The international casino cheat team had been being investigated for over five years. They allegedly had been cheating at various casinos in several different countries.
Ngan Thi Phuong, 27, Tai Van Duong, 47, and Nguyen Chung, 30, have all been charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offense, and fraud over $5,000. They will be in court at their arraignment on February 26th. Although more people have been arrested, the investigation will continue until police feel they have arrested all the people involved.
We will probably see even more arrests and convictions before this is put to bed.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Cheating on Electronic Poker Tables? / GSN High Stakes Poker Article posted!
What do you think, is it harder or easier to cheat on electronic poker tables than conventional tables in brick and mortar cardrooms? Is it safer for you as an honest player at an electronic table than it is on a conventional one? And how does electronic poker cheating rate versus online poker cheating?
I bet most of you guessed the correct answers. Conventional table cheating wins hands down, mainly because of collusion; online cheating places second, mainly because of collusion and bots, and electronic table cheating gets "show" cheating money and is the safest poker game anywhere when it comes to avoiding being cheated, unless, of course, the electronics are rigged! But assuming they're not, does any cheating happen on these electronic games?
The answer is yes. The most common type of electronic cheating? Well, it's still collusion, but cheaters peeking at opponents' hole cards is not far behind. Collusion play is more difficult on electronic than conventional tables because cheaters do not have the use of actual cards and chips to do their signalling. They have to rely on their own person, meaning parts of their anatomy, whether it be their hands, head, face or any other body part that moves or gestures (not trying to be funny). And this is not limited to visual signals. Cheaters can use their voice, make throat noises, cough, sniff, but hopefully not fart! You wouldn't want to smella pair of aces! (yes, trying to be funny). The point is that just like on conventional poker tables, professional collusion teams employ undetectable methods for signalling their cards, even if they had to work a bit harder to develop them. So to protect yourselves against them, be on the same guard you would at conventional tables.
Peeking at other players' hole cards? Well, it's easy enough to protect them when cupping the hands on the screen to view them, but more players than you would think are lackadaisical about it, especially when drunk. And professional peeking teams employ "spotters" who position themselves behind a table as if they're just watching the "new and fascinating" game, and catch a peek at careless players' hole cards, which they signal to their cohorts somewhere at the table.
But still, your safest poker game in town is in the casino or cardroom that has these electronic tables. Another advantage you have as an honest player playing electronically is that if you naturally give away tells at the conventional table,
these electronic tables will remove many of them because those that are picked up on when you handle chips and cards will be gone. However, Since you can still be seen by your opponent, you can still give off body language that can be evaluated as a tell, but many of your small mannerisms that are used to verify a physiological tell will be missing, even though you won't notice anything is gone.
MY FLUSH MAGAZINE article on the Game Show Network's High Stakes Poker TV show is now posted on the magazine page.
I bet most of you guessed the correct answers. Conventional table cheating wins hands down, mainly because of collusion; online cheating places second, mainly because of collusion and bots, and electronic table cheating gets "show" cheating money and is the safest poker game anywhere when it comes to avoiding being cheated, unless, of course, the electronics are rigged! But assuming they're not, does any cheating happen on these electronic games?
The answer is yes. The most common type of electronic cheating? Well, it's still collusion, but cheaters peeking at opponents' hole cards is not far behind. Collusion play is more difficult on electronic than conventional tables because cheaters do not have the use of actual cards and chips to do their signalling. They have to rely on their own person, meaning parts of their anatomy, whether it be their hands, head, face or any other body part that moves or gestures (not trying to be funny). And this is not limited to visual signals. Cheaters can use their voice, make throat noises, cough, sniff, but hopefully not fart! You wouldn't want to smella pair of aces! (yes, trying to be funny). The point is that just like on conventional poker tables, professional collusion teams employ undetectable methods for signalling their cards, even if they had to work a bit harder to develop them. So to protect yourselves against them, be on the same guard you would at conventional tables.
Peeking at other players' hole cards? Well, it's easy enough to protect them when cupping the hands on the screen to view them, but more players than you would think are lackadaisical about it, especially when drunk. And professional peeking teams employ "spotters" who position themselves behind a table as if they're just watching the "new and fascinating" game, and catch a peek at careless players' hole cards, which they signal to their cohorts somewhere at the table.
But still, your safest poker game in town is in the casino or cardroom that has these electronic tables. Another advantage you have as an honest player playing electronically is that if you naturally give away tells at the conventional table,
these electronic tables will remove many of them because those that are picked up on when you handle chips and cards will be gone. However, Since you can still be seen by your opponent, you can still give off body language that can be evaluated as a tell, but many of your small mannerisms that are used to verify a physiological tell will be missing, even though you won't notice anything is gone.
MY FLUSH MAGAZINE article on the Game Show Network's High Stakes Poker TV show is now posted on the magazine page.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Absolute Poker Scandal News
Absolute Poker Scam
$500,000 dent and back to normal.
That's the final wrap-up to the biggest online poker scam in history. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission laid down its law, fined Absolute five hundred grand, and Absolute accepted it quicker than an eager benefactor posting a check to his favorite charity, and now its back to business as usual. This kind of reminds me of the $500,000 fine Bill Belichick and the likely Super Bowl-bound Patriots had to pay for their on-the-sidelines spying episode against the New York Jets. In another words, a mere bag of shells, and we've all pretty much forgotten about it, and we will all pretty much forget about this to, and in the end, I hate to say it, but Absolute Poker will have the last laugh. This whole thing will most definitely end up increasing Absolute's profit.
Here are the related articles:
ABSOLUTE POKER FINED $500,000 FOR ONLINE INSIDER SCAM
Absolute Poker has accepted the penalties handed down to them in a statement released to the media which said, "After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers."
This came after the full findings of the investigation carried out by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission into the scandal were released on Friday January 11.
The main penalty imposed was a fine of $500,000 US that Absolute Poker must pay within 60 days. Others are that they must foot the bill for the investigation carried out by Gaming Associates, they are required to place a surety with the KGC for two years against future conduct and they must agree to be randomly audited at their own expense. Precautionary measures that have been requested include permanent exclusion of those responsible for the scam and a program to counteract another occurrence.
Absolute Poker went on to reiterate that it has refunded all players that were affected by the security breach and that they have repaired the weaknesses in their systems that allowed it to happen in the first place. They say they have appointed a team "to improve controls and install safeguards."
ABSOLUTE's STATEMENT:
Anna Molley, the Absolute vice president for public and consumer relations.
Absolute Poker (AP) issued the following statement today through Anna Molley, the Absolute Poker vice president for public and consumer relations, in response to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s (KGC) release of its report "In the Matter of Absolute Poker Investigation Regarding Complaints of Cheating."
"When Absolute Poker notified the KGC of the security breach in our system, we had every expectation that the Commission would undertake a comprehensive and fair investigation. After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers.
“The KGC points out that ‘AP has taken the appropriate actions to address the vulnerability in its systems…and to prevent its systems from being compromised again…’ AP has appointed a team of both internal and external members to improve controls and install safeguards, and accepts the audit findings as an opportunity to improve our internal practices and guarantee the safest playing environment in the industry.
"We are pleased that the KGC’s findings of fact point out that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that the impugned activities were initiated or sanctioned by AP…or were intended to benefit AP, as a corporate entity.’ The report also states that ‘AP made expeditious efforts to appropriately reimburse all players…with interest’ who were affected by the cheating.
"The Company also regrets the inadvertent deletion of certain gaming logs and records during the course of the investigation, although AP is relieved that these deletions did not, according to the KGC, ‘prevent the Commission from obtaining sufficient information…’
"Having experienced first-hand the devastating impact of a security breach, we fully appreciate the importance of trust and security for AP itself and the broader industry. A secure site goes to the heart of player confidence, and we are more committed than ever to ensuring that confidence. To that end, we have taken it upon ourselves to convene on January 18, 2008 the first of a series of ‘poker security summits’. AP will invite respected and independent members of the poker community to focus on innovative and cutting-edge ways to further improve AP’s security and enhance its transparency.
"As AP has repeatedly stated in the past, we regret the damage done to our players and to our own reputation by this incident. We acknowledge that the Company did not act with sufficient speed to uncover the fraud; however, once we were convinced of the veracity of the allegations, we moved quickly to inform the KGC and to reimburse affected players. While AP is paying a severe penalty for the fraud perpetrated upon the Company and its customers, we are gratified that we can now close the book on this sordid affair and return our full focus to providing the safest, most secure, and most eenjoyable poker playing experience in the industry."
$500,000 dent and back to normal.
That's the final wrap-up to the biggest online poker scam in history. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission laid down its law, fined Absolute five hundred grand, and Absolute accepted it quicker than an eager benefactor posting a check to his favorite charity, and now its back to business as usual. This kind of reminds me of the $500,000 fine Bill Belichick and the likely Super Bowl-bound Patriots had to pay for their on-the-sidelines spying episode against the New York Jets. In another words, a mere bag of shells, and we've all pretty much forgotten about it, and we will all pretty much forget about this to, and in the end, I hate to say it, but Absolute Poker will have the last laugh. This whole thing will most definitely end up increasing Absolute's profit.
Here are the related articles:
ABSOLUTE POKER FINED $500,000 FOR ONLINE INSIDER SCAM
Absolute Poker has accepted the penalties handed down to them in a statement released to the media which said, "After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers."
This came after the full findings of the investigation carried out by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission into the scandal were released on Friday January 11.
The main penalty imposed was a fine of $500,000 US that Absolute Poker must pay within 60 days. Others are that they must foot the bill for the investigation carried out by Gaming Associates, they are required to place a surety with the KGC for two years against future conduct and they must agree to be randomly audited at their own expense. Precautionary measures that have been requested include permanent exclusion of those responsible for the scam and a program to counteract another occurrence.
Absolute Poker went on to reiterate that it has refunded all players that were affected by the security breach and that they have repaired the weaknesses in their systems that allowed it to happen in the first place. They say they have appointed a team "to improve controls and install safeguards."
ABSOLUTE's STATEMENT:
Anna Molley, the Absolute vice president for public and consumer relations.
Absolute Poker (AP) issued the following statement today through Anna Molley, the Absolute Poker vice president for public and consumer relations, in response to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s (KGC) release of its report "In the Matter of Absolute Poker Investigation Regarding Complaints of Cheating."
"When Absolute Poker notified the KGC of the security breach in our system, we had every expectation that the Commission would undertake a comprehensive and fair investigation. After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers.
“The KGC points out that ‘AP has taken the appropriate actions to address the vulnerability in its systems…and to prevent its systems from being compromised again…’ AP has appointed a team of both internal and external members to improve controls and install safeguards, and accepts the audit findings as an opportunity to improve our internal practices and guarantee the safest playing environment in the industry.
"We are pleased that the KGC’s findings of fact point out that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that the impugned activities were initiated or sanctioned by AP…or were intended to benefit AP, as a corporate entity.’ The report also states that ‘AP made expeditious efforts to appropriately reimburse all players…with interest’ who were affected by the cheating.
"The Company also regrets the inadvertent deletion of certain gaming logs and records during the course of the investigation, although AP is relieved that these deletions did not, according to the KGC, ‘prevent the Commission from obtaining sufficient information…’
"Having experienced first-hand the devastating impact of a security breach, we fully appreciate the importance of trust and security for AP itself and the broader industry. A secure site goes to the heart of player confidence, and we are more committed than ever to ensuring that confidence. To that end, we have taken it upon ourselves to convene on January 18, 2008 the first of a series of ‘poker security summits’. AP will invite respected and independent members of the poker community to focus on innovative and cutting-edge ways to further improve AP’s security and enhance its transparency.
"As AP has repeatedly stated in the past, we regret the damage done to our players and to our own reputation by this incident. We acknowledge that the Company did not act with sufficient speed to uncover the fraud; however, once we were convinced of the veracity of the allegations, we moved quickly to inform the KGC and to reimburse affected players. While AP is paying a severe penalty for the fraud perpetrated upon the Company and its customers, we are gratified that we can now close the book on this sordid affair and return our full focus to providing the safest, most secure, and most eenjoyable poker playing experience in the industry."
Monday, January 14, 2008
GSN's High Stakes Poker TV Show is a bunch of bull! / World Game Protection Conference
Here's an article I wrote on the GSN's High Stakes Poker TV show that has come out today in the UK's Flush Magazine. The PDF spread on it will be posted to my magazine page tomorrow.
IS THE GAME SHOW NETWORK’S TV SHOW HIGH STAKES POKER REALLY HIGH STAKES POKER?
I will tell you this much: the show is certainly high stakes but does that high stakes really have anything to do with all those big-denomination chips and bundles of cash we constantly see lumped into huge pots in the middle of the table? Well, that’s a matter of opinion, and my opinion is to say that somebody participating in that TV show is really making us the “boobs” when referring to television as the boob tube. Whether it’s the network, the show’s producers, the players, or some combination thereof, something is going on that does not meet the eye, or I should say the camera. What am I saying—that the show is a fraud? Well, not really. There is some high-stakes stuff going on, but it’s not about the no-limit hold’em games you’re watching. What it is about is ratings-boosting for the network, Web traffic increases for You Tube and exposure for the poker players who get more launching pads for their books, blogs, appearances and endorsement contracts. In short, High Stakes Poker is a myriad of TV and Internet buzz that spreads across the world enriching those directly involved in it.
What prompted me to write this article? Simply an e-mail from a suspicious person in the UK. He asked me if I thought the poker action portrayed on the show was real. “Were Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Sammy Farha and the rest of them really risking all those hundreds of thousands of US dollars against one another?” he wrote. Before I answer that directly, let me go back to the opening page of my controversial book Dirty Poker, which was released in the spring of 2005. On that page I took a sideways look at another huge poker entertainment package. This one was Fox Sports Net’s mega-poker tournament, which that mega-American network hyped as the biggest tournament in the history of the world. For those of you who don’t recall this, it was slated to take place on July 12, 2006, and be hosted by Mansion Poker. It was called the richest poker event ever and was to be broadcast live around the world. It was to feature six famous players, each of whom would put up $10 million of their own money to win the $60 million winner-take-all-jackpot. In other words, a $60 million freezeout! Two big-time players’ names were mentioned as being among the six to put up the ten mil and take part: Phil Ivey and Joseph Hachem, the winner of the main event at the 2005 World Series of Poker. And if all that wasn’t enough, Fox Sports Net promised us a repetition of the mega-event in 2007, with a $75 million jackpot, and then yet another in 2008 with a $100 million jackpot!
When I heard all this, I had lots to say. As Dirty Poker was released three months before the mega-event was to be held, the timing for my critique could not have been better. I basically begged Fox Sports Net to give me a break. Come on, I wrote, if this isn’t a prearranged hype of mega-crap to boost Fox’s ratings while showing off the players, what is? First of all, what poker player in his right mind would legitimately put up $10 million to win $60 million against true odds of five to one? There’s no value in it. Pro players only take the action when they have the best of it, and against players of roughly the same skills, there is no best of it. Secondly, what poker player even has $10 million cash, and if any do, then how many could afford to burn a spare $10 million? No, I reasoned on the page, this was simply a mega-collusion between Hollywood and Las Vegas, where the six famous poker players became bankable movie stars for their “roles.” The network in turn reaps millions in advertising revenues and a huge boost in its ratings. What better way to perpetuate the Hollywood glamour that had already come to the poker world through the ex-movie star Jennifer Tilly’s victory at the 2005 WSOP Ladies’ Championship? And finally, I wrote, “And we will have to suffer this again in 2007 when the jackpot shoots to $75 million...And again in 2008 when it rockets to $100 million...Just a matter of time until they make it a billion!”
When my book hit the stores I immediately received a lot of criticism from the poker world. Those wishing to avoid any tainting of it were quick to dismiss me as a raving poker-conspiracy nut job. But the truth was that I was a threat to the pockets of a lot of people in the industry, people making millions on the proliferation of poker as a mainstream entertainment event. Then a funny thing happened. Out of nowhere, Fox Sports Net and Mansion Poker announced that their mega-poker tournament in conjunction with each other was being cancelled. Suddenly like a sour bomb dropping on a cornfield, this soon to be billion-dollar tournament was not to be at all. Coincidence? Well, I honestly don’t know, but maybe one of the organizers got wind of my book and suggested to another organizer that maybe the public won’t go for this “blockbuster event” after all.
So that blew away only to make way for GSN’s High Stakes Poker. Now we see a dozen of today’s brightest poker stars rushing to ante up a $500,000 buy-in and throw $10,000 packets of cash into huge pots as Gabe Kaplan gets to revive his long moribund career as the poker “color man” describing the intensity and strategic maneuvering that we all just have to know about. “Come on, gimme a break, Gabe!” I said aloud to myself as my eyes took in Daniel Negreanu’s stacks of $100 bills chasing those of Gus Hansen, and then Sammy Farha and Barry Greenstein lancing their monetary bricks like medieval warriors did their swords. And of course everyone at the table is constantly laughing and buddy-buddying up with one another. I wondered in amazement how the public could go for this. How can intelligent people really believe that these guys are really risking hundreds of thousands of dollars without having any significant edge? After all, the difference in skill-level at high-stakes poker between any of these top pros is minimal, and for those who argue that it’s not, it is still not enough to warrant risking that type of money. So why would these players risk such large sums of money against one another when they could simply go play in high-limit games in Vegas and California where there is an ample supply of suckers with the same big money. Aren’t pros like these better off going up against well-heeled amateurs with huge bankrolls who think they’re pros?
Another thing I can tell you is that pros like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein would not need to play another hand of high-stakes poker in their lives to continue living them in style with all the money they could ever need. So why would they risk it? Are they gamblers at heart? Well, they’re not supposed to be; they’re professional poker players governed only by true odds. So, then, is there a reason to their collective advantage to keep playing for so much money on television? You bet. It’s all about promotion. These top pros can make much more money promoting themselves to the public and the media and attaching their names and images with handsome contracts to online poker sites than they could ever make playing high-stakes poker. And add to that their bestselling books, poker boot camps, appearances and everything else not related to playing that they do to earn large sums of money. Nobody can dispute these facts. But in order to keep their names in the limelight they have to keep playing high-stakes poker—or at least give the image they’re playing high-stakes poker. So, let’s say for a moment that I am not a strung-out poker conspiracy theorist and that maybe I am exposing a realistic scenario. What would that scenario be?
Try this: Within the body of GSN’s high-stakes poker players there is an unspoken law, call it the high-stakes poker players’ “Omerta,” similar to that infamous Italian Mafia code of silence that for centuries prevented the truth from ever getting out. What would high-stakes Omerta be amongst the players? Simply this: Let’s give ’em a good show for their advertising dollars and then we’ll give each of us our money back after the show is over. This way we make the world think we’re playing for cash millions, get all this exposure and reap all the benefits (including whatever deals they have with GSN) without risking the loss of as much as a wooden nickel. See what I mean? Isn’t this more believable than Daniel Negreanu’s losing $300,000 in a single pot against Gus Hansen? Isn’t it more believable than any of these guys (or women like Jennifer Harman) repeatedly risking their bankrolls against players of equal or better caliber? And ultimately, can all these players really afford these kinds of losses? I tend to doubt it.
What about the non-poker pros in these TV lineups, people like Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers owner, Dr. Amir Nasseri, a Las Vegas physician, and the Chicago restaurant owner, Fred Chamanara? What do they have to gain if they’re not looking to enhance their poker stature and possible endorsement contracts? Maybe nothing, and maybe they are not even involved in whatever is really going on in the show. Perhaps these wealthy gentlemen are in it for other reasons and don’t care what’s going on between the pro players. Maybe it’s their egos on display, who knows? But as they are small in numbers they don’t have much effect on the games and are never a significant threat to the best pro players at these “high-stakes” tables. And even if they have the same suspicions I do, perhaps they don’t care.
So, is the GSN going to discontinue this hugely popular poker show because of my innuendos? No way, Jose! It’s too established and too hugely popular. But getting them to axe the show is hardly my motive. High Stakes Poker is, before anything else, great entertainment, especially if you love watching big-time poker, or the simulation of big-time poker. But remember one thing: just like everything else in this world, don’t believe everything you see and hear.
TOMORROW: IS THE WORLD GAME PROTECTION CONFERENCE IN LAS VEGAS WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN PROTECTION?
IS THE GAME SHOW NETWORK’S TV SHOW HIGH STAKES POKER REALLY HIGH STAKES POKER?
I will tell you this much: the show is certainly high stakes but does that high stakes really have anything to do with all those big-denomination chips and bundles of cash we constantly see lumped into huge pots in the middle of the table? Well, that’s a matter of opinion, and my opinion is to say that somebody participating in that TV show is really making us the “boobs” when referring to television as the boob tube. Whether it’s the network, the show’s producers, the players, or some combination thereof, something is going on that does not meet the eye, or I should say the camera. What am I saying—that the show is a fraud? Well, not really. There is some high-stakes stuff going on, but it’s not about the no-limit hold’em games you’re watching. What it is about is ratings-boosting for the network, Web traffic increases for You Tube and exposure for the poker players who get more launching pads for their books, blogs, appearances and endorsement contracts. In short, High Stakes Poker is a myriad of TV and Internet buzz that spreads across the world enriching those directly involved in it.
What prompted me to write this article? Simply an e-mail from a suspicious person in the UK. He asked me if I thought the poker action portrayed on the show was real. “Were Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Sammy Farha and the rest of them really risking all those hundreds of thousands of US dollars against one another?” he wrote. Before I answer that directly, let me go back to the opening page of my controversial book Dirty Poker, which was released in the spring of 2005. On that page I took a sideways look at another huge poker entertainment package. This one was Fox Sports Net’s mega-poker tournament, which that mega-American network hyped as the biggest tournament in the history of the world. For those of you who don’t recall this, it was slated to take place on July 12, 2006, and be hosted by Mansion Poker. It was called the richest poker event ever and was to be broadcast live around the world. It was to feature six famous players, each of whom would put up $10 million of their own money to win the $60 million winner-take-all-jackpot. In other words, a $60 million freezeout! Two big-time players’ names were mentioned as being among the six to put up the ten mil and take part: Phil Ivey and Joseph Hachem, the winner of the main event at the 2005 World Series of Poker. And if all that wasn’t enough, Fox Sports Net promised us a repetition of the mega-event in 2007, with a $75 million jackpot, and then yet another in 2008 with a $100 million jackpot!
When I heard all this, I had lots to say. As Dirty Poker was released three months before the mega-event was to be held, the timing for my critique could not have been better. I basically begged Fox Sports Net to give me a break. Come on, I wrote, if this isn’t a prearranged hype of mega-crap to boost Fox’s ratings while showing off the players, what is? First of all, what poker player in his right mind would legitimately put up $10 million to win $60 million against true odds of five to one? There’s no value in it. Pro players only take the action when they have the best of it, and against players of roughly the same skills, there is no best of it. Secondly, what poker player even has $10 million cash, and if any do, then how many could afford to burn a spare $10 million? No, I reasoned on the page, this was simply a mega-collusion between Hollywood and Las Vegas, where the six famous poker players became bankable movie stars for their “roles.” The network in turn reaps millions in advertising revenues and a huge boost in its ratings. What better way to perpetuate the Hollywood glamour that had already come to the poker world through the ex-movie star Jennifer Tilly’s victory at the 2005 WSOP Ladies’ Championship? And finally, I wrote, “And we will have to suffer this again in 2007 when the jackpot shoots to $75 million...And again in 2008 when it rockets to $100 million...Just a matter of time until they make it a billion!”
When my book hit the stores I immediately received a lot of criticism from the poker world. Those wishing to avoid any tainting of it were quick to dismiss me as a raving poker-conspiracy nut job. But the truth was that I was a threat to the pockets of a lot of people in the industry, people making millions on the proliferation of poker as a mainstream entertainment event. Then a funny thing happened. Out of nowhere, Fox Sports Net and Mansion Poker announced that their mega-poker tournament in conjunction with each other was being cancelled. Suddenly like a sour bomb dropping on a cornfield, this soon to be billion-dollar tournament was not to be at all. Coincidence? Well, I honestly don’t know, but maybe one of the organizers got wind of my book and suggested to another organizer that maybe the public won’t go for this “blockbuster event” after all.
So that blew away only to make way for GSN’s High Stakes Poker. Now we see a dozen of today’s brightest poker stars rushing to ante up a $500,000 buy-in and throw $10,000 packets of cash into huge pots as Gabe Kaplan gets to revive his long moribund career as the poker “color man” describing the intensity and strategic maneuvering that we all just have to know about. “Come on, gimme a break, Gabe!” I said aloud to myself as my eyes took in Daniel Negreanu’s stacks of $100 bills chasing those of Gus Hansen, and then Sammy Farha and Barry Greenstein lancing their monetary bricks like medieval warriors did their swords. And of course everyone at the table is constantly laughing and buddy-buddying up with one another. I wondered in amazement how the public could go for this. How can intelligent people really believe that these guys are really risking hundreds of thousands of dollars without having any significant edge? After all, the difference in skill-level at high-stakes poker between any of these top pros is minimal, and for those who argue that it’s not, it is still not enough to warrant risking that type of money. So why would these players risk such large sums of money against one another when they could simply go play in high-limit games in Vegas and California where there is an ample supply of suckers with the same big money. Aren’t pros like these better off going up against well-heeled amateurs with huge bankrolls who think they’re pros?
Another thing I can tell you is that pros like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein would not need to play another hand of high-stakes poker in their lives to continue living them in style with all the money they could ever need. So why would they risk it? Are they gamblers at heart? Well, they’re not supposed to be; they’re professional poker players governed only by true odds. So, then, is there a reason to their collective advantage to keep playing for so much money on television? You bet. It’s all about promotion. These top pros can make much more money promoting themselves to the public and the media and attaching their names and images with handsome contracts to online poker sites than they could ever make playing high-stakes poker. And add to that their bestselling books, poker boot camps, appearances and everything else not related to playing that they do to earn large sums of money. Nobody can dispute these facts. But in order to keep their names in the limelight they have to keep playing high-stakes poker—or at least give the image they’re playing high-stakes poker. So, let’s say for a moment that I am not a strung-out poker conspiracy theorist and that maybe I am exposing a realistic scenario. What would that scenario be?
Try this: Within the body of GSN’s high-stakes poker players there is an unspoken law, call it the high-stakes poker players’ “Omerta,” similar to that infamous Italian Mafia code of silence that for centuries prevented the truth from ever getting out. What would high-stakes Omerta be amongst the players? Simply this: Let’s give ’em a good show for their advertising dollars and then we’ll give each of us our money back after the show is over. This way we make the world think we’re playing for cash millions, get all this exposure and reap all the benefits (including whatever deals they have with GSN) without risking the loss of as much as a wooden nickel. See what I mean? Isn’t this more believable than Daniel Negreanu’s losing $300,000 in a single pot against Gus Hansen? Isn’t it more believable than any of these guys (or women like Jennifer Harman) repeatedly risking their bankrolls against players of equal or better caliber? And ultimately, can all these players really afford these kinds of losses? I tend to doubt it.
What about the non-poker pros in these TV lineups, people like Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers owner, Dr. Amir Nasseri, a Las Vegas physician, and the Chicago restaurant owner, Fred Chamanara? What do they have to gain if they’re not looking to enhance their poker stature and possible endorsement contracts? Maybe nothing, and maybe they are not even involved in whatever is really going on in the show. Perhaps these wealthy gentlemen are in it for other reasons and don’t care what’s going on between the pro players. Maybe it’s their egos on display, who knows? But as they are small in numbers they don’t have much effect on the games and are never a significant threat to the best pro players at these “high-stakes” tables. And even if they have the same suspicions I do, perhaps they don’t care.
So, is the GSN going to discontinue this hugely popular poker show because of my innuendos? No way, Jose! It’s too established and too hugely popular. But getting them to axe the show is hardly my motive. High Stakes Poker is, before anything else, great entertainment, especially if you love watching big-time poker, or the simulation of big-time poker. But remember one thing: just like everything else in this world, don’t believe everything you see and hear.
TOMORROW: IS THE WORLD GAME PROTECTION CONFERENCE IN LAS VEGAS WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN PROTECTION?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Why'd I Really Quit? / Monday Controversial Flush Magazine Article!
Ever since I wrote American Roulette, my memoirs about my twenty-five year cheating career, and then joined the force of game protection consultants speaking at conferences and conducting training seminars, people always ask me why I gave up the cheating career, I mean why I really gave it up. Was it because I made so much money I didn’t need any more? Was it fear that I’d finally get caught and go to prison? Was it because I finally got sick and tired of it? Was I too old? Was I finally deterred by my fear of flying? Or was I enlightened by a sudden revelation that I was suffering from a morality dilemma: did I suddenly, or over the years grow to feel bad about being a cheater and criminal?
This question when put to me merits a unique answer in comparison to other ex-cheaters who have come clean. The main reason for that is virtually all of them had been forced to abandon their cheating careers without ever having to think about it, and for a very simple reason: they got caught, arrested and sentenced. Any further misadventures on the smooth green-felt playing field would have led to worse misadventures in the much rougher and colorless prison yard. So, in my opinion, when you ask the majority of ex-casino cheats why they gave it up, most of their answers claiming repentance, change of attitude, having been born again and meeting that special person who positively influenced their lives are usually tainted. Conversely, my decision was not the result of a career suddenly cut short but rather a choice to retire much like a professional athlete or politician. In spite of that, however, I would have to examine several factors to arrive at the equation that turned me from bad to good.
So, did I make that much money I didn’t need any more? Well, first of all, my ex-wife got half of it, my ex-girlfriend half of what was left, and fortunately there is no current girlfriend or I’d probably be back living with the winos underneath an overpass like I did in Vegas thirty years ago. But really, even if I did have that much money, is that ever a reason to quit? Does Donald Trump continue building skyscrapers, condos and casinos bearing his name because he needs more money? Hardly. I think you can say more or less the same for any billionaire, certainly those involved in the casino industry. If money were the sole motivating element to embark on or continue a booming career, I don’t think Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn would be racing around the globe building casino megaresorts on several continents. So, no, my giving it up had nothing really to do with money. In fact, after the first few years of it (I did it for twenty-five), it wasn’t even about the money. I had given up my own degenerate gambling habits and come to enjoy what I was doing. I considered my genre of casino cheating as an art. I especially looked at four-man-team roulette moves as choreographed performances. The one thing I never did look at cheating casinos as was committing a real crime. After all, could casinos be considered victims? Would anyone feel sorry for them? Wasn’t the cliché “casinos are licensed thieves” my own license to steal from them?
Obviously, I was overlooking things. Of course what I did was criminal. Of course casinos were real victims, and whether or not people felt sorry for them being ripped off is not relevant. I was guilty on every front. But at the time, and probably in some measure of similarity concerning motive when it comes to Trump, Adelson and Wynn, I was propelled by my ego. I wanted to succeed against the odds. I wanted to be the David against the mighty casino Goliath. I loved pitting myself against all that ominous high-tech surveillance equipment. I couldn’t get enough of out-smarting all of it. Another head trip of course was beating the bosses, surveillance departments, Griffin Investigations agents and the agents from Nevada’s and every other jurisdiction’s Gaming Enforcement Division. In short, I wanted to be the best casino cheater of all-time.
Did this attitude of mine ever change? No. When Michael Jordan was asked if he considered himself the best basketball player of all-time, he responded, “I like to think I was the best at what I did.” Same thing goes for me. I do believe I was the best casino cheater ever and surely don’t mind saying so. When asked if I have any regrets, those about being sorry for being a cheater and thus a criminal, I would be full of crap if I said I did. Of course I don’t. And I really don’t think any reformed longtime cheater is truly sorry for cheating casinos. Criminals who have committed crimes against a person, that’s something different; expressed regret is often genuine there. But when it comes to crimes against a casino or those against corporations or even those against public trust, i.e. athletes on steroids and corrupted politicians, are we really to fall for all those tearful apologies about “letting my fans and constituents down?” Should we really think that those who perpetrated vast financial swindles with spoils in the hundreds of millions of dollars are truly sorry once they’re caught? I doubt it. I’d say their apologies are more about rebuilding public images and hoping to reduce possibly long prison sentences.
“So then,” I’m often asked, “why are you suddenly wising up the casinos with all your knowledge? If you don’t regret what you have done and you’re not earning a lot of money (which I’m certainly not), why bother writing these magazine articles and offering your services to train casinos in surveillance and game protection?” The answer to that is rather simple: what else would I do with the rest of my life? The only field in which I have knowledge and something to offer is that of casino cheating and game protection. I had never done anything outside of cheating casinos my entire adult life. It was also a natural progression, the way a retired baseball player becomes a coach or manager. Take someone like Frank W. Abagnale, the infamous turned famous (subject of the film “Catch me if you can”) bank-fraud and identity-theft artist reinvented as a bank-fraud and identity-theft prevention consultant. He went from criminal to author to consultant, just like I’m doing. So then I did not decide to teach casinos what I know and explain how I did what I did and why they are so vulnerable to professional cheaters because I felt remorse for my own illicit campaign against them. I am doing this solely because I have no other viable option to fulfill my time. I am not yet ready to spend the rest of my life in retirement doing nothing, getting fat and going bald. Heck, I’d rather go back to cheating than do nothing. And something that did surprise me is that I actually enjoy teaching casino and surveillance staffs. It really makes me feel good when I see people learning from me, although it has nothing at all to do with guilt.
But what actually did make me stop cheating if it wasn’t a money issue? Was it the fear of getting caught? Even though I always knew how badly Gaming authorities wanted my butt and that if they ever got it I would most likely be facing a maximum prison sentence due to my growing notoriety, I was never worried about it. Those fears had disappeared before I turned twenty-two, and any chances for them to rekindle were quickly quashed by my ego and confidence that my cheating moves were too good to get me busted. Okay then, was I finally getting sick and tired of it? Now we’re starting to hit upon the true reasons for my retirement. The fact of that matter is that cheating casinos as a business is lots of hard work. It’s a grind. There’s neverending travel and the problem is that even if you know where you’re going, you usually don’t know exactly when you’re going or for how long. A scenario of such: let’s say that my team was in Las Vegas working roulette wheels and after several successful moves we had a miss (didn’t get paid) that took heat. Knowing that the word would soon flash across computer screens in Vegas surveillance rooms, we’d have to get out of Dodge. Then say we went to Atlantic City and took heat on the first move there. That would have meant we travelled across the country just to spend a few hours in Atlantic City. Then from there we would fly down to the Bahamas, then island-hop from one Caribbean casino to the next. When the high winter season was over it would be off to Europe, South Africa and Australia. So, yes, after more than two decades of that constant travel, we often felt more worn out than a rock group constantly on tour. In fact, we often jokingly referred to our casino trips as our Magical Mystery Tours.
Did age have anything to do with calling it a day? Well, maybe Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney can continue rocking into their 60s and beyond, but cheating casinos was getting old for me before hitting fifty. So thinking of growing old like a worn casino check certainly had something to do with it. After all, I just couldn’t imagine being a middle-aged casino cheater. Not that I’d lost much of my sprinter’s speed when having to get out of a casino quickly!
Was I really afraid of flying? I don’t know if it’s fear, but I don’t like it at all. Never did, maybe that’s why my first trip to Las Vegas in 1976 from New York was done behind the wheel of my Mustang convertible. But you can’t drive across oceans. Those half-day and better jaunts to Australia and Asia were never my cup of tea. And then there were the occasional air disasters and terrorist incidents, even though I’d quit before 9/11. Still, I thought about such a demise and that would have certainly interfered with my hopes to one day be buried somewhere on the property of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas (read my book). And speaking of global terrorism, I bet lots of you didn’t know that the late Yasser Arafat, ex-Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, once owned a casino on the Gaza Strip. Although all of his casino’s customers were Israelis (Muslims were forbidden to gamble there), some of my partners wanted to give Arafat and his casino a good ol’ American bombing, which as team leader I prudently refused. Had we been caught there, the result might have been worse than an international incident, especially for us!
Although I said before that I never struggled with the morality of being a cheater and had no regrets about cheating casinos, I did have one major regret that perhaps contributed to my retirement. That is by employing a dishonest and criminal means of making a living, I alienated myself from my family and never succeeded in having one of my own. My only marriage could not sustain the lifestyle, and while married I’d always hesitated about having children. Surely a reason for that would be the conflict I would have felt telling them what I did for a living. Can you imagine a kid of mine with his peers discussing what their fathers’ professions were? One might say, “My father’s a doctor,” then another, “Mine’s a lawyer,” then a third, “Mine’s a teacher.” I would cringe thinking of my kid saying, “My dad’s a professional casino cheater.” The only way to avoid that would be to lie. Which I had already done to my ex-father-in-law, who I met for the first time just a week before my wedding. He asked me in front of his daughter (who knew the truth), “Richard, what do you do for a living?” I responded with the lie, “I’m a casino consultant.”
Funny how now it’s the truth.
FLUSH MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
On Monday in the new issue of Flush Magazine in the UK, appears a controversial article I wrote on my opinion of the US Game Show Network's ultra high-rated TV show "High Stakes Poker." In a nutshell, I think it's full of shit!...As a matter of fact, I'm sure of it.
You can either read the magazine or read the article here Monday.
This question when put to me merits a unique answer in comparison to other ex-cheaters who have come clean. The main reason for that is virtually all of them had been forced to abandon their cheating careers without ever having to think about it, and for a very simple reason: they got caught, arrested and sentenced. Any further misadventures on the smooth green-felt playing field would have led to worse misadventures in the much rougher and colorless prison yard. So, in my opinion, when you ask the majority of ex-casino cheats why they gave it up, most of their answers claiming repentance, change of attitude, having been born again and meeting that special person who positively influenced their lives are usually tainted. Conversely, my decision was not the result of a career suddenly cut short but rather a choice to retire much like a professional athlete or politician. In spite of that, however, I would have to examine several factors to arrive at the equation that turned me from bad to good.
So, did I make that much money I didn’t need any more? Well, first of all, my ex-wife got half of it, my ex-girlfriend half of what was left, and fortunately there is no current girlfriend or I’d probably be back living with the winos underneath an overpass like I did in Vegas thirty years ago. But really, even if I did have that much money, is that ever a reason to quit? Does Donald Trump continue building skyscrapers, condos and casinos bearing his name because he needs more money? Hardly. I think you can say more or less the same for any billionaire, certainly those involved in the casino industry. If money were the sole motivating element to embark on or continue a booming career, I don’t think Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn would be racing around the globe building casino megaresorts on several continents. So, no, my giving it up had nothing really to do with money. In fact, after the first few years of it (I did it for twenty-five), it wasn’t even about the money. I had given up my own degenerate gambling habits and come to enjoy what I was doing. I considered my genre of casino cheating as an art. I especially looked at four-man-team roulette moves as choreographed performances. The one thing I never did look at cheating casinos as was committing a real crime. After all, could casinos be considered victims? Would anyone feel sorry for them? Wasn’t the cliché “casinos are licensed thieves” my own license to steal from them?
Obviously, I was overlooking things. Of course what I did was criminal. Of course casinos were real victims, and whether or not people felt sorry for them being ripped off is not relevant. I was guilty on every front. But at the time, and probably in some measure of similarity concerning motive when it comes to Trump, Adelson and Wynn, I was propelled by my ego. I wanted to succeed against the odds. I wanted to be the David against the mighty casino Goliath. I loved pitting myself against all that ominous high-tech surveillance equipment. I couldn’t get enough of out-smarting all of it. Another head trip of course was beating the bosses, surveillance departments, Griffin Investigations agents and the agents from Nevada’s and every other jurisdiction’s Gaming Enforcement Division. In short, I wanted to be the best casino cheater of all-time.
Did this attitude of mine ever change? No. When Michael Jordan was asked if he considered himself the best basketball player of all-time, he responded, “I like to think I was the best at what I did.” Same thing goes for me. I do believe I was the best casino cheater ever and surely don’t mind saying so. When asked if I have any regrets, those about being sorry for being a cheater and thus a criminal, I would be full of crap if I said I did. Of course I don’t. And I really don’t think any reformed longtime cheater is truly sorry for cheating casinos. Criminals who have committed crimes against a person, that’s something different; expressed regret is often genuine there. But when it comes to crimes against a casino or those against corporations or even those against public trust, i.e. athletes on steroids and corrupted politicians, are we really to fall for all those tearful apologies about “letting my fans and constituents down?” Should we really think that those who perpetrated vast financial swindles with spoils in the hundreds of millions of dollars are truly sorry once they’re caught? I doubt it. I’d say their apologies are more about rebuilding public images and hoping to reduce possibly long prison sentences.
“So then,” I’m often asked, “why are you suddenly wising up the casinos with all your knowledge? If you don’t regret what you have done and you’re not earning a lot of money (which I’m certainly not), why bother writing these magazine articles and offering your services to train casinos in surveillance and game protection?” The answer to that is rather simple: what else would I do with the rest of my life? The only field in which I have knowledge and something to offer is that of casino cheating and game protection. I had never done anything outside of cheating casinos my entire adult life. It was also a natural progression, the way a retired baseball player becomes a coach or manager. Take someone like Frank W. Abagnale, the infamous turned famous (subject of the film “Catch me if you can”) bank-fraud and identity-theft artist reinvented as a bank-fraud and identity-theft prevention consultant. He went from criminal to author to consultant, just like I’m doing. So then I did not decide to teach casinos what I know and explain how I did what I did and why they are so vulnerable to professional cheaters because I felt remorse for my own illicit campaign against them. I am doing this solely because I have no other viable option to fulfill my time. I am not yet ready to spend the rest of my life in retirement doing nothing, getting fat and going bald. Heck, I’d rather go back to cheating than do nothing. And something that did surprise me is that I actually enjoy teaching casino and surveillance staffs. It really makes me feel good when I see people learning from me, although it has nothing at all to do with guilt.
But what actually did make me stop cheating if it wasn’t a money issue? Was it the fear of getting caught? Even though I always knew how badly Gaming authorities wanted my butt and that if they ever got it I would most likely be facing a maximum prison sentence due to my growing notoriety, I was never worried about it. Those fears had disappeared before I turned twenty-two, and any chances for them to rekindle were quickly quashed by my ego and confidence that my cheating moves were too good to get me busted. Okay then, was I finally getting sick and tired of it? Now we’re starting to hit upon the true reasons for my retirement. The fact of that matter is that cheating casinos as a business is lots of hard work. It’s a grind. There’s neverending travel and the problem is that even if you know where you’re going, you usually don’t know exactly when you’re going or for how long. A scenario of such: let’s say that my team was in Las Vegas working roulette wheels and after several successful moves we had a miss (didn’t get paid) that took heat. Knowing that the word would soon flash across computer screens in Vegas surveillance rooms, we’d have to get out of Dodge. Then say we went to Atlantic City and took heat on the first move there. That would have meant we travelled across the country just to spend a few hours in Atlantic City. Then from there we would fly down to the Bahamas, then island-hop from one Caribbean casino to the next. When the high winter season was over it would be off to Europe, South Africa and Australia. So, yes, after more than two decades of that constant travel, we often felt more worn out than a rock group constantly on tour. In fact, we often jokingly referred to our casino trips as our Magical Mystery Tours.
Did age have anything to do with calling it a day? Well, maybe Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney can continue rocking into their 60s and beyond, but cheating casinos was getting old for me before hitting fifty. So thinking of growing old like a worn casino check certainly had something to do with it. After all, I just couldn’t imagine being a middle-aged casino cheater. Not that I’d lost much of my sprinter’s speed when having to get out of a casino quickly!
Was I really afraid of flying? I don’t know if it’s fear, but I don’t like it at all. Never did, maybe that’s why my first trip to Las Vegas in 1976 from New York was done behind the wheel of my Mustang convertible. But you can’t drive across oceans. Those half-day and better jaunts to Australia and Asia were never my cup of tea. And then there were the occasional air disasters and terrorist incidents, even though I’d quit before 9/11. Still, I thought about such a demise and that would have certainly interfered with my hopes to one day be buried somewhere on the property of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas (read my book). And speaking of global terrorism, I bet lots of you didn’t know that the late Yasser Arafat, ex-Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, once owned a casino on the Gaza Strip. Although all of his casino’s customers were Israelis (Muslims were forbidden to gamble there), some of my partners wanted to give Arafat and his casino a good ol’ American bombing, which as team leader I prudently refused. Had we been caught there, the result might have been worse than an international incident, especially for us!
Although I said before that I never struggled with the morality of being a cheater and had no regrets about cheating casinos, I did have one major regret that perhaps contributed to my retirement. That is by employing a dishonest and criminal means of making a living, I alienated myself from my family and never succeeded in having one of my own. My only marriage could not sustain the lifestyle, and while married I’d always hesitated about having children. Surely a reason for that would be the conflict I would have felt telling them what I did for a living. Can you imagine a kid of mine with his peers discussing what their fathers’ professions were? One might say, “My father’s a doctor,” then another, “Mine’s a lawyer,” then a third, “Mine’s a teacher.” I would cringe thinking of my kid saying, “My dad’s a professional casino cheater.” The only way to avoid that would be to lie. Which I had already done to my ex-father-in-law, who I met for the first time just a week before my wedding. He asked me in front of his daughter (who knew the truth), “Richard, what do you do for a living?” I responded with the lie, “I’m a casino consultant.”
Funny how now it’s the truth.
FLUSH MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
On Monday in the new issue of Flush Magazine in the UK, appears a controversial article I wrote on my opinion of the US Game Show Network's ultra high-rated TV show "High Stakes Poker." In a nutshell, I think it's full of shit!...As a matter of fact, I'm sure of it.
You can either read the magazine or read the article here Monday.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Another Poker Scam in the Works? / Dutch Magicians Doing Casino Moves!
This time it appears that something is going on at Ultimate Bet. It's getting a lot of chat on the 2+2 forums, so go there and take a look. It's also threaded on Boards i.e. I know you can't take everything you read on these forums seriously, but let's not forget that rumors about the Absolute Poker scam first picked up wind on the forums. If I were a betting man (which I'm not...just a cheating one), I'd say that this suspicious play recorded on Ultimate Bet is indeed the fodder for what is going to be the exposure of yet another online poker scam. This is really getting to be too much! I think someone should start a new online poker room and call it "No Cheating Poker."
DUTCH MAGIC
Many people mistakingly believe that I am a magician or slight of hand artist. This is not at all true. All my casino moves are based on timing, even though there is deception but it's not really slight of hand but rather misdirection. Oftentimes we used certain sequences of bets that created an illusion on roulette and blackjack layouts, in theory similar to what great magicians do.
I do know of some excellent magicians, however, who are at least as capable of doing my moves as me...if not better. Though most of them prefer to entertain rather than pilfer casinos. For some funny reason the best of these talented guys seem to be Dutch. I've heard the adage that Dutchmen are the tallest people on earth, but are they the world's best magicians?
Well, the one I think is the best is named Peter Woerde, and he does some great casino stuff. If you happen to live in the Netherlands or anywhere close and are having a party of the casino variety, or of any other type for that matter, and you want some first-class entertainment, call this guy. Tell him I sent you, but don't put any ideas in his head about going into those Holland Casinos that I loved so much! Here's Peter Woerde's website. Take a peek and check out his moves.
DUTCH MAGIC
Many people mistakingly believe that I am a magician or slight of hand artist. This is not at all true. All my casino moves are based on timing, even though there is deception but it's not really slight of hand but rather misdirection. Oftentimes we used certain sequences of bets that created an illusion on roulette and blackjack layouts, in theory similar to what great magicians do.
I do know of some excellent magicians, however, who are at least as capable of doing my moves as me...if not better. Though most of them prefer to entertain rather than pilfer casinos. For some funny reason the best of these talented guys seem to be Dutch. I've heard the adage that Dutchmen are the tallest people on earth, but are they the world's best magicians?
Well, the one I think is the best is named Peter Woerde, and he does some great casino stuff. If you happen to live in the Netherlands or anywhere close and are having a party of the casino variety, or of any other type for that matter, and you want some first-class entertainment, call this guy. Tell him I sent you, but don't put any ideas in his head about going into those Holland Casinos that I loved so much! Here's Peter Woerde's website. Take a peek and check out his moves.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Cheating Movies and Kevin Spacey's Film "21"
With the upcoming late-March release of 21, Kevin Spacey’s film about the MIT blackjack team that beat Vegas and Atlantic City for (supposedly) millions at blackjack tables, I’ve been asked what I think of this film and could I recommend any other interesting and exciting films about cheating in gambling casinos.
Well, I haven’t seen 21 yet as it’s not coming out until March 28, but I do have a predisposed opinion based on having read the books it’s based on, Bringing Down the House and Breaking Vegas by Ben Mezrich. Firstly, although the books were entertaining and no doubt highly glamorized to lift them from the dull black-on-white pages onto the flashy silver screen, the subject matter is quite unspectacular. It’s the same old blackjack card-counting story that we’ve heard and seen on TV numerous times and that was made famous enough by the legendary card-counter Ken Uston. I happened to meet two of the real MIT blackjack team members recently at the G2E gaming trade show in Las Vegas, and I can assure you that these guys were more than slightly distant from being glamorous and exciting. Although they weren’t entirely nerdy, neither one ever would have had the slightest chance of joining one of my casino cheating teams.
The main problem I have with the script, just as I did with the book’s manuscript, is that the content is very loosely based on fact. Basically what I’m referring to is the amount of money both the book and movie claim these guys won. No way I believe they won a figure in the multimillions. Casinos have been hip to card counting since the late 1970s, and after Uston’s teams did their number on Atlantic City in the early 1980s, casinos were able to spot card counters at twenty tables...by that I mean twenty tables away. This was especially true concerning the very tired counting method known as team play, where big players got signalled into favorable tables by troops of counters. Uston and countless others were doing this about the same time these MIT guys were learning how to walk, so I find it rather difficult to believe that these computer geeks were able to get over on the casinos in such a big way in a really non-computer fashion, as they did not actually use computers in their counting operation. I’d say they were lucky if they made a few hundred grand doing this. But I’m sure the movie will be okay with all the style and spinning glitz, something similar to the “Las Vegas” TV series with James Caan.
Want to see a really good casino cheating movie? No, I’m not talking about mine, at least not yet. My personal cheating favorite is the French movie Les Tricheurs, which means, you guessed it: The Cheaters. This film is about roulette cheating teams in Europe in the early 1970s. One of these teams featured Monique Laurent, the sexy raven-haired beauty in my Cheaters Hall of Fame. Go back to my CHOF page and read about her and the scam, which if you’re unfamiliar with, was one of the greatest scams of all-time and certainly way ahead of its time. The movie can be rented online and it’s surely worth a viewing.
Another good one but harder to find is called the Great Sinner with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. It’ s about a journalist writing about degenerate gamblers in 19th century Europe who becomes one himself and gets sucked into a classy baccarat scam.
If anyone out there knows of other great cheating movies, pass them along and I’ll post them.
Well, I haven’t seen 21 yet as it’s not coming out until March 28, but I do have a predisposed opinion based on having read the books it’s based on, Bringing Down the House and Breaking Vegas by Ben Mezrich. Firstly, although the books were entertaining and no doubt highly glamorized to lift them from the dull black-on-white pages onto the flashy silver screen, the subject matter is quite unspectacular. It’s the same old blackjack card-counting story that we’ve heard and seen on TV numerous times and that was made famous enough by the legendary card-counter Ken Uston. I happened to meet two of the real MIT blackjack team members recently at the G2E gaming trade show in Las Vegas, and I can assure you that these guys were more than slightly distant from being glamorous and exciting. Although they weren’t entirely nerdy, neither one ever would have had the slightest chance of joining one of my casino cheating teams.
The main problem I have with the script, just as I did with the book’s manuscript, is that the content is very loosely based on fact. Basically what I’m referring to is the amount of money both the book and movie claim these guys won. No way I believe they won a figure in the multimillions. Casinos have been hip to card counting since the late 1970s, and after Uston’s teams did their number on Atlantic City in the early 1980s, casinos were able to spot card counters at twenty tables...by that I mean twenty tables away. This was especially true concerning the very tired counting method known as team play, where big players got signalled into favorable tables by troops of counters. Uston and countless others were doing this about the same time these MIT guys were learning how to walk, so I find it rather difficult to believe that these computer geeks were able to get over on the casinos in such a big way in a really non-computer fashion, as they did not actually use computers in their counting operation. I’d say they were lucky if they made a few hundred grand doing this. But I’m sure the movie will be okay with all the style and spinning glitz, something similar to the “Las Vegas” TV series with James Caan.
Want to see a really good casino cheating movie? No, I’m not talking about mine, at least not yet. My personal cheating favorite is the French movie Les Tricheurs, which means, you guessed it: The Cheaters. This film is about roulette cheating teams in Europe in the early 1970s. One of these teams featured Monique Laurent, the sexy raven-haired beauty in my Cheaters Hall of Fame. Go back to my CHOF page and read about her and the scam, which if you’re unfamiliar with, was one of the greatest scams of all-time and certainly way ahead of its time. The movie can be rented online and it’s surely worth a viewing.
Another good one but harder to find is called the Great Sinner with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. It’ s about a journalist writing about degenerate gamblers in 19th century Europe who becomes one himself and gets sucked into a classy baccarat scam.
If anyone out there knows of other great cheating movies, pass them along and I’ll post them.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Well, I really didn't want to address this:
For some reason, this past week I have been getting a bunch of e-mails about the Roger Clemens steroids case. For those of you reading my blog outside the US, I imagine that you still have some familiarity with it. If not, Clemens is a star baseball pitcher who was cited in a steroid report for Major League Baseball to have illegally been injected with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times. The person who gave this information to George Mitchell, the investigating ex-US senator and author of the report bearing his name, is Brian McNamee, who was Clemens' personal athletic and strength trainer back in the late 90s and early 2000s. What has happened since the Mitchell report was released a few weeks ago is that Clemens has steadfastly denied the accusations, saying he never took steroids or human growth hormone in his life, and McNamee, who was under threat of prison for perjury if caught lying to Mitchell's investigators, is sticking to his guns that he injected Roger Clemens no less than 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone. Monday, Clemens sued McNamee for defamation and held a press conference in the furtherance of his denials. Meanwhile, the evidence and public opinion seem to sway in favor of his guilt, with most people on the street saying he is guilty as sin and did indeed take the banned substances.
So why are people e-mailing me with their questions about this? I am just an ex-casino cheater. Why ask me if Roger Clemens is lying or telling the truth? How could I know? One e-mailer wrote, "Seeing how you had to judge certain pit bosses and react to what you heard them say, you would probably know by watching Clemens' face and listening to his speech if he was lying or not."
Gimme a break! I said aloud to myself upon reading that.
True, I had to judge casino personnel in order to determine what the probability was that I would take heat doing a move or two, but that's a long way from trying to determine whether Roger Clemens, who was either telling the truth or lying in a very prepared and organized way with the assistance of his attorney, is guilty or not guilty. And, if you have to know, I wrote back that e-mailer, "Sometimes even I misjudged a pit boss's reaction that I had predicted by simply watching his speaking mannerisms and physical nuances."
So finally I wrote back to another e-mailer that "not only me but also the world's lie-detecting experts, the ones who make their decisions based on their own observations, not those by machine, are only right in about 50% of the cases." Big help I was, right? There are only two 50/50 cases: either he's lying or telling the truth.
What do I really think?
He's lying
So why are people e-mailing me with their questions about this? I am just an ex-casino cheater. Why ask me if Roger Clemens is lying or telling the truth? How could I know? One e-mailer wrote, "Seeing how you had to judge certain pit bosses and react to what you heard them say, you would probably know by watching Clemens' face and listening to his speech if he was lying or not."
Gimme a break! I said aloud to myself upon reading that.
True, I had to judge casino personnel in order to determine what the probability was that I would take heat doing a move or two, but that's a long way from trying to determine whether Roger Clemens, who was either telling the truth or lying in a very prepared and organized way with the assistance of his attorney, is guilty or not guilty. And, if you have to know, I wrote back that e-mailer, "Sometimes even I misjudged a pit boss's reaction that I had predicted by simply watching his speaking mannerisms and physical nuances."
So finally I wrote back to another e-mailer that "not only me but also the world's lie-detecting experts, the ones who make their decisions based on their own observations, not those by machine, are only right in about 50% of the cases." Big help I was, right? There are only two 50/50 cases: either he's lying or telling the truth.
What do I really think?
He's lying
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Pat and Balls' New Year's Eve Tally!
I spoke to my two ex-cheating buddies Pat and Balls New Year's Day. I was just dying to hear how much cash they turned in the casinos New Year's Eve. As I expected, they'd gone to Vegas, and as I also suspected, they hit the wall-to-wall mobbed up casinos with the Savannah and blackjack moves, all with chocolate $5,000 chips. While on the phone with Pat, I kept asking him, "Come on, Johnny (we always call each other Johnny), gimme the number!" How much did you guys make out there?" I wasn't as persistent as Brian McNamee asking Roger Clemens on the phone, "Whaddaya want me to do? Whaddaya want me to do?", but I was dying to know how much they scored. Pat, as was always his custom, just like the way he used to (and I imagine still does) perform his ritual with his wine and Sinatra music preparing to go out and bust the casinos, made me listen to his song and dance before spilling the beans...or I should say chips because he actually rattled a few against the mouthpiece of his hotel suite telephone. Of course he and Balls were ensconced in a $3,000 a night suite, and of course Pat was hungover from his having gotten cocked up the night before to fuel his attack on the casinos. Those of you who've either read my book American Roulette or seen the Breaking Vegas episode about my cheating team know what I mean about Pat's getting-cocked-up sessions.
So Pat said to me on the phone, "Johnny, it was a crusade...I mean massacre. We really killed 'em! They're still falling for Savannah as if she were walkin' through the casinos naked. Johnny, is she really that hot-looking?" Then he laughed.
Savannah is of course not a woman but rather the best casino-cheating move of all time. (Click on the video page to see her in action) And I don't know how "hot-looking" she is but she sure worked good in the casinos, disarming male pit bosses the way any hot babe in a short skirt and pumps would.
"Come on, Johnny," I said, "gimme the number!"
"Johnny," he quipped, "didn't we tell the whole world about Savannah on TV?" He laughed again.
"Yeah, you bet, Johnny, and believe it or not, it's on TV today!"
"I hope the pit bosses watch it," he cracked. "Maybe they'll figure out what hit 'em last night."
I was, like always, just amazed how Savannah keeps dancing in the casinos more than 4 years after I exposed her hidden charms in American Roulette and after all the TV shows where the mechanics of the move were shown and explained, not to mention the numerous gaming seminars where I did demonstrations. It proves again what an unbelievable move she...it is. If a cat has nine lives, Savannah's got ninety!
When Balls got on the phone, he said the same thing about Savannah that he said on the TV show, "It's unbelievable that you can't see that bottom chocolate chip but you can't see that bottom chocolate chip!"
I pressed Balls and he finally gave it up. "We cleared a buck-fifteen," he said with a chuckle.
That means a hundred fifteen grand!
Not bad for a day's work...or should I say an eve's work?
So Pat said to me on the phone, "Johnny, it was a crusade...I mean massacre. We really killed 'em! They're still falling for Savannah as if she were walkin' through the casinos naked. Johnny, is she really that hot-looking?" Then he laughed.
Savannah is of course not a woman but rather the best casino-cheating move of all time. (Click on the video page to see her in action) And I don't know how "hot-looking" she is but she sure worked good in the casinos, disarming male pit bosses the way any hot babe in a short skirt and pumps would.
"Come on, Johnny," I said, "gimme the number!"
"Johnny," he quipped, "didn't we tell the whole world about Savannah on TV?" He laughed again.
"Yeah, you bet, Johnny, and believe it or not, it's on TV today!"
"I hope the pit bosses watch it," he cracked. "Maybe they'll figure out what hit 'em last night."
I was, like always, just amazed how Savannah keeps dancing in the casinos more than 4 years after I exposed her hidden charms in American Roulette and after all the TV shows where the mechanics of the move were shown and explained, not to mention the numerous gaming seminars where I did demonstrations. It proves again what an unbelievable move she...it is. If a cat has nine lives, Savannah's got ninety!
When Balls got on the phone, he said the same thing about Savannah that he said on the TV show, "It's unbelievable that you can't see that bottom chocolate chip but you can't see that bottom chocolate chip!"
I pressed Balls and he finally gave it up. "We cleared a buck-fifteen," he said with a chuckle.
That means a hundred fifteen grand!
Not bad for a day's work...or should I say an eve's work?
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Sign up for my NEW POKER/CASINO CHEATING CONTEST AND WIN CASH!
NO ENTRY FEE!
I have come up with an idea that I think lots of you will love! In order to make this website more than just an entertainment complex and informational portal, and above all, visitor interactive, I will be using this blog for my new POKER/CASINO CHEATING CONTEST in which you can win cash prizes. Each day with my regular blog entry I will post a question related to brick and mortar and online cheating with four multiple choice answers, only one of which is correct. The following day I will post the correct answer along with the next question. The hidden key to this contest is that if you don't know the right answer to any question, it can be found somewhere in the various pages of my website. I will not make finding answers too obvious in order to prevent a relative ease where everyone would score 100%. In some cases you will have to dig deep into the recesses of information in my website, including videos, books and magazine articles, and in other cases even follow links that will take you off my website. It could turn into a kind of treasure hunt, so to speak, so you should have a lot of fun participating!
The contest will start on Thursday, January 24nd, and will last 30 days, with one question every day. Then a new contest will begin on February 24th, and then each successive month. After each five days, I will post the user names of the top scorers in the running for the cash prizes, which shall be paid via Pay Pal or bank check. You will then be able to equate your scores and see if you are in the running. You must send your answers NO LATER THAN 9 P.M. US EST the day the question is posted, which will be at 7 A.M. EST. There will be a contest question seven days per week including holidays.
For the first month the prizes are as follows:
1st place US $300 plus entry into One-Day Super Contest to be held at a later date
2nd place US $150 plus entry into Super Contest
3rd place US $100 plus entry into Super Contest
4th place US $ 75 plus entry into Super Contest
5th place entry into Super Contest
6th place entry into Super Contest
7th place entry into Super Contest
8th place entry into Super Contest
9th place entry into Super Contest
10th place entry into Super Contest
In the event of ties, prize money for each place will be divided equally by those with the same scores, the aggregate prize money distributed not exceeding the specified amounts listed above.
The prize money in the Super Contest will be determined by the amount of people who sign up for the monthly contests.
TO SIGN UP, SIMPLY SEND ME AN E-MAIL AND SPECIFY A USER NAME THAT YOU WANT ME TO USE FOR THE POSTINGS. DO NOT TRY SIGNING UP THROUGH THE BLOG COMMENTS. YOU MUST GO TO THE CONTACT PAGE OF MY WEBSITE IN ORDER TO SIGN UP.
I have come up with an idea that I think lots of you will love! In order to make this website more than just an entertainment complex and informational portal, and above all, visitor interactive, I will be using this blog for my new POKER/CASINO CHEATING CONTEST in which you can win cash prizes. Each day with my regular blog entry I will post a question related to brick and mortar and online cheating with four multiple choice answers, only one of which is correct. The following day I will post the correct answer along with the next question. The hidden key to this contest is that if you don't know the right answer to any question, it can be found somewhere in the various pages of my website. I will not make finding answers too obvious in order to prevent a relative ease where everyone would score 100%. In some cases you will have to dig deep into the recesses of information in my website, including videos, books and magazine articles, and in other cases even follow links that will take you off my website. It could turn into a kind of treasure hunt, so to speak, so you should have a lot of fun participating!
The contest will start on Thursday, January 24nd, and will last 30 days, with one question every day. Then a new contest will begin on February 24th, and then each successive month. After each five days, I will post the user names of the top scorers in the running for the cash prizes, which shall be paid via Pay Pal or bank check. You will then be able to equate your scores and see if you are in the running. You must send your answers NO LATER THAN 9 P.M. US EST the day the question is posted, which will be at 7 A.M. EST. There will be a contest question seven days per week including holidays.
For the first month the prizes are as follows:
1st place US $300 plus entry into One-Day Super Contest to be held at a later date
2nd place US $150 plus entry into Super Contest
3rd place US $100 plus entry into Super Contest
4th place US $ 75 plus entry into Super Contest
5th place entry into Super Contest
6th place entry into Super Contest
7th place entry into Super Contest
8th place entry into Super Contest
9th place entry into Super Contest
10th place entry into Super Contest
In the event of ties, prize money for each place will be divided equally by those with the same scores, the aggregate prize money distributed not exceeding the specified amounts listed above.
The prize money in the Super Contest will be determined by the amount of people who sign up for the monthly contests.
TO SIGN UP, SIMPLY SEND ME AN E-MAIL AND SPECIFY A USER NAME THAT YOU WANT ME TO USE FOR THE POSTINGS. DO NOT TRY SIGNING UP THROUGH THE BLOG COMMENTS. YOU MUST GO TO THE CONTACT PAGE OF MY WEBSITE IN ORDER TO SIGN UP.
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