Was this Guy the World´s Biggest Casino Cheat?

World´s biggest casino cheat?

Well, read this article and see what you think. Then at the bottom, see what I think. Remember, for a significant period of time, I held that title.

Source: Online-Casinos

The king of casino cheats and his two accomplices have finally been caught and convicted in a London court after more than twenty years cheating at casino roulette.

Francis Farrugia, Francesco Baioni and Frank Camilleri, all of Italian descent (can you tell?) ripped off casinos around the world for millions of dollars over a period of twenty years, becoming the scourge of casinos and striking fear into pit bosses who would speak of the trio in hushed tones around the campfire, such was their legendary and fearsome reputation. Their jetsetting criminal lifestyle saw them hit casinos around the world including Vegas, Macau, Australia and dozens of cities across Europe.

The Roulette Cheat Technique

The casino cheats didn't resort to some of the more modern cheating techniques such as hawkeye laser computers (not to be confused with the legitimate Hawk roulette technique)or intricate magnetic devices. They instead relied on good old fashioned sleight of hand to employ a technique called 'top-hatting' where they distracted the dealer and placed late bets on winning numbers after the roulette ball had landed.

The top-hatting scam usually involves the complicity of the dealers but the gang were so adept at sleight of hand that they were able to engineer the scam all by themselves. They were rarely caught, despite the fact that dealers are highly trained to catch out such devious roulette techniques as moving the chips after the wheel has stopped and suchlike.

Instead most casinos simply had to resort to banning them for being 'too lucky', in the absence of any real proof. But this did nothing to deter them.

Fake ID

Their huge wins obviously brought them to the attention of the casinos and they ended up being banned from nearly every casino in the world. However this didn't stop them, they just created fake ID's for themselves - by the time they were caught they had over fifty fake Identities each.

The chairperson of the International Association of Casino Security (IACS), Dave Livermore, had this to say about the case; "They were quite slick, but they were going a long time. They’ve been banned for 20 years. They targeted casinos all over the world. During the court case the judge asked his lawyer where the money used to place initial stakes in the casinos came from and he couldn’t answer because all of their money is from casinos. They didn’t have any legitimate funds.”

High Stakes

Dave went on to say that it was their insatiable greed which was their downfall as they began to search out the highest stakes casinos. This inexorable march up the stakes ladder inevitably led them to London, the home of the most glamourous and exclusive high roller casinos.

Unfortunately for the trio the surveillance in London casinos is also top-notch and after police were contacted, rather than arrest them straight away, they were made the subject of a lengthy investigation in which countless incidents of 'top-hatting' were caught on camera.

Getting Away With Cheating In Casinos

Despite the investigation, the decades of scamming and cheating, the millions of pounds in ill-gotten gains in the end the only charge that could be made to stick was possession of forged documents! Farrugia was charged with eight counts and his accomplices merely served with curfews and a nationwide ban from the Gambling Commission!

For his crimes Farrugia was given a nine-month suspended sentence so will spend no time in prison unless he reoffends. All he has to do is resist the temptation to cheat in casinos again, the question is, has he cheated casinos out of enough millions to satisfy his greed or does he just want to have one more go?

My take: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the lightness of the sentence he and his casino cheating teammates received. As far as his being the biggest casino cheat in the world, maybe for the last ten years he was...But his first ten years? Absolutely NOT! That´s because yours truly was still active cheating casinos!!

Legal INTRAstate Nevada Poker Taking Steps to Combat Online Poker Cheating

Source: Cardplayer

A start-up company in Tennessee is looking to provide upcoming Nevada intrastate online poker sites with something they could be in desperate need of one day — a centralized list of player information.

Why would competing online sites in the Silver State want to share such data? Per Nevada regulations, players can self-exclude. Also, some players will become, as what Bwin.party Digital Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has called, “fraudsters.” Protecting the integrity of a platform is a must for the fledgling industry, which will bring all eyes on Nevada. A big scandal could devastate Internet poker efforts at the federal level and in other states.

Ryan, speaking to the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee in May, expressed the need for such a third-party hub of information. MGM Resorts International, Bwin.party’s Nevada partner, wants one too. Here comes Player Verify LLC, led by Managing Member Mark Dalton, who told Card Player Friday that his company has submitted paper work to do business in Nevada.

For $4.99 a year, would-be Nevada online poker players can upload their personal documents to Player Verify, which would store all of it for when a casino (also paying $4.99 per year) wants to access and inspect it as part of the player registration process. Nevada regulators were very conscientious about giving business the flexibility to self-police in this area, Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard recently said.

For self-exclusion — a mammoth deal to opponents of online gambling who worry about increases in addiction figures — casinos could tap into such information to prevent a player with troubles on another site from even registering. Cheaters could also be flagged thanks to a digital drawer full of player data. In other words, if you collude on one site, the entire industry would know about it. Possible criminal penalties are another story.

Just like Nevada’s online poker industry, Player Verify is just starting out. Dalton said that he has reached out to “a bunch” of gaming companies about possibly doing business together, but he hasn’t heard back from any yet. He thinks that once his company snags a license it will be “taken more seriously.”

According to Dalton, Player Verify already has a few hundred sign-ups, but admitted that there won’t be any real incentive to use his site until many Nevada casinos come on board with the concept, as well as his version of it. “The sky is the limit,” he said about his business if it becomes popular in the Mojave Desert.

Dalton’s company is still in its infancy (two years), but he said his team has been working hard to put together a product for the launch of the nation’s first ever intrastate web poker market, which could kick off as early as this fall.

“We’re the only site that I know of doing what we’re doing,” he said. “We’re outside the box.”

My take: This is good stuff, and I think it will help in one day getting online poker legalized in the entire US!

Source: Channelnewsasia

A 63-year-old French national was extradited back to Singapore on Tuesday morning for allegedly cheating at the Resorts World Sentosa casino in 2010. Police said Reynald Georges Victor Lasnel was caught in Germany, with assistance from German authorities and Interpol. He is wanted by the Singapore police in connection with cheating offences, namely placing bets after the results are known, at the roulette table.
He is suspected of having committed the offences with two other persons on 26 March 2010 and 3 April 2010 at the casino.

The three were initially arrested and charged in 2010, but they fled Singapore while out on court bail despite having their passports impounded.The suspect will appear in court later Tuesday to face the charges against him.

My take: Wow! This is the first I time I´ve heard of an across-ocean extradition for a little casino pastposter! Even if he´s accused of beating the Singapore casino for a hundred grand or so. And to think Interpot was involved in this apprehension! I guess the two Singapore casinos are so sick and tired of getting beat that they have to go worldwide to make an example of a cheat...Hey, that rhymes!

More poker tournament cheat-claims levelled at Partouche and other French companies

Source: pokernewsreport

There was uproar yesterday at the Palm Beach Casino in Cannes after Partouche withdrew the guarantee from their Main Event – two days after the event started!

When a major poker tournament offers a fixed prize guarantee, you pretty much expect it to still be in existence the day after you sit down to play in it. Unfortunately it is becoming a habit amongst French poker companies to first announce a guarantee and then withdraw it. First it was the €20 million no-longer-guaranteed ISPT and now the Partouche Poker Tour has got in on the act – announcing a 4.3 million Euro prize pool while their web site still advertises a 5 million Euro guarantee for the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event.
Players at the tournament reacted angrily to the news, with Todd Terry and Justin Bonomo the first to alert poker fans via twitter and asking those following the event to send them screenshots where it could be seen that the guarantee was promised. Word (again via Twitter) from Canadian pro Peter Jetten was that «One of the head Partouche people told me “this was not a guarantee but a marketing trick» and the online poker forums came alive with tales of how players had been scammed by Partouche Poker in the past.

My take: Well, I think some of these players are overreacting to Partouche's reducing the prize guarantee. Of course it's a marketing gig and not outright cheating. The fact is, these French companies are putting on good tournaments with big enough prize money. If the prize amounts vary from time to time, the players have to accept it. If I were them, I´d worry more about the online poker companies that allow major poker cheat scams to victimize its players.

Judge Rules Against Atlantic City Golden Nugget in "Cheating" Case

Source: Canadian Business

A judge in Atlantic City on Friday ordered the Golden Nugget casino to let gamblers cash in nearly $1 million worth of chips they won at a card game using decks that were unshuffled.

Superior Court Judge James Isman also told the casino it cannot seize more than a half-million dollars' worth of winnings it already paid out to some of the gamblers involved in the games. The casino plans to appeal the order.

"I wasn't cheating," one of the gamblers, 51-year-old Michael Cho of Ellicott City, Md., said after the judge's ruling. "I didn't do anything illegal. It wasn't right for them to get the money."

The dispute stems from games of mini-baccarat held at the casino on April 30. Unbeknownst to either the players or the casino, the cards put into use for the games were not shuffled as their manufacturer, Gemaco Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., had promised. Over a speakerphone in the judge's chambers, the company's attorney, Jeffrey Mazzola, acknowledged the company had erred.

"There was a mistake made at the Gemaco facility, which we freely admitted," he told the judge. "This was a one-time, isolated mistake, but it occurred. It's supposed to be a game of chance. It changed from a game of chance to a windfall for the individual players. What we have now is individual players coming to the court asking for a free payday based on a mistake that took place."

Lawyers for the Golden Nugget said the pattern of cards became apparent to players, who had been wagering $10 a hand and suddenly upped their bets to $5,000 a hand. The cards did not come out of the chute in numerical order, such as 2-3-4-5. Rather, they came out in a predetermined pattern that the manufacturer lists as a proprietary secret, the attorneys said.

But it did become obvious to the players.

"Anybody could see that — that was the dream we all look for," Cho said.

But Cho said he and the other gamblers still faced risk because they had no idea how long the pattern would endure. It lasted at least 41 hands, during which the players won more than $1.5 million. Despite its suspicion that a sophisticated cheating operation was under way, the casino did not stop the games.

"We took a chance on every hand we bet, that it wouldn't change," he said. "We didn't know if it was going to change. That's called gambling."
The Golden Nugget had sought a ruling barring the gamblers from cashing in more than $977,000 worth of chips they won from the game but still have in their possession. The casino also wanted the judge to order the return of more than $500,000 in winnings it paid out to some of the winners immediately after the games.

The judge denied both requests, saying there will be time to address those issues as the lawsuits filed by both sides come to trial. He agreed that the gamblers did nothing wrong, and even though they discerned a pattern, the judge said there was no guarantee it would not change at any moment.

That drew an angry response from Steven Scheinthal, the Golden Nugget's executive vice president and general counsel, who began yelling at the judge that he did not have all the pertinent information in the case, including evidence of how the casino maintains the players violated house rules by sharing money and chips among themselves during the games to avoid individual betting limits.

"I've been on the bench for 12 years now, and I don't believe anyone has ever spoken to me like that," Isman said. He advised the Golden Nugget it could appeal as soon as Tuesday — which is exactly what its lawyers said they plan to do.

"It was a rigged game," attorney Louis Barbone said. "We walked in that day believing everything was on the up-and-up. We walked out $1.5 million in the hole."
The casino claims the vendor's failure to shuffle the cards made them "defective" and in violation of state gambling regulations mandating fair odds for both the casino and its customers.

My take: Did you read the part where Cho said he and other gamblers were at risk because they didn´t know when their good fortune would end! GIMME A BREAK! That's like sitting under a tree raining money and not knowing when it's going to stop! THERE AIN'T NO RISK!!!

All in all, I feel great for the lucky gamblers but had the judge ruled in favor of the casino, I would've understood.

Casino Game Protection

For those casinos in the United States and Canada worrying about the latest baccarat scams, I am happy to report that due to comprehensive training and seminar attendance, the incidence of these scams, especially those using corrupted dealers, is on the decrease. Like I always say, good game protection is the best defense against professional casino cheats and advantage players.

Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem Snags Poker Cheating Bonus Bettor

Thirty-eight year-old Kyle Greg Dunn was arrested for allegedly postponing bonus wagers  at a Texas Hold 'em game last weekend. I have read that he was plying a sleight of hand method to get down his pastposts but can tell you this was not the case. Dunn simply used a distraction and good timing to pastpost the bets, supposedly at least three times. His earnings for the night were a mere $325, hardly worth the bust. He later claimed he did it out of desperation.

My take: Well, he should have probably just found another way to make ends, and as much kept his mouth shut until lawyering up! I always stress that cheating in poker and casinos is not the way to go!

Poker and Casino Cheating Wave Beginning to Hit Ohio's New Casinos

A lot of cheating is going on in the new Ohio casinos, especially the Hollywood Casino in Toledo. However, the difference between the cheating going on in this new casino versus the cheating that usually go on in new baby casinos is that Hollywood Casino is being taken off by some of its own dealers. You rarely see a brand-new casino, especially an American one, falling victim to inside scams this early. Usually the dealers are too green and nervous about keeping their jobs. In areas such as Singapore and Macau, the crooked dealers are ready to rake off from day one.

The latest inside scam at the Toledo casino I heard about was a roulette pastposting scam with the dealer´s cooperation. He just simply let his cohorts make late bets. These type scams are usually easy for even rookie surveillance to see, but the better scams will certainly go unnoticed in these virgin Ohio casinos.

Atlantic City Casino Screws itself with False-Shuffle Baccarat Scam! Now it's Suing the Players!

Source: USA Today

An Atlantic City casino is suing 14 gamblers who raked in more than $1.5 million in winnings after realizing that eight decks of cards had not been preshuffled and kept producing the same sequence of cards, over and over.The gamblers kept raising their bets -- from $10 a hand to $5,000 -- and scored 41 consecutive winning hands of baccarat in April, the Associated Press reports. As the payouts mounted, Golden Nugget Atlantic City flooded the area with security teams, convinced that someone was cheating, but were unable to figure out how. In the end, the casino let nine of the gamblers cash out $558,900. The rest still have $977,800 in chips.

In its lawsuit, the casino cites state gambling regulations requiring all casino games to offer fair odds — to both sides. The casino's lawsuit argues that the gamblers and the casino both began the game believing it was legal and proper — until the players kept winning repeatedly.

Benjamin Dash, a lawyer for the gamblers, counters that his clients did nothing wrong and deserve to be paid. "The Golden Nugget appealed to gamblers to come in and play games licensed and sanctioned by the state of New Jersey," he says. "My clients did exactly that, and then were denied their winnings. There is absolutely no law in New Jersey that would permit the Golden Nugget to declare the game illegal because it failed to provide shuffled cards."

The casino also asserts in its lawsuit that Gemaco Inc., a Missouri playing card manufacturer, acknowledged it had provided a defective shipment of cards that were not preshuffled.

A message left at the company's administrative offices was not immediately returned Monday, the AP says.

My take: Sticky situation, but I think the law is on the side of the gamblers. Why should they not be paid jsut becasue the casino fucked up?

Documentary on the UB and Absolute Poker Online Poker Cheat Scams in the Works!

Source: World Poker Tour Magazine A new poker documentary is set to unveil in detail the true story behind the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker cheating scandal and director Chris Bell and his production company are still trying to source interviews for the film.

The UB/Absolute “Super User” scandal was arguably the biggest case of fraud the online gaming industry has ever witnessed and saw countless online players scammed out of their money by site employees who had access to hole cards. Now four years on from the incident, there are still many people in the poker community wondering what exactly went on behind the scenes and – as a former poker pro affected by the scandal – Bell has vowed to release a film exploring the real story.

The documentary – appropriately titled “Ultimate Beat” – has already taken Bell years of research and only yesterday his production company Doublehead Pictures released a teaser trailer to give the poker world a sneak peak of what they can expect on its release. As a work in progress, Bell and Doublehead Pictures are still considering interviewees for the documentary, so if you have an interesting story concerning Ultimate Bet and the Super User scandal, don’t hesitate to get in touch with them at www.doubleheadpictures.com. My take: Can't wait to see it!!