Is It True That Cheating Has Decreased At The World Series of Poker?

In fact, it is. Why? The main reason is the sheer size of the event. Since professional poker tournament cheating syndicates thrive on collusion cheating at the poker tournaments, they have been taking their poker cheat operations elsewhere, mainly to smaller tournaments on the World Poker Tour and other professional poker tournament circuits.

Actually, cheating at the World Series of Poker has been declining for several years now, ever since the entry fields exploded to several thousand players for the main event as well as other events. Huge fields like those make it more difficult for the collusion cheating syndicates to get one or more of their members to the final table or even down to the last few tables. If they do not get a player or two down very deep in the tournaments, they will not make a profit, and professional poker cheats are not in it to lose money.

Of course other forms of cheating have thriven at the World Series of Poker, mainly chip dumping, chip pass-offs, chip hold-outs, even counterfeit-chip play. All these forms of tournament chip-cheating are implemented to get the poker cheats more chips in their tournament arsenal. But do to some highly publicized WSOP chip-cheating scandals the past few years, these forms of cheating have decreased as well.

Has poker-cheating been on the decrease overall?

NO WAY, JOSE!!!

Dodge City, Kansas Casino Poker Dealers Accused of a New Form of Cheating--Running Illegal Poker Games on the Side!

Leslie Enriquez...Moonlighting?

The Daily Globe interviewed five people Wednesday about their reactions to news that the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission is investigating employees of Boot Hill Casino and Resort. The commission is looking into allegations that the employees were involved in illegal off-site poker games.

About two dozen employees could face suspension or loss of their state licenses, the Associated Press reported last week.

The Racing and Gaming Commission provided few details of the allegations, but spokesman Bill Miskell said most worked at the casino's table games, according to the AP. The employees under investigation will be notified that their licenses, which they need to work at the casino, are under review.

Here are the responses from the Globe interviews:

Q: What was your reaction to the news that the Racing and Gaming Commission is investigating employees of Boot Hill Casino and Resort?

Leslie Enriquez: "They shouldn't be investigated. Why? Everybody does it anyway. Everybody gambles."

Maria Gonzalez: "I think it's good because that way, employees know to be careful when they have people playing there, not cheating."

Frank Alcala: "I think if the people knew it was illegal, it was not a very smart idea to do it."

Pat Heeke: "My initial reaction was, 'How sad. We were the first state-owned destination casino, and now we have a black mark.'"

Patrick Whisennand: "Until the investigation continues and more details are brought out, I can't criticize nor be upset of what is going on."

My Take: Go for it, Leslie! Heck, it's better than cheating your own casino with an inside poker cheat scam.

Why Pastposting and Bet-Capping Will Always Be Number-1 Choice of Casino Cheats

There are hundreds (I will not exaggerate and say "thousands") of ways to cheat gambling casinos. Some are sophisticated such as laser card-marking and the use of digital cameras to spy what are supposed to be unseen cards. Others are simple if not hard to pull off such as mucking cards or switching dice on craps tables. Still others are real easy, mainly pastposting and bet-capping, although the more professional casino cheats applying these methods have to develop considerable skills to make their cheat moves.

But why are bet-capping (simply adding chips to an already winning or very probable winning bet) and pastposting (making an entire bet after a winning outcome is known) the most popular? And why will they always be the most popular methods of cheating gambling casinos? Because in casino cheating theory they are often the first thing all levels of casino cheats think of. What could be more conceptually simple than adding chips to a winning bet and betting when you already have a winner. Add to this that there usually is no equipment involved and that it is usually quite easy to physically do and you have the perfect formula to Casino Cheating 101 through Casino Cheating 1001. As sophisticated as my professional casino-cheat teams were, they were always based on pastposting, bet capping or other types of chip manipulations. Why get involved in laser and digital equipment if you can cheat the casinos for big money using only your brains and your hands (not to mention your balls!) And, of course, by cheating the casino via pastposting or bet-capping you are avoiding the bigger legal problems incurred when getting caught with cheating equipment.

So if you gotta cheat, keep it simple, straight and stupid and whatever else KISS can stand for!

Hall of Fame Craps Cheat Brent Eli Morris Sentenced to 8 to 20 Years in Vegas!

Cheat Hall of Famer Morris

Yep, upon his latest casino cheating conviction, Morris got another stiff sentence. He has already spent a significant time in prison for other casino cheating violations. This guy really has it in his blood!

Article:

Already blacklisted from casinos, Brent Eli Morris was sentenced to eight to 20 years in prison on Monday for cheating at craps.

Morris was arrested Sept. 22 after he was spotted playing craps at Caesars Palace.

A District Court jury convicted the 54-year-old in March of two counts of felony commission of a fraudulent act in a gaming establishment or cheating.

In a separate trial immediately before the sentencing, Judge Jerry Tao found Morris guilty of four gross misdemeanors for entry into a gaming establishment by an excluded person. Tao also ruled Morris was a habitual criminal, a sentencing enhancement under the law that allows for a lengthier prison term.

Prosecutor Rob Stephens said Morris' method of cheating is known as "past post betting," meaning that after the dice had rolled, he slipped chips into winning areas on the table.

Morris was placed in the infamous Black Book, also known as the List of Excluded Persons, by the Nevada Gaming Commission in February 1994 after he served several years in the Southern Nevada Correctional Center at Indian Springs for cheating at a Lake Tahoe casino in 1989.

In September, Caesars Palace surveillance personnel alerted the Gaming Control Board's enforcement division that a person who looked like Morris was seen playing craps inside the casino.

Morris had reportedly been seen playing craps on Sept. 17 at the Excalibur.

When Morris was detained by gaming agents, he had numerous $500 gaming chips from The Orleans. Gaming agents said Morris also had been gambling at The Orleans.

Morris, who is also on New Jersey's list of excluded persons, has a history of assault and battery, theft, fraud, and cheating arrests and convictions dating to 1975.

The defense attorney for Morris did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

California Cop Busted For Bet-Capping on Blackjack Tables at Sycuan Casino!

A Chula Vista police officer was in custody Friday for allegedly cheating while gambling at an East County gaming house, officials announced Friday.

Jesus A. Salazar, 30, a cop in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, was taken into custody last night at the Sycuan Casino and then to the San Diego county jail on what is being called a misdemeanor charge of cheating at gambling. He is being held, however, on the not so misdemeanor bail of $10,000.

According to reports, Salazar, a nine-year veteran on the force, was capping his bets (adding chips) while playing blackjack. It is not clear if he was doing this after he already won hands or when he was in a good position to win hands, such as made-twenty against a dealer upcard of seven. I also do not know what denomination chips the alleged caps involve but Would surely think either $5 reds or $25 greens. $100 black chips don't get that much action at Sycuan and would immediate attract a lot of casino eyes. I imagine that Salazar had gotten away with his cheating move several times before being caught.

In any event, ten grand is a helluva high bail for a bet-capping charge at a Native American casino. I guess they want to make an example out of him.

Phil Ivy's Refusal To Play in 2011 WSOP--Is It in Defense of Poker Cheat Victims or Ruse to Keep His Image Shining?

Actually it's both, but I don't think Phil Cares as much about the poker bot-cheating victims and multi-account cheat victims who got cheated on Full Tilt Poker as much as he says he does. I think that he wants to keep his online poker golden-boy image as sparkling as his World Series of Poker image, and what better way to do that than sacrifice his appearance at this year's WSOP tournaments in the name of standing up for Full Tilt's online poker cheat victims?

If you didn't read Phil's statement on his Facebook page, here it is:

"For many years, I have been proud to call myself a poker player. This great sport has taken me to places I only imagined going and I have been blessed with much success. It is therefore with deep regret that I believe I am compelled to release the following statement.

I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm.

I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.

My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others and on behalf of all poker players I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts. As I am sure the public can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me.

I wholeheartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

I sincerely hope this statement will ignite those capable of resolving the problems into immediate action and would like to clarify that until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment"

Well, I will tell you one thing: We will surely see Phil back in next year's 2012 WSOP...unless some new online poker site he gets involved in gets hit with a cheating scandal and doesn't react quick to reimburse its victims!

Another Blackjack Card-Marking Cheating Scam Hits Delaware Casino!

Source: WGMD.com

After a week-long investigation into a blackjack cheating team at Delaware Park Casino, Delaware State Police Detectives assigned to the Division of Gaming Enforcement made the arrests of Huan Quan Yu, 59; Jiehui Huang, 49; and Raymond Li, 57; all of San Francisco, CA. Casino security, surveillance and table game personnel had observed suspicious activity at a blackjack table. Jiehui Huang had used a gaming chip to make indentation marks on “ten valued” playing cards. Huang was caught in the early stages of the cheating scam being assisted by Huan Quan Yu and Raymond Li, all originally from New York, but carrying driver’s licenses from San Francisco, CA. Yu and Li were players at the same blackjack table and attempted to use the knowledge of the marked cards to their advantage. The suspects were quickly taken into custody before they could commit the theft.

A search of Yu’s rented vehicle at Delaware Park Casino yielded evidence that the group of men were targeting casinos across the country. The cheaters are suspected of being part of a larger organized cheating team working out of New York City and San Francisco and have been observed at casinos on the West Coast, the East Coast and the Mid-West.

Detectives have further linked Yu to a similar theft which occurred at Dover Downs Casino in November 2010. The investigation into the Dover Downs incident remains under investigation with additional suspects being identified but not yet arrested. Detectives have also linked Yu to crimes at several casinos in Pennsylvania. Those criminal charges are pending extradition from Delaware.

All three were arrested at Delaware Park on several misdemeanor gaming crimes including altering a table game component, conspiracy, criminal mischief and attempted theft.

Yu posted a $3,500 cash bond on the misdemeanor charges but was held on a detainer on the Pennsylvania charges and committed to Gander Hill. Yu faces additional felony charges out of Delaware for theft, conspiracy, criminal mischief and altering a table game component.

Li and Huang were arraigned at JP Court 11 and released on unsecured bonds with a no-contact order with all Delaware casinos.

DGE officials have credited criminal intelligence networking between law enforcement and casino security/surveillance departments with solving this case and other cases in Delaware and other jurisdictions.

My take: Card-marking scams with casino chips seems quite amateurish, but I get the feeling these Asians were pretty good at it. Remember, you cannot touch the cards in these East Coast blackjack games, which means that you have to be pretty good to get your hands with the casino chip in them out to the cards on the table to mark them--without the dealer catching on. One method I know of is to tap the cards with the chip while saying to the dealer, "This is a tip for you," then you toss the chip to the dealer. That method can take the dealer's attention away from the fact you're actully marking the cards while giving him a tip.

These Asian teams have hit other casinos in Delaware and Pennsylvania with the same scam. And remember, we saw another Asian team cheat Foxwoods casino in Connecticut for nearly a million bucks with a holdout device.

First "Off-Line" Book About UltimateBet and Absolute Poker Online Poker Cheating Scandals To Be Released

Source: casinoscamreport.com

Investigative Journalist, Haley Hintze, who is known for her intense investigations into some of the deepest and darkest online gambling issues has authored an intriguing book about online poker and the deception that goes on inside. One of the most prominent stories written about in this new poker book is the scandal that hit Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet Poker that took place a couple of years ago and took the poker industry down into the depths of cheating, stealing and lying. Online gamblers will find this book informative and full of information that the normal everyday poker player does not encounter or know about making for some intensive reading.

Hintze has also included some amazing documents which include taped conversations, emails and rat accounts all which reveal classified information about unproven cover-ups that have been swirling around some online casino companies for sometime. Illustrations to the fraudulent transactions by Ultimate Bet and Absolute and how these two companies did everything they could to hide the cheating scandal from the general public and their online players. If you’re an avid online gambler and would like to read about an industry that has had its fair share of unscrupulous characters, scandalous events and criminal crimes, this is a book you should invest in once released. A title to this book has not been announced yet, and we will update once a title has been chosen.

My take: well, we've all read about this a zillion times online. Are we gonna learn anything knew reading about it off-line? Highly doubt it.

I Am Skeptical of Lake Charles Casino Claims That Cheats Made Half a Million Bucks Pastposting Roulette Tables

The latest on the L’Auberge Du Lac Casino Resort cheat scam in Lake Charles, Louisiana says two cheats, Derrick Weldon (the roulette dealer), 42, of Lake Charles and Charbel Tanous (the player/cohort), 33, of Houston, Texas cheated the casino by pastposting roulette bets. In other words, Weldon just stood idly by while his cohort pastposted (made late bets) on straight-up numbers on his roulette tables.

Well, how could this be possible? If the maximum payout on the table is $3,500, are they claiming that the pair pulled off the roulette pastpost cheat scam over a hundred times before surveillance got wind of it?

Come on, give us a break! There is something wrong here. If this casino in Lake Charles, Louisiana got beat for nearly half a mil, it wasn't some crooked dealer and his buddy making bets at roulette?

Why the bullshit?

Gambler Who Beat Atlantic City Tropicana For $6 Million Playing Blackjack Claims He Beat Several Atlantic City Casinos For $15 Million Overall--Without Cheating!

Source: thestar.com

A high-rolling blackjack player from Pennsylvania says he’s the gambler who has won about $15 million overall at three Atlantic City casinos over the past six months.

Don Johnson of Bensalem tells The Press of Atlantic City that he’s quite thankful for his run of good luck, though he’s also lost an unspecified amount during his hot streak and has paid “millions in taxes.”

And while Johnson’s unwilling to disclose his betting strategy, he told the newspaper there’s nothing underhanded about his success. He doesn’t consider himself a professional gambler and emphatically denied cheating or being part of an organized gambling ring.

“I’ll take luck over any other skill,” Johnson said with a laugh. “There’s no magic to this. Eventually, someone would whack them. I’m just glad it was me. I’m not breaking any laws,” he said. “I’m beating them with my own skills.”

Johnson says he won $4.23 million at Caesars Atlantic City in December alone and took in about $5 million at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa over a five-month stretch. But his biggest success came when he won $5.8 million during a 12-hour spree at Tropicana Casino and Resort in April, a record loss for the casino.

Casino officials have previously confirmed that one player had recently won millions of dollars playing high-stakes blackjack but declined to identify the person, citing privacy concerns.

The newspaper reported Sunday that it had confirmed Johnson’s accounts with multiple sources within the casino industry.

And one expert told the newspaper it was entirely plausible for one player to win so big at blackjack, if they had sound knowledge of the game, deep pockets and exercised self-discipline.

The 49-year-old Johnson is chief executive officer of Heritage Development LLC, which uses computer-assisted wagering programs for horse racing. He started gambling at casinos about 15 years ago, placing $25 bets at blackjack tables. As he became more proficient, he transitioned into high-stakes wagering – for example, the Tropicana last month allowed him to bet up to $100,000 a hand.

But his run of good luck has caused some setbacks.

Johnson says he’s been banned at the Caesars and Harrah’s casinos in Nevada and was turned down by Resorts and Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. And he says casinos no longer offer him a 20 per cent discount on his losses or shower him with other high-roller perks.

“I don’t think they will let me play anymore,” he said of the Atlantic City casinos. “But it’s not going to change my life. If I don’t play blackjack, I’ll just go to the horse races.”

My Take: Do I believe this is on the square and that it is plausible that someone beat Atlantic City blackjack tables out of fifteen million without cheating? Well, at first glance...no...but then again, if they let him bet several hundred thousand bucks per hand it would be possible. I wonder why there was no mention of how much he may have been betting per hand in the other casinos besides the Tropican in these news reports.