Alabama Casino Tries But Fails To Cheat Slot Player Out Of $10 Million Jackpot!

Many casinos have been in the situation that Macon County, Alabama Greyhound Park was in back on May 2nd, 2006. A woman hit the jackpot on one of their machines, but was told by employees that the machine malfunctioned and that she would not be getting paid.

The woman, who was an employee of the casino, decided that she was not going to stand for that kind of nonsense. She sued the casino in hopes that a judge would see her side of the situation.

Now, she has been granted her wish. A circuit judge has ordered that the woman be paid $10 million by Greyhound Park. They will appeal the ruling, but the chances are that the judge has finally stepped up against these lame excuses that casinos use.

This is not the first case in which a person has not gotten paid after winning a jackpot. Casinos all across the world have used the excuse that a machine has malfunctioned, and most of the time they are not held accountable for their actions.

Sherry Knowles sued Greyhound Park back on August 27th and won the case this week. The track (of course) plans on appealing the ruling.

Connecticut Casinos Hit By New Wave of Casino Cheating Scams and Continuation of Old Ones!

Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun, two of the world's biggest moneymaking casinos have been stung again by organized cheat groups, some working with crooked dealers, others working outside cheat scams with lots of skill, balls and cheating devices, and still others working bank and credit scams inside both these casinos. While I was working as a professional casino cheater, Foxwoods was one of my favorite candy stores. Seems that they still offer a plethora of opportunities for organized cheats. And don't forget, the casino busts that I report on are only the cases where the cheats get caught. For every casino cheat nabbed, there are dozens who get away with their scams and earn big money.

Here are the recent new scams and further developments on old ones, as appeared in the Norwich Bulletin:

ANOTHER BACCARAT CHEAT SCAM!

Four New York residents were arrested Saturday morning after police said they used a cheating device at a baccarat table at Mohegan Sun. State police casino unit detectives said the gamblers were at a mini baccarat table using a cheating device to determine the order of the cards in the deck before they were dealt. Surveillance spotted the group acting suspiciously after 5 a.m. I do not yet know exactly what the device was, but as soon as I get more info on it I will pass it along.

The group now face charges of cheating while lawfully gambling, possession of a cheating device, first-degree larceny and first-degree criminal trespass. The following people were arrested and each held on $10,000 bond pending arraignment Monday in Norwich Superior Court: Yuan Chen, 50, of 749 57th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.; Dong Zhong, 45, of 1925 W. Sixth St., Brooklyn, N.Y.; Jim Tong, 41, of 500 E. Houston St., N.Y., N.Y.; and Yu Feng, 37, of 1225 White Plains Road, Bronx, N.Y.

CRAPS CHEAT CAPER WIDENS AT FOXWOODS AND MOHEGAN SUN!

When someone walked up to a craps table at Foxwoods Resort Casino or Mohegan Sun and said “strawberry daiquiri” or “hot chocolate,” the game was on.

The cheating game, according to police.

State police this week arrested the alleged ringleader of a scam in which dealers paid players for late bets and later collected payment for the favors. Richard S. Taylor, 42, of Memphis, Tenn., was charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit cheating at gambling, cheating at gambling and first-degree larceny. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond (a huge bond for a casino cheat crime! Looks like connecticut wants to get tough on casino cheats). A dozen more arrests are expected.

The State Police Casino Unit began investigating in December 2007 after a floor person at Foxwoods notified a manager that a craps dealer was cheating. They initially charged Taylor and dealer Mattie Tarlton. They now say the scheme has widened to include 13 people and that the region's two casinos lost $69,965.

In craps, a fast-moving dice game, players place their chips on certain parts of the table to indicate how they want to bet. Players can also call out their bets to the dealers before the dice land. If the player makes a bet too late, the dealer is supposed to reject it by indicating “no bet.”

In casino lingo, those who cheat at craps by placing bets after the dice have been rolled are called “shot takers.” Police said they interviewed several dealers who admitted to paying the “shot takers” for bad bets, then meeting up with them later to collect payment. Some of the dealers said the scam went on for years.

Taylor recruited dealers and players to participate in the scheme and even colluded with a Foxwoods employee who scheduled craps dealers to ensure that friendly dealers would be working when his crew arrived at a table, according to a lengthy arrest warrant affidavit prepared by state police detective Richard Bedard.

Taylor instructed the dealers that the cheating players would use the code words “strawberry daiquiri” or “hot chocolate” when they approached the table.

The dealers told the detective that Taylor, who is also known as “Mr. Casino,” “Mr. C,” “Shorty” and “Shaft,” was a big tipper who would often place bets “for the dealer” along with his own bets. They said he bragged about cheating at casinos around the country and said he and another man, known as “Big Al,” had “pulled down $110,000” in Las Vegas.

”Mr. C. talked about how they were going to make a movie of them ripping off casinos,” one dealer told the detective.

The dealers described meeting up with Taylor at local hotels and restaurants to collect cash payoffs. Two of the Foxwoods employees said he gave them $1,000 gaming chips from Mohegan Sun, which they immediately cashed in.

Taylor was arrested at New London Superior Court Thursday when he appeared for the initial cheating case. Standing outside the courthouse before he was taken into custody, he denied wrongdoing and said the casino officials are suspicious of him because he always places bets for the dealers. Table games players often tip dealers by placing chips beside their own bets and declaring that they are betting for the dealers.

Taylor said he always calls his bets and that craps is a verbal game. When police interviewed Taylor following his January arrest, he denied running a cheating crew and paying off dealers.

”The bet is all up to the dealer/employee at the table,” he said. “If they think it's a late bet, they don't accept (the) bet. It's all on them.”

Taylor is married with three children and had worked as a truck driver until he suffered a disabling injury, according to his attorney, Martin W. Schoepfer. The attorney argued for a lower bond at Taylor's arraignment, but Judge Susan B. Handy, who signed the arrest warrants in the case, said Taylor appears to be the person most responsible in “an elaborate, long-term scheme to defraud the casinos.”

Stay tuned for more on Connecticut's Casino cheats' "Candy Store!"

Poker Joke of the Month!

Business as usual at the Mirage!

In a 10-20 Hold'em game at the Mirage, a drunk was begining to get out of hand.
"Well that was one pussy-pink river card from you dealer!" he bellowed after missing a flush. The dealer beheld the drunk gravely; "Sir, there is a young lady at the table. If you don't control your language, you will have to leave." On the next hand, the drunk doesn't improve his set on the flop and looses to a straight. "Jesus Christ! Why don't you just light my fucking wallet on fire pinhead!" The dealer was absolutely at his limit; "Sir, I'm telling you for the last time; there is a young lady at the table! Control your language or you will be escorted out of here!" On the following hand, every player in the game wades into the pot. There are raises and caps on every card. In the end, the drunk sucks out an inside straight and wins the 10-20 pot of the month. The drunk looks out over his pile of chips at the dealer and asks, "Do you boys pool your tips together or do you keep them for yourselves?"
The dealer replies "All dealers here keep their own tips." The drunk tosses two green chips at the dealer and says with a grin; "Well have a Goddamn toke on me, motherfucker." The dealer picks up the $50, turns to the young woman and says, "Miss, I'm afraid you'll have to leave the table."

My New "Beat The Heat" Blackjack Card Counting Home-Training Video Is Now Available!

For those of you who want to be the best at professional blackjack card counting and don't have the time or resources to attend my training seminars, the next best thing is purchasing my Home-Training Blackjack Card Counting DVD. Not only will it teach you the best counting methods, it will also train you in the all important facets of card counting such as how to properly obtain chips, set up the casino, camouflage your play and, extremely important, how to cash out your chips without taking heat. Click here for details.

New Complaints About Poker Cheats In Spain And Portugal!

For those of you grinding out a living playing poker in Europe, beware of some poker cheat teams operating in both countries. I have received reports of collusion teams operating with the added skill of switching cards. I have also received complaints about how the poker rooms and tournaments are run, especially in Portugal.

Watch out there when playing in live games and you want to leave. Some casinos don't like it when you leave a shorthanded table--and they might make you leave your chips there until the game breaks up! And if that's not enough, they blind your stack down while you're absent. I find this hard to believe but have received more than a dozen e-mails about it.

In Spain they have similar rules, so you might run into the same problems. You're probably better of sticking to the poker games in the UK and France and points north!

Cheat Weary Italians Legalize Online Poker!

Italy has now become the latest country to legalize online poker, despite the Italian government's concern about online poker cheating. The country had new laws go in effect and yesterday cash games began being played legally throughout the country.

The situation in Italy has been similar to the one in the United States. People were already playing poker online, only now, they will do so without having to worry about the government going after them.

In fact, now that online poker is being regulated in the country, residents can now take comfort in knowing that companies who enter the market must be licensed. That means the Italian government will ensure customer protection against cheating or not getting paid.

Already, two million Italians have been to an online poker site at least once, and that was before the new laws. Now that it has become legal, the popularity of online poker will only grow in the country.

On average, Italian card players spent $881 a year playing poker online. That figure is sure to skyrocket now that players no longer have to worry about negative government intervention.

September Cheat Scam of the Month Posted!

I have posted my September casino and poker cheat scam of the month. This month the scam is chip counterfeiting in casinos, which happens quite often throughout the casino and poker world. To read it click here.

Roulette Tip Of The Day

Is it possible for casino IT gurus to change odds remotely from the back room to cheat unsuspecting players?

Is it possible that some geek in the bowels of a casino basement in Singapore can tinker with your payouts? Sure. With networked machines, satellite transmission and computer programming, absolutely anything is possible. But is it happening? Definitely not, and here's why.

Casinos reap their profits by paying winning slot machine players less than the true odds on their bets. Let me say that again: Every slot machine offered to the player is already mathematically fixed in the casino's favor. Because every coin inserted into their one-armed bandits is operating on this principle, why should they ever bother to fleece you further?

What's more, most casinos are publicly traded companies on the NYSE, and believe me, they are not in the least bit interested in exposing their gaming licenses to loss through any inkling of cheating. There is no more regulated business in America than gaming, with plenty of rules and regulations that would close a casino for defrauding, or appearing to defraud, the public.

Why Do Casinos Change Roulette Balls? Is It To Thwart Cheats?

Ever wonder why casinos change roulette balls so often? Some even change balls after every spin! Is this practice because of cheating?

Actually it is...well, sort of. Most dealers are trained to either speed up or slow down both the wheel and ball delivery to avoid wheel clocking, the practice people (but not cheaters)use to pick up on defective wheels on which the ball lands on certain sections of numbers more than probability would dictate. These are called bias wheels. Some dealers switch balls that jump out of the inner cylinder after spinning, fearing that the ball itself is defective, but the reality is that they just flicked the ball too hard. Some pit bosses believe that a defective roulette ball increases the probability that a roulette biased-wheel team will have success clocking those biased wheels, but I do not believe that to be true, and moreover, what exactly is a defective roulette ball?

Most pit bosses know that no amount of ball changing on a random, non-biased wheel, has anything to do with the outcome of the next spin. Each spin is an independent event, and over the long run, you can plan on playing at 5.26% disadvantage.

High-Profile Player Admits To Being Online Cheat!

Another high-profile professional poker player who also writes a blog has confessed to being an online poker cheat. Well known player (and now cheat) Brian Townsend has admitted to multi-accounting at two prominent online poker rooms, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

In recent years, the discovery of multi-accounting - a practice that is strictly forbidden by PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, as well as every other respectable poker site - has caused several scandals in the online poker industry, according to 4Flush.com.

According to that website, Full Tilt Poker has already handed down punishment to Brian for his iniquitous actions. Townsend has been suspended from Red Pro status at Full Tilt Poker for the next 6 months. PokerStars, usually at the forefront of anti-cheating, on the other hand, has yet to comment on the matter.

Multi- Accounting in online poker rooms has become one of the most popular ways of cheating in recent years. It involves a player registering multiple accounts, often assisted by friends, then he or she will play with all the accounts by him or herself. Multi-accounting can also be done through the use of more than one computer, allowing for the online poker player to have a number of accounts on a single site. This method is often used in order to have a substantial edge in multi-table tournaments.

Townsend, who is from Santa Barbara, California, is largely known for his success playing no limit hold 'em and pot-limit omaha at Full Tilt Poker under the name of 'sbrugby'. He began playing online poker at $0.50/$1.00 blinds but gradually moved up in stakes, eventually becoming a regular player in some of the highest stakes games online. Townsend appeared on season 3 of GSN's High Stakes Poker.

Townsend also appeared on NBC's Poker After Dark and won beating Doyle Brunson heads up. He won the 120,000 thousand cash prize.

He is co-owner and lead instructor for Cardrunners.com, an online instructional website where he posts instructional videos and writes about his daily life and poker experiences in a blog.