Major UK Casino Cheat Conviicted of Roulette Pastposting Under 2005 UK Gambling Act

Source: Northern Echo

A NORTH-EAST fraudster who targeted casinos admitted a series of cheating and fraud offences today, police said. Iranian-born Bahram Sahami, 37, cheated at American roulette by adding or removing chips from the table after the ball had dropped or by stealing other players chips, Scotland Yard said. Sahami, of Coltman Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to three counts of fraud, three of cheating at gambling, and two of theft, a spokesman said. His prosecution was the third of its kind in the UK since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force in 2007, he added.

Sahami, who had been nationally barred by all major casino operators for cheating, used at least four false identities to gain access to London casinos between March and July 2009, the spokesman said. These identities were supported by identification in the form of membership cards or UK driving licences.

It has been calculated that he would gain between £25 and £130 per cheat or theft. "It is difficult to be precise about the amount Sahami made from his actions but it is known that he would commit multiple offences at a time," the spokesman said.

He was arrested after he was caught on CCTV cheating at a Gala Coral Group casino. Detective Inspector Ann-Marie Waller of the Metropolitan Police's human exploitation and organised crime command said: "Sahami was a brazen and determined fraudster who cheated not only the casinos but fellow punters out of hundreds of pounds a time."

He will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on November 5.

Wanna Know a Good Way to Cheat?...Start Up a Phony Casino!

That's what a group of two-dozen Korean casino cheats did. They fleeced a bunch of rich South Koreans who were on a golf outing in China out of $7 million dollars. According to reports, the scam had the flavor of the "Ocean" movies starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, in which the cheats scammed major Las Vegas casinos for tens of millions.

Twenty-five men fell victim to the scam as the cheats engaged them in friendly conversation on golf courses at posh Korean country clubs and persuaded them to take a golf trip to China. There, the Korean scam artists set up phony casinos to swindle the victims who were eager for some hardy gambling action after a pleasurable day on the links, where some betting surely took place between holes.

Prosecutors in Seoul, Korea say they have arrested seventeen people, including one woman, and that a half-dozen more are still being sought. The leader of the cheat-team has been identified only as Choi and is said to be fifty-eight years-old. His thirty-seven year-old female partner has been identified only as Kim. Sex may have been used as well to lure the gambling cheats' victims into the bogus casinos. Choi is still at large.

The phony casinos were staged inside large banquet halls with fake camera-bubbles on the ceilings with all the works in hotels in Haikou, Weihai and Xiamen. The victims played their preferred game of baccarat while bystanders who were part of the scam rooted them on to "beat the casino." At first the victims won but then cheating dealing-techniques were used to quickly traansform their good luck into a nightmare. As they continued losing money, Choi's partners began lending them huge amounts of money at zero interest rates, and because welching on debts is extremely frowned upon among respectable Korean businessmen, they immediately wired the funds to pay off these loans once having returned to Korea.

One newspaper quoted a Korean prosecutor as stating that the cheats used scams similar to those depicted in the famous Robert Redford/Paul Newman con-artist movie, "The Sting" and the South Korean movie "High Rollers," in which ironically a temptress approaches businessmen at a golf club.

My take: Heck, I would have loved to see this go down! It takes balls setting up a phony casino in a hotel...especially if no one on the hotel staff was involved, which amazingly appears to be the case.

Caesars Casino in Indiana, Now Called the Horseshoe, May Have Been the Tran Organization's Biggest Victim in International Baccarat Scam

We have all heard about the infamous Tran Organization mini-baccarat scam, which by using casino dealers to false-shuffle decks of baccarat cards bilked dozens of US and Canadian casinos out of anywhere from $5 million to $30 million, depending on which report we're to believe. The lastest data on the huge baccarat swindle says the former Caesars Palace casino in Harrison County, Indiana was the biggest victim to the highly-organized baccarat cheats--to the tune of nearly $1.5 million. The losses occurred during 2004.

Charmaine Stokes was the key dealer hired to fix the cards by John Tran, one of the numerous Vietnamese with that same last name (hence the Tran Organization). After giving up the entire operation to Indiana authorites and then to the FBI, Stokes pleaded guilty to the felony charge of violating Indiana's gambling laws. In addition she lost her job and has been barred permanently from all Indiana's casinos.

This part of the Tran scam that came apart in Indiana did so because of pure greed. The organization kept operating day after day and didn't know when to stop. Had they not milked the cow so many times, not only would they have gotten away clean with the scam in Indiana, they may have been able to operate for years more if not indefinitely in the rest of North America. This is because the cheat-heat they generated in Indiana spread like wildfire and galvanized other Tran-baccarat-victim-casinos to examine their own baccarat losses, which were quickly pegged to the scam by a widening interstate and international investigation.

My take: It is always hard to know when to stop when money is coming easy from a poker cheat or casino cheat scam. That is the simple reason why almost all of them eventually get caught.

Full Tilt Poker's Stock E-mail to Online Poker Cheat Victims on its Site

This is a verbatim account of the standard e-mail that Full Tilt Poker's security department sends to its victims of online poker cheating and to online players complaining or asking questions about online poker cheating at Full Tilt.

"The Full Tilt Poker Security department has recently concluded an extensive investigation and we have determined that some of your opponents were in violation of our site terms.

We have permanently closed all of the offending accounts. In cases of proven cheating, 100% of the confiscated funds are returned to the players who were victimized. The reimbursement calculation is based on the number of tournaments or hands played against the offending players, and the amount won or lost against them.

We have determined that you are entitled to a refund of $X which will be placed in your account in the next 72 hours.

For a number of reasons, we are unable to provide any other additional information regarding this case, including the players involved and the game type where it occurred. We thank you for your understanding in this regard. The vigilance of our players in reporting suspicious behavior is an important addition to our ongoing diligence against unethical conduct, and we carefully investigate every concern of suspicious activity.

If you believe you have witnessed unfair play at our tables, please don't hesitate to contact us at security@fulltiltpoker.com. If there is any other way we can be of assistance, please let us know.

My Take: I hate to use cliches but it is what it is. In other words, not much.

Does Every Poker Cheating Dog Have Its Day?

What do I mean by this? well, if your native language is English you have surely heard this expression. Generally it means that every bastard or bitch in the world who takes advantage of, robs, or CHEATS other people eventually has his day of reckoning where he or she in turn becomes the victim. In this case I am talking about poker cheats who constantly cheat the poker games both in brick and mortar poker room casinos and online. The cheating dogs who work the live poker rooms and home games are quite more likely to "have their day" (get caught, busted or beat-up) than their fellow or unfellow online poker cheats. This is simply because they are in physical reality when plying their cheating trade. They can be accosted, detained, arrested, and in some cases, especially home games, have the royal shit kicked out of them and even be killed!

But the online cheating dogs work behind the cloak of non-identity and cyberspace, and when they are caught they have the luxury of using their cyberknowledge to come right back at you under different user names, IP addresses, etc. And even when they are identified, as was the case with Russ Hamilton, the crooked mastermind behind the biggest online poker scandal ever, the UltimateBet.com insider hole card-scam (biggest ANY poker scam ever), it is extremely unlikely that that dog will have its day. I mean, after all, does anyone think Russ Hamilton, the real ALPHA DOG of poker cheating, will ever have his day?

I highly doubt it!

Latest Blackjack Cheat Caught in Pennsylvania Casinos is Philadelphia Police Officer!

Surprised? Well, in spite of the cheating free-for-all taking place on Pennsylvania casinos' new table games, it's a bit surprising, to say the least, that a Philadelphia cop took a shot at joining the blackjack cheating epidemic.

This latest and somewhat embarrassing incident took place at the Parx Casino near Bensalem. But at least the accused cop/blackjack cheater showed a littly more mettle than the herd of blackjack bet-capping cheats plaguing PA's baby casinos. Apparently he was caught with a card-counting device, which violates the Pennsylvania casino law prohibiting play with any digital or electronic equipment abetting you. The blackjack cheating officer has been identified as John Gallagher, and although the Philadelphia Police Department has offered no comments on the blackjack cheating case, Gallagher has immediately retired from the law-enforcement job he has held for more than thirty years. He has not yet been charged with a crime, and I would not be surprised if he never is...I mean, come on, they gotta give one of Philadelphia's "finest" a break...and by "finest" I am not talking about blackjack cheats!

My take: Well, using a card-counting device to me is not a great feat or even a real intention of cheating, but practically all American gaming jurisdictions treat doing so as a felony...Hate to see a cop go down for this.

UK Chip-Counterfeiter Gets 18 Months in Prison!...Before Passing off the First Fake Chip!

A twenty-year-old UK resident identified as Augustin Dago was sentenced to 18 months in the British brig after being convicted of defrauding casinos by counterfeiting their chips.

Dago contacted various casino-chip manufacturers in the UK saying that he wanted £25-denomination chips for his own personal card games. He sent photos of the specific London Gala casinos' chips that he wanted. Back in 2009 he had used a phony driver's license to become a member of two Gala casinos in London and also opened bank accounts with the false identification, apparently thinking there would be lots of ill-gotten booty to deposit.

Dago's plan went awry when one of the chip-manufacturing companies recognized the Gala Casino chip design he had requested on his order and notified the police. The London Clubs and Vice Squad arrested Dago and searched his apartment, finding photos of the chips, lists of the chip-manufacturing companies he'd contacted and copies of his orders. Confronted with the evidence, Dago quickly admitted his plan to cash in the phony chips at the Gala casinos and deposit his funds into the bank account opened under the phony names, in effort to launder the money back to a legitimate account in his real name.

London Detective Inspector Ann Marie Waller said, "This was a calculated attempt to commit fraud against one of the major gaming groups in the UK. Due to the quick thinking of both the chip-manufacturer and Gala Coral Group Limited, Augustin Dago was stopped from circulating counterfeit casino cash chips."

My take: What I don't get is why Dago confessed. As far as I can tell, he was accosted by the cops before trying to pass off the counterfeit chips in the casinos, so no crime had as yet been committed. As well, I don't understand why the London coppers didn't wait and let Dago make his cash-out moves inside the casino. Well, I guess the coppers got lucky this time.

Stupidity of Cambodian Casino Allows it to Fall Victim to $1.4 Million Baccarat Scam...Using Automatic Shuffle Machine to Boot!

I have heard of stupid casinos before, and taken advantage of many in my day, but the NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, takes the cake!

The casino uses automatic card shufflers on its baccarat tables but then permits the dealers to manually shuffle after the cards have already been automatically shuffled. What's the point to the automatic shuffler? you, as well as I, are asking yourselves. Well, the NagaWorld (what the hell does NagaWorld mean anyway?) casino says that the manual shuffle is done as a courtesy to high-rolling baccarat players who want to be sure the automatic card-shuffle machine is not cheating them...LOL!

Come on, gimme a break! Like these high rollers are gonna walk outta the casino if the manual shuffle were refused them.

Here's how the gang of baccarat cheats did it:

Using three women dealers and a tiny digital camera, a pair of Malaysian men recorded the manual shuffle then relayed the order-of-card info back to themselves at the table via a high-tech communication center outside the casino, most likely in a vehicle parked in the vicinity.

The casino finally wised up after the continual abnormal win-rates for the group of players and arrested one of the dealers. But the other two and the players at the table got away with the cash and presumably split the country. The captured dealer spilt her guts on her accomplices.

NagaWorld says it will review its policy of permitting their dealers to do the manual shuffle...gee, how smart they are!!! An official at the casino enlightened the casino world with these remarks: "Players will always be looking to find ways to cheat casinos and electronic ways of cheating are harder to detect than most. Casinos increasingly have to rely on monitoring how much players are winning and seeing if it really is plausible. Everyone thinks it’s easy being the house and you always win but this demonstrates that it really isn’t as simple as you’d think."

My take: I think this post says it all!

Attention RFID and Digital Technology Video Surveillance Vendors: I Will Promote Your New Products at G2E and Other International Gaming Trade Shows!

That's right. I have been recently getting involved in promoting new products aimed at better protecting the integrity of live casino games and slot machines throughout the world. What I do is personally represent your product, whether it be RFID technology built into casino chips or the latest improvement to digital surveillance systems, on the floor of gaming shows, conferences and related events around the globe.

When prospective casino customers see Richard Marcus, the world's greatest casino cheat, endorsing a product promising to enhance game and slot protection as well as the integrity of the entire gaming floor operation, they will be more likely to buy your products than your competitors'.

If you are interested in having me represent your products, get in touch with me and we'll go from there.

Hall of Fame Casino Cheat Busted at Caesars Palace!

Well, I have always said that when my inglorious road comes to an end, I want to be buried on the grounds of my favorite casino, Caesars Palace, from which my cheat-teams I took millions. For fellow Hall of Fame Casino Cheat Brent Eli Morris, he may be getting buried there right now...alive!

Morris, who probably holds the record for amount of times arrested and convicted for cheating casinos and who is also an inductee in Nevada's infamous Black Book of casino-excluded persons, was arrested on Wednesday by Nevada state Gaming Control Board agents while he was at a craps table at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Morris, whose cheating specialty over the years has been pastposting on craps tables, was not charged with an actual casino-cheat crime but rather with unlawfully entering a Nevada casino. Once you are listed in the state's Black Book you cannot legally enter a casino in Nevada, and if you do you are automatically charged with criminal trespassing.

Caesars Palace surveillance personnel first notified the Gaming Control Board Enforcement Division that a man who resembled Morris was playing craps at the rear of the casino. It was later determined that Morris had been doing the same on September 16 at the Excalibur casino. When taken into custody, Morris was in possession of numerous $500 casino chips from the Orleans casino, and it was determined that he'd been at their craps tables as well.

Morris is also on the New Jersey list of casino-excluded people. He has a long record of casino criminal convictions and has also been convicted of assault and battery, grand theft and fraud. He has spent 10 years in both Nevada and New Jersey prisons for cheating casinos.

My take: This guy has cheating in his blood and cannot help himself to stay out of casinos. If there ever was an addicted casino-cheat, Brent Eli Morris is it. I have no doubt that Morris had successfully cheated both the Orleans and Excalibur out of several thousand before he got nabbed at Caesars, where he was probably preparing more cheat-moves. The guy needs to get some good disguise work!

To read more about his Hall of Fame casino-cheating career, click here.