A Professional Player Learns Something at a Surveillance Seminar

Scams, Cheats and Black Lists: Current Fraud and Casino Crimes was a Monday seminar primarily for security department employees, presented by James Taylor, the Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Taylor discussed several high-profile cases that have been decided recently, including the fining of CG Gaming, the crap game scam at Bellagio, and big fines involving MGM Grand and the Venetian. All of these cases have been covered in the news.

One of the functions of the GCB is arbitrating disputes with patrons. In 2015 there were 574 disputes. GCB ruled in favor of the patrons in 58 cases (about 10%). I found that percentage surprisingly low.

There were 230 cases involving theft in 2015, with the two biggest areas being player point confiscation and chip grabs.

Player point confiscation very frequently involves casino employees. If I found your card, I couldn’t typically download your free play or points unless I knew your pin number. But if a friendly casino employee helped me by changing the pin number for your card to one I could easily remember (say “Christmas,” which as a pin is “1225”), then I could have my way with your accounts.

Employees can directly misappropriate points: wait until the last day before free play expires, then download the free play from several accounts. This is unlikely to be discovered by the player.

Chip grabs happen most often at the craps table, although they can happen anywhere. Assume the “mark” is on the thief’s left side. The thief rests his left arm on the rail (to block the view of what his right hand is doing) and snakes his right hand under his left arm to help himself to some of the mark’s chips. Alternatively, the thief might stand behind the mark; when a cocktail waitress comes up, distracting the mark, the thief grabs some chips and moves away.

Another form of cheating involves past posting (placing a bet after the result has been determined). Taylor showed several short videos where the move wasn’t obvious to many in the audience (well, not obvious to me, anyway). He then described it, and showed the video again; it was usually very obvious then.

Taylor showed photos of several cheats and videos of these men “in action.” He wanted the surveillance departments to be alert for these men and to call the GCB if any of them show up in Nevada casinos. I could see the surveillance personnel in the audience staring at these pictures, apparently hoping to burn the faces into their memory.

I’m a player rather than a surveillance department employee, but I found the talk eye-opening. I wish it could have gone on more than its one allotted hour.