The best casino game for beginners (Hint: It’s not slot machines!)
Preparing for your very first foray into a casino can be very
intimidating. Casinos are often massive properties, lined with
opulent décor, glimmering chandeliers, fancy carpets and elaborately
dressed employees. For so many of today’s first-timers, walking
into a resort-style casino can feel like entering a fine dining
establishment in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.
Of course, the casinos don’t really care what you’re wearing, so
long as you’ve got cash in your pocket, and a willingness to spend
it. But the anxiety for a newcomer is real. Even playing your first
casino game at an online gambling destination can set your hairs on
end. If you aren’t familiar with the rules of any games, all of
these fears become magnified tenfold.
The logical answer might be not to go to the casino. Common sense
might tell you to hold off, learn some games first, better prepare
yourself for the experience. But what if that’s not an option? I
remember my first visit to a casino all too well. It was an impromptu
choice, spurred by a group of friends who all decided we should go.
Two of them had been before. Three of us had not. As a newbie myself,
it was overwhelming, to say the least!
I did what so many first-time casino goers do. I stared in horror at
the massive gaming floor, then went straight to the slot machines,
where I stayed until almost all my money was gone. It was fun, yes,
but I had no idea what I was doing. Within 20 minutes, I’d blown
through $80. I spent the next half hour walking around, pinching my
last $20 as I watched other people play games I had no clue about.
So, if you want to avoid mimicking this tale of majority boredom,
might I recommend…
The Best Casino Game for Beginners
If you ask most people the easiest game to play in the casino, they
will say it’s a slot machine. Yes, push a button and cross your
fingers does seem easy, but there’s so much more to those games.
Did you ever try reading a video slot’s pay table? Page after page
of symbols, line info, features, payouts, etc. They really aren’t
so simple. The easiest game of all – one that features a far better
return to player (RTP) than slots – is baccarat.
Baccarat is a card game that you don’t really have to play. All you
have to do is choose where to place your bet – kind of like
roulette, but again, with a higher RTP. The dealer will take care of
everything else. Let’s take a quick look at how the dealer plays
out hands.
The Rules of Baccarat
The object of baccarat is for one hand – the Player hand or Banker
hand – to be closer to a total of 9. The closest to 9 wins. Each
hand starts with two cars. If the total value of those two cards
exceeds 9, 10 is subtracted.
For example, a hand of 3+8=11. You can’t exceed 9, so you subtract;
11-10=1. The new hand total is 1. If the cards are 4+5, the total is
a perfect 9. Or, if the cards are 10+8, we subtract 10 for a total of
8.
There are certain situations where the dealer is required to give the
Player and/or Banker hand a third card, depending on the totals of
the first two cards. These are known as “house rules”, and give
the Banker hand a slight advantage (51%) over the Player hand. But
don’t worry, you can bet on the Banker Hand, too. Or, you can bet
on the two hands resulting in a Tie.
Baccarat Odds, Payout and House Edge
Knowing the odds of winning each bet, the payout for winning it, and
the house edge involved, will help you choose where to place your
bets. The “odds” are the probability of winning each bet. The
payout is the amount you’ll get back for winning, compared to what
you’ve wagered on it. The house edge is a combination of odds and
payouts that determines how likely the casino is to beat you on that
bet. Hence, the lower the edge, the better the bet.
Note: You’ll notice that a winning Banker bet pays
1:1, -5%. The casino collects a 5% commission on all winning banker
bets to offset the fact that the Banker hand will win more often. If
it weren’t for the 5% commission, the casino would lose money on
these bets in the long term.
Baccarat Bet
Odds
Pays
Edge
Banker Hand
45.85%
1:1, -5%
1.06%
Player Hand
44.62%
1:1
1.24%
Tie
9.53%
8:1
14.36%
The low edge of 1.06% on Banker and 1.24% on Player bets makes this
not just the easiest casino game, but the best casino game for
beginners. It offers a communal table game experience, is easy to
understand, and can sustain a modest bankroll far longer than slot
machines.
Three easy ways to watch live blackjack online (and two good
reasons why you might want to).
There is a very famous saying that goes, “Those who can, do;
those who cannot, teach.” I don’t know if there’s any truth
to that statement, but I do know that, since the dawn of Youtube,
there’s a new phrase worth coining. “Those who can, stream;
those who can’t, watch and learn.”
If you’ve ever watched the live broadcast of a Twitch
streamer playing a game – any game, whether it be casinos games
like slot machines or blackjack, or PC and console video games like
League of Legends, or Call of Duty – you know exactly
what that phrase means. It is the new wave of modern gaming, wherein
the best and bravest gamers exhibit their skills in live stream for
all the web-world to see.
If blackjack happens to be your game of choice, sit back and take a
moment to absorb the following information, as I’ll be tutoring a
brief lesson in…
3 Ways to Watch Live Blackjack Online
There are exactly three ways to accomplish this. If you’re
wondering why you would even want to, hold your horses. We’ll cover
that in the next section.
#1 Youtube / Twitch Casino Channels
Twitch casino channels are extremely popular right now. They are
hosted by regular online casino gamers who have large bankrolls and
nothing better to do with their time or money than place big bets and
stream the action live. Most people who like to watch blackjack do so
on Twitch or Youtube, so this is where I’d suggest starting, unless
you want to get in on that action yourself.
#2 Live Dealer Casinos
Live dealer casinos present a unique opportunity. They are
essentially the online version of land-based casino games. They take
place in a live studio, with professional dealers chucking physical
cards. Players are able to watch it all happen and take part in the
games, via any modestly equipped desktop computer, smartphone or
tablet. Thus, live dealer casinos allow the viewer to watch and play
the games at the same time.
#3 Live Tournament Feed
There isn’t a very substantial market for this anymore, but they do
still exist. When a major blackjack tournament is taking place, you
can usually find a live feed of it available – again, either on
Youtube, Twitch, or some other live streaming website. If it is being
hosted by a major live/online casino operator, you may be able to
access the feed directly from the gambling site.
What’s So Great About Watching Blackjack
Online?
I can think of two very distinct reasons why you might want to watch
live blackjack online. The first and most obvious reason is for
entertainment purposes. Think about it. If you love the game, but
have a modest bankroll, wouldn’t it be fun to watch a high roller
with thousands in their pocket place massive bets on a single hand?
Sure, it’s not as exciting as if you were the one in the hot seat,
but who doesn’t enjoy living vicariously through others now and
again?
The second reason is to learn. Blackjack is the most strategically
challenging game in the casino. Basic strategy decides how to handle
each decision-making situation, but the best players have skills that
go far beyond this. They are able to keep counts of all the cards;
not just high and low counts, but deck sequencing, ace tracking, and
other special techniques that – when the stars align – can give
them a genuine advantage over the house.
There are plenty of books to read on the subject of blackjack
strategy, but if you’ve ever used a video to help you do a task
that was previously out of your scope of knowledge – something like
fixing an electronic device or changing your own car parts – you
know that video tutorials have changed the way we look at life. The
impossible becomes possible, if only we can understand it, both
verbally and visually.
Uncommon Sense: An illogical guide to beat online casinos.
Common sense
would tell you that, to beat an online casino, you have to win more
money than you lose. But as we all know, there is no such thing as a
game with an RTP of 100% or greater. At 100%, theoretical results
would dictate a break-even gambling experience. Every dollar you
wager would be won back. No win – no loss – just breaking even.
You can play any blackjack game on the internet – the one with the
absolute best, most player-friendly rules – and you’re still not
going to achieve an RTP of 100% or more. So there’s no way to beat
them… right?
Uncommon sense
would tell us otherwise. But most of us don’t have uncommon sense.
We’re raised to be logical. We’re taught to use common sense to
make smart decisions. Thus, an educated player who uses common sense
must come to the undeniable conclusion that online casinos cannot be
beat. But the player who thinks outside the box – with uncommon
sense – knows there are ways around every barrier.
How to Beat Online Casinos
It’s not just
about how much you win, but your overall return on investment, or
ROI. What are you getting out of the experience, compared to what
you’re putting into it? So long as the output exceeds the input,
you win.
Let’s explore
this theory for a moment, because there is more than one way to go
about it. You could beast-mode the promotions of an online casino to
turn low-edge losses into advantage-player profits. Or, you could
ensure the entertainment value is greater than the cost of play.
Be a Promotional Beast
Online casinos
present their players with all sorts of promotions. One of the most
overlooked rewards is the loyalty program. Securing VIP status can
get you a lot of perks. To become a VIP, you can either wager a whole
lot of money at the online casino, or you can make substantial
deposits.
The fastest way
to become a high-level VIP is to register an account, then – before
depositing – open a support chat. Tell them you just signed up and
that you want to make a deposit, but that you aren’t satisfied with
the usual welcome bonus. Maybe it’s only 100% up to $200. Tell them
you plan to deposit much more than this, and think you deserve to
receive an analogous bonus for it. Tell them you are a regular player
and high roller, and that you want to start with a high level VIP
status and dedicated VIP account manager.
If this doesn’t
get their attention, nothing will. Of course, you’ll also need to
be ready to back up your high deposit promises. If it works, and
you’re granted the VIP level and better bonus, take full advantage.
That higher level VIP status will generate faster comp points (up to
25% higher) with every wager. Plus, the 100% match bonus on your
deposit will get you 2x the comps, for having 2x the wagering power.
Find the right
casinos, engage the best promotions, and all those extra VIP bonuses
and comps could turn the ROI tides to your favor.
Get Your Money’s Worth in Entertainment
Value doesn’t
have to be a monetary thing. If you spend $25 to go see a movie –
tickets, popcorn, drink, candy, the works – and that movie bombs,
you’ll feel like you wasted $25. If, however, that movie blows you
away, you will leave the theater feeling like it was worth every
dollar, and then some.
Can we not look
at the entertainment value of gambling in the same way? Considering
the high RTPs of most online slots and table games, it wouldn’t
take much to turn a losing experience into positive entertainment
value.
Unlike
land-based casinos, internet slot machine pay out an average of
96-97%. European roulette comes in at 97.3%. Baccarat banker and
player bets pay 98.76% and 98.94% respectively. Blackjack and video
poker can pay 99.35% to 99.92% when you pick your rules and your work
strategies wisely. Manage your bankroll well, take your time,
thoroughly enjoying the experience, and that minimal house edge,
combined with the amount of fun you have playing the games, can be
your key golden to beating online casinos.
If you’re planning your first trip to Vegas, don’t bother reading
this. You’ll want to spend your time on taking in the glorious
sites along The Strip and Downtown’s Freemont
Street. On your first visit, it’s not about the games, but the
experience. If you’ve already had that experience, and are looking
for something a bit more, then by all means, continue reading.
I’m going to tell you about the best blackjack games in the city. You won’t find them on The Strip or in Downtown, despite the rampant finger-pointing towards El Cortez. That casino does have some nice games, clocking a 99.82% RTP with the cheapest table limits of $5 and up. If you’re willing to spend $25 per hand, you can do better.
Best Blackjack Odds in Vegas
Head south along Las Vegas Boulevard approximately 10 miles
from the central Strip area (Bellagio /
Caesars Palace); past McCarran International Airport;
beyond South Point and The Grandview. Just as you cross
the St Rose Parkway, you’ll come to the luxurious M
Resort Spa & Casino, sticking up from the vast stretch of
desert floor like a hitchhiker’s thumb.
Its opulence may seem a bit out of place this far south of The Strip.
Technically, you’re not even in Las Vegas anymore. You’re in the
city of Henderson, but once you enter the property, you’ll
never know the difference.
I suggest taking advantage of valet parking, unless you don’t mind
long walks. Once you get to the doors, head inside and take the
nearest elevator to the upper level. Follow the signs to the casino,
and once you’re there, stop the first employee you see and ask them
to point you to the blackjack tables. The pit boss should be easy to
find, standing at his/her central kiosk with a birds-eye view of the
dealers.
Tell this person that you heard the M Resort blackjack odds are the
best in the city, and ask for directions to one of those tables.
There should be three of them It wouldn’t hurt to do this with a
tip sticking up between your fingers, ensuring you get preferential
seating if there’s a line. Once you’re seated…
M Resort Blackjack Odds and Rules
At the right tables, you’ll find rules that dish up a delicious 99.86% RTP. That’s a mere 0.14% house edge. It isn’t some odd-ball game with wacky rules and side bets. It’s a standard game of classic blackjack, with just enough player-friendly rules to deliver the best blackjack game in Vegas.
These games are played with a double-deck shoe, requiring the dealer
to stand on all 17s. Players can double after a split and are allowed
to re-split Aces. By these rules, a basic strategy will deliver that
beautiful 99.86% return. Making these tables even more appealing, the
games have a 0.8 cut card with 60% deck penetration. Deeper would be
great, but in a 2-deck shoe, that’s a nice mark for precision card
counters.
To recap…
Shoe: Double-Deck
Soft 17: Stand
Double: Any 2
Double After Split: Yes
Re-Split Aces: Yes
Blackjack Pays: 3 to 2
Cut Card: 0.8
Deck Penetration: 60%
Min / Max: $25 / $5,000
House Edge: 0.14%
RTP: 99.86%
If you’re interested in testing your skills against the best
blackjack odds in Vegas, set your destination for the M Resort Spa
Casino, located at 12300 S Las Vegas Blvd South, Henderson, NV 89044.
Top 10 best gambling tips for recreational bettors in 2020.
Not every gambler is looking to strategize every game, spending big
bucks to turn a major profit. Sure, we’ve all heard about big pro
gambling gurus that took Vegas for hundreds of thousands of dollars,
but to think we could ever become the next hot topic is laughable, at
best. You’re more likely to win a multi-million dollar progressive.
The majority of today’s gamblers aren’t high rollers. They are
casual gamblers with a modest bankroll and a desire to win some cash,
or at least have a good time trying. If you fit into that category,
today’s write up is for you.
10 Best Gambling tips for Recreational Bettors
A recreational gambler is one who plays casino games for fun. They
don’t consider themselves strategists. As such, the following tips
can help them make the most of their experience without going broke.
I’ve put them in order of what I consider to be a need-to-know
basis, based on experience levels of beginner and up.
#1 Take Your Time
If Aesop’s Fables have taught us anything, it’s that slow and
steady wins the race. There’s no rush. The casino is not going to
close up. Most of them never close at all! And as we all know, the
casino always has the advantage. The faster you play, the faster you
lose.
#2 Lower Your Expectations
Let’s face facts. You’re probably going to lose. The sooner you
accept that fact, the easier it will be to relax and have a good
time. It’s not impossible to win. People do get lucky. But casinos
aren’t in the business of making winners.
#3 Enjoy the Experience
I’m going to elaborate once more on that previous notion, because
it really is super important. Casinos are entertainment venues, just
like psychic hotlines. Their terms of service both state “for
entertainment purposes only”. The odds of getting a real psychic on
the phone are about as good as your odds of turning the casino’s
house edge to your favor. In the long run, the casinos always win
more than the players. If you don’t enjoy the experience, it will
only feel like a rip-off.
#4 Don’t Go Back for Seconds
Never hit the ATM for more money. Know what you are willing to spend,
bring that with you in cash, and if you run out, be done. Besides,
casino ATMs charge insane fees to withdrawal!
#5 Practice Before You Play
If you’re new to casino gaming, get some practice in first. Online
casinos are a perfect medium for this. You can play for free as long
as you want, trying out new games and learning the rules.
#6 Don’t Play Keno
Keno is by far the worst game in the casino. It’s like playing the
lottery. Your odds of winning anything decent can be astronomical.
You’re better off playing progressive slot machines. Which reminds
me…
#7 Slots Aren’t as Cheap as You Think
Slot machines aren’t the cheap games they used to be. When you see
penny slots or nickel slots, they are often loaded up with paylines.
You have to pay at least the base price per payline to activate them.
A nickel slot with 20 paylines doesn’t cost $0.05. With all lines
active, it will cost you $1.00 per spin. A casual gamblers $25
bankroll can run dry real fast at that rate!
Not only that, sometimes what looks like a win is really a loss. If
you’re betting $1.00, but only win $0.20 on a spin, the bells and
whistles go off like you’ve won. In reality, you’ve lost $0.80.
Pay attention to what each spin is costing you, and watch your
bankroll close.
#8 Online Slots Pay Better
Having read #7, the next thing you need to know is that online slots
have way better payouts than land-based casinos slots. Las Vegas slot
machines are only required to pay back 75% of what they take in.
Canadian laws require slots to keep a minimum of 85% to 88%,
depending on the province. Online casinos aren’t under such
regulatory restrictions, nor do they pay outrageous utilities and
payrolls. Online, the average payout on a slot is between 96% and
97%. So if you really enjoy those lsots, like so many people do,
online casinos are the best place to play them.
#9 Don’t Pretend to Be a Pro
If you’re not a blackjack pro, don’t fool yourself into thinking
you can play like one. You’re welcome to practice strategies and
card counting, but if you sit down at a Vegas blackjack table and try
to count cards without the mental proficiency and training required
to do it right, you’ll be laughed out of the casino like our
foolish friend Ben Affleck.
#10 Video Poker is the Best Strategy Game in the
Casino
Of all the best gambling tips on this page, this is the most
important for anyone looking to improve their status in the casino.
Forget the all-too-common assumption that blackjack is the best
casino game for strategizing. It’s not. That title belongs to video
poker, especially if you’re a nascent, casual gambler looking to up
your game. With the right rules and pay table, you can achieve a
return of 99.92% or better. No blackjack game can offer a
recreational gambler those kind of odds. To top it off, with video
poker, there’s no pressure from other players to hurry up your
choices. You can take your time, and even look up the perfect
strategy, hand by hand, as you play.
Evaluating the best video poker strategy books of the millennium.
Gambling strategy books used to be all the rage. Anyone hopping on
a flight to Vegas would pick up the latest edition of a pro-authored
tutorial to read along the way. In those days, the world’s most
renowned gamblers – people like Edward Thorpe, Stanford Wong, and
Doyle Brunson – were the best selling authors in the business.
Times have changed so much since then, as have the games they
wrote about. Thorpe’s blackjack theories have been expounded upon.
Stanford’s card counting seems almost primitive today. Brunson’s
poker strategy could be picked apart by a college student going on
three days of Monster energy drinks in place of sleep.
But there’s one game that hasn’t changed; one game that’s been
strategically documented throughout the decades. And it just so
happens to be the highest paying game on the casino floor – if you
visit the right casino, that it. I’m talking about video poker
machines. And while it’s true that the strategies in the older video
poker books remain valid today, the way the machines are built has
changed. And for that reason, today’s evaluation will only include
guides written in the current millennium.
Best Video Poker Strategy Books of 2000+
In order to remain entirely fair and unbiased, I’m basing the
following evaluations on the opinions of actual readers of these
books – readers who bought them with the sole intent of improving
their skills at the casinos.
Please note that, while I have provided links where you can
purchase each book, I am not receiving any kickbacks for doing so,
and cannot guarantee the price or availability of the books via those
links past the publication date of this article.
The Video Poker Edge, Linda Boyd (2005)
Linda Boyd published her second edition of The Video Poker Edge: How to Play Smart and Bet Right, in 2005. I’ve picked this book for two very important reasons. First of all, it’s written specifically for beginners. It starts by teaching you everything about the game, its history, proper etiquette, etc., then moves into the strategy department, detailing how to identify the highest paying games and how to play the most commonly profitable hands. Secondly, she is 100% honest about the nature of the games. She does not pretend that you can beat them – not without finding that one-in-a-million machine with an above 100% RTP. (Yes, they do exist). Ms. Boyd teaches players to be realistic, conveying that probabilities dictate you will lose in the long term, but that you can make your bankroll last a lot longer playing the “right” way.
Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner, Bob Dancer (2009)
Bob Dancer is the world’s leading authority on winning video poker strategies. His success stories are known far and wide. His authoring of Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner is aimed at players who want to learn the ABCs of the game, as well as the XYZs of becoming a video poker master. What impresses readers most is how easy Dancer makes it to identify games with a positive expectation. Most casinos don’t have them, of course, but when you find one, following his advice can net consistent profits. Strategy charts are provided for all the most common games and pay tables.
As for becoming a video poker master, this book comes highly
recommended. If you want to learn more about Bob Dancer himself,
check out his previous best-seller, Million Dollar Video Poker
(2003). Any true enthusiast will enjoy the read.
“A Winner’s Guide to…” Series, Bob Dancer (Varies)
Starting in the early 2000’s, Bob Dancer wrote and published a 6-volume series on video poker games that’s since become known as his “Winner’s Guide Series”. Each book covers the precise game play strategy and charts for a single game, covering all known pay tables for each.
If you’ve already read a beginner’s guide and are looking to expand your knowledge about a particular game – maybe one that’s specifically available at your local casino – these volumes are lauded as the best video poker strategy books in the literary realm.
The complete series includes:
Vol. 1 – A Winner’s Guide to Jacks or Better
Vol. 2 – A Winner’s Guide to Double Bonus Poker
Vol. 3 – A Winner’s Guide to Full Pay Deuces Wild
Vol. 4 – A Winner’s Guide to NSU Deuces Wild
Vol. 5 – A Winner’s Guide to Pick’em Poker
Vol. 6 – A Winner’s Guide to Double Double Bonus
Poker
Dealing with obnoxious blackjack players and dealers.
Blackjack
is widely regarded as the most entertaining game in a land-based
casino. Socialites who enjoy the communal atmosphere of a
multi-player game gather at the tables, alongside those who prefer
blackjack for its supremely high, strategy-driven RTP. It’s a win-win
for all but the most casual, solitary-minded casino goers.
But
sometimes, the experience at a blackjack table isn’t quite up to par.
Every once in a while, you may run across an obnoxious player who
doesn’t know how to keep his opinion to himself. Sometimes, the
dealer may forget his place, treating customers like second-class
citizens instead of the bread and butter they are for their
employers, the casino.
What
do you do when this happens without losing your cool? Here’s some pro
tips to help you out…
Dealing
with Obnoxious Blackjack Players
The
last thing we want to put up with at the blackjack table is another
player who thinks he’s smarter than we are. If you’ve ever had your
game play criticized by another, you know what I’m talking about.
Some
do it because they’ve had a few too many drinks. Others do it because
they’re under the impression that your decisions are effecting their
game, and they’ve decided to take out their bad luck on you. Either
way, it’s not appropriate.
You
could just get up and leave, but you shouldn’t have to feel bullied
in such a way. You could explain to him why you made the move you
did, and that mathematical probabilities do not change based on the
decisions of others. But I promise you that won’t go over well. And
there’s always the chance that his argument is correct – not yours
– and you come off looking like a total idiot.
The
best thing you can do here is completely ignore him. Don’t leave.
Don’t argue. Just remain calm, play your game to the best of your
ability, and don’t show any emotion whatsoever towards this player.
So long as you don’t appear perturbed by him, odds are he’ll become
so frustrated he gets up and leaves first.
How
to Handle a Rude Blackjack Dealer
The
job description for any professional blackjack dealer will include
supporting the players in their endeavor to beat the house. No dealer
is ever told to root for his employer. They are trained to be polite,
helpful, and give the best advice whenever a player asks for it. His
boss doesn’t care, because he already knows the rules of the game
give the house an edge.
If
you happen across a dealer who’s blatantly hoping you lose, something
is terribly wrong. This dealer is obviously in a very bad mood. Maybe
he’s running a double shift and/or has had too many run-ins with
obnoxious players of his own. Maybe he’s a disgruntled employee
hoping to get himself canned so he can collect unemployment. Whatever
the case, he’s out of line, and you’re left to deal with it.
There
are three ways you can deal with this blackjack dealer, depending on
the severity of their attitude. If they’re just being annoying, don’t
tip them. If they’re beyond annoying, you may want to get up switch
to another table. As an absolute last resort, you can report them to
the floor manager, but only in extreme situations. Again, it could
just be they’re having a really bad day, and we’ve all had those
before.
The
best advice I can give you is to think before you act. Consider all
angles – all reasons why a fellow blackjack player or dealer might
be acting the way they are. Then approach the situation with a cool,
calm and collected demeanor. The high road is always the best road!
Caribbean Stud Poker tips & logical lines of defense.
The fundamentals of gambling teach us that the rules of a game are
imperative knowledge. Not knowing how to play will require far more
luck than skill to win. Thus, the rules are the first thing any smart
gambler will learn before attempting to place a wager on any new
game. But those who are familiar with the stochastic nature of casino
games will strive to attain a greater understanding of the logistics
behind them.
If you count yourself among that group, you’ll enjoy today’s lesson
in Caribbean Stud Poker statistics and probabilities.
We’ll delve much deeper than the ordinary theoretical RTP to see just
how likely you are to hit specific payouts when implementing a
perfect strategy.
Caribbean Stud Poker Tips & Logistics
I’m going to assume that you already know the basics of how to play
Caribbean Stud Poker. It’s a standard Ante/Play betting game with
streets (revealing of cards) rather than a draw phase (no in-depth
decision making). The only decisions to be made are how much to Ante,
and whether to Play the hand with a continuation bet (Raise).
As for strategy, these five rules are all you really need to know.
Easy Perfect Caribbean Stud Poker Strategy
When you have any pair or better, Raise.
When your hand ranks below dealer’s qualifying hand (Ace+King high), Fold.
If you have exactly Ace+King High…
Raise if the dealer’s upcard is 2-Queen, and matches one of your cards.
Raise if the dealer’s upcard is King or Ace, and you have a Queen or Jack.
Raise if the dealer’s upcard is lower than your four highest cards, and you have a Queen.
Caribbean Stud Poker Probabilities
Why do the above tactics work so well? Because the mathematical
probabilities of the game state that following these rules will, in
theory, diminish the casino’s house edge to the lowest possible risk
factor.
By hypothetical standards, Caribbean Stud Poker has a 5.224% house
edge (or 94.776% RTP). However, the edge is traditionally
calculated as the expected loss on the original wager.
When following the above strategy, player’s will raise 52.23% of all
hands, which comes to an average wager of 2.045 bet units per hand.
And when raising, the player has a slightly higher probability of
winning, or achieving a hand worth a high enough payout to be worth
the calculated risk (hence the recommendation to raise in the first
place). Therefore the element of risk falls to 2.555%.
Terrible beginner blackjack strategies could will cost you everything.
I’ve spent plenty of time writing everything from tips to detailed
strategies for the game of blackjack. I’ve described at length many
of the pros most famous and effective card counting techniques.
Today, I thought we’d try something a bit different – a reversal,
if you will. Today we’ll be discussing the three worst blackjack game
strategies that only beginners are known to erroneously invoke.
The problem is that, to a brand new blackjack player with no
experience or foreknowledge of how effective tactics work, these
concepts can actually sound like the perfect way to win the game.
That’s absolutely not the case. So if you are new to the game,
be careful you don’t fall for these all-too-common fallacies.
Three Terrible Beginner Blackjack Strategies to
Avoid
I was passing through Edmonton a few weeks ago with a friend and we
stopped in the River Cree Casino. While dining at the Kitchen Buffet
(pricey, but ask for a 2-for-1 coupon when you join the players club,
it’s excellent!) I overheard a conversation that made my gut wrench.
This was obviously a kid who had never been to a casino before, and
probably had one too many drinks before he got to the blackjack
table… his “perfect blackjack strategy”, as he called, was
this…
Follow the Dealer’s Rules
This poor kid thought that if he followed the same rules that the
dealer is forced to abide by, he would have to have an above 50% win
rate. It works for the dealer, why not the player? He was so excited
by this idea of his that I felt guilty for correcting him, but I
couldn’t let him go on believing that horrible distortion.
At first, he seemed to prepared to argue his point to the death,
until he finally stopped long enough to ask me why mimicking the
dealer’s moves doesn’t work. My response was simple – because
you can bust before the dealer ever plays.
Think about it, I explained to him. If you have 16 and always hit it,
you’re going to bust a lot (62% of the time, to be exact). The dealer
must also hit 16, but only if the player has already completed their
hand. The average player using basic strategy will bust about 16% of
the time, thereby losing some of those hands before the dealer ever
has to take that scary hit on 16.
Because the player goes first, and can bust before the dealer ever
plays, following the dealer’s rules is a terrible way to play
blackjack! It results in a house edge of about 6%; far worse than the
~1% edge in most games.
The kid finally caught on and realized the error of his ways. He
then proceeded to question my knowledge, asking if this strategy
would work instead…
Never Let Your Hand Bust
Oh, no, I told him, that won’t do either. Sure, it will save you from
facing immediate disaster when the dealer drops a face card on your
12+, but it’s not going to increase your odds of winning – quite
the opposite, in fact.
A more prosperous strategy requires hitting some hand values of 12 or
more. When basic strategy instructs players to do so, it’s because
your odds
of busting are lower than your odds of losing against the
dealer’s up card.
For example, if you’re dealt 12, and the dealer is showing a 10, odds
are higher that you will lose with the 12 than the odds of busting if
you hit it. There are 9 cards that won’t hurt you, and only 4 that
will. That’s a 69.2% chance you’ll survive the hit. Thus it is the
right move to hit.
Like our error-ridden ‘mimic the dealer’ concept above, never busting
also proposes about a 6% house edge.
At this point, I told our young friend that he should take some time
to study basic blackjack strategy, and warned him to stay away from
this third and final bad tactic that’s cost some beginner blackjack
players far more than they could ever afford to lose. I’m talking
about the potentially expensive error of using a…
Blackjack Betting System
These systems are advertises as sure-fire ways to win at all sorts of
casino games that pay even money. Blackjack doesn’t really qualify,
since you can split and double down, but a lot of players make the
mistake of using betting systems here anyway.
The idea behind a betting system is to bet progressively in such a
way so that even if you lose many hands in a row, once you do win,
you’ll make it all back, plus a small profit. These systems do not
work. It doesn’t matter if it’s a straight double-or-nothing, a
positive progression, or a negative progression system. They don’t
work for one simple reason. Casinos have table limits.
You can only place wagers so high before you hit the limit, and all
that takes is 8 consecutive losses. The odds of losing 8 hands in a
row aren’t great, but if it happens, you won’t be able to continue.
You’ll have lost hundreds upon hundreds of dollars, with no way to
win it back. Learn more about the inherent
flaws of betting systems here.
Cheaters
never win! Unless you happen to be one of these guys who won a
fortune by cheating at different casino games.
Cheating the casino isn’t exactly the best way to make your fortune. It’s not so easy, either, especially considering the last few decades or so worth of advancements in technology. Security surveillance is far superior to what was available half a century ago. But it does still happen.
We don’t hear about casino cheats too much these days for two simple reasons; mostly because there aren’t many willing to try it anymore, but also because those who succeed aren’t blasting the news across social media.
Cheating at Different Casino Games
Although not intentional, some casino games are designed in such a
way as to be more vulnerable than others. An entirely computer based
game can be hacked and its software re-engineered to perform
differently. A deck of cards offers no such mechanized manipulation.
Similar rules apply to the number of people involved in the
deception. Any single-player game – a slot machine for instance –
is going to be easier to manipulate with special tools or hacking
software. The fewer eyes upon you, the better. In the same token, a
multi-player game like blackjack is easier to exploit via
distraction, wherein the deceiver gives prying eyes something else –
something less suspicious – to train their scrutiny upon.
Famous Casino Cheats of Past and Present
I certainly don’t recommend cheating casinos – or trying to, as the
case so often turns out to be. I for one would never have the
gumption to attempt it, and I hope you would make the same smart
decision to keep your gaming on the up-and-up. But there are a lot of
people out there who did and do take the renegade plunge. Most of
them failed miserably, paying a high price for their crimes. But not
everyone…
The following is a list of famous fraudsters who pulled off some of
the biggest gaming heists in casino history. Between the most
successful tricksters of old and the biggest failures of all time,
we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so for now, you can consider this
an ever-growing compilation of casino game cheats.
Richard Marcus – The Drunken Master
I’m starting here because his story is my personal favorite. Richard
Marcus, a former card dealer, was a supremely cunning individual who
used the commonality of social vices against the very casinos that
promoted them. In this case, slovenly drunken behavior.
Marcus’s skulduggery relied upon excellent acting skills, and a great
deal of courage, of which he had both. He was so adept at this
method, he gave it a name – “Savannah”. It’s awfully similar to
the comparably lame technique of past-posting, in which a player uses
slight of hand to inconspicuously add chips to a winning bet. But
Richard’s method was so much more convincing, if not a bit backwards.
In one of his more vividly detailed exploits, Marcus would play
roulette with all the vigor of a drunken master. Upon entering the
game, he would place two chips on a bet. The top chip would be small;
maybe $5. The chip beneath would be of much greater value.
If he lost the bet, he would irately grab his chips from the table –
going against every casino rule in the book – and fling them
straight at the croupier! In the process, of course, he would
cleverly replace the higher value chip with a second $5 chip, which
is exactly what the croupier would expect to find.
If Marcus won the bet, however, he would make a valiant show of the
fact that the chip beneath the $5 was of greater value, ensuring he
got paid for his acceptable, albeit unorthodox manner of chip
stacking. If security were to go back and observe the surveillance
video, nothing out of place would be seen. Such was the wisdom of
Richard Marcus, who managed to dupe the casinos out of an untold
fortune by doing the exact opposite of what was expected – cheating
on a loss, rather than a win.
“Savannah” was Marcus’s lucky lady, and she walked him across the
fiery coals of many gambling adventures without ever getting caught.
We only know of his insurmountable success because he wrote of his
duplicitous exploits in his best-selling books. Of course, by the
time he told the world what he’d done, he was already beyond wealthy
and retired from that swindling lifestyle.
Unfortunately, I’ve lost all respect for the man in recent years. Now, he makes all of his money by bragging and pitting his own kind against the enemy. He runs a blog that supposedly teaches others how to cheat at poker and casino games, and at the same time, offers services to the very casinos he once cheated, teaching them how to catch the people he is supposedly training to bilk them. Not cool, Richard!
Dennis Nikrasch – 2-Step Teaming & Scheming
Dennis Nikrasch (aka Dennis McAndrews) was a very talented man,
particularly skilled in lock smithing mechanics. He used those
talents to his lucrative advantage, taking the casinos for an
estimated $15 million before the FBI got hold of him.
Nikrasch’s story begins as a teenager, when learned the trade of a
locksmith. His unscrupulous ways began there, stealing cars and
burglarizing luxury homes in his community. His reputation grew
quickly, earning him a respected position with the Genesse Crime
Family. The police caught up with him in 1961, and by the time he was
released, he began eyeing new locks – the ones on casino slot
machines.
By simply observing the keyhole on a slot, he found he was able to
fashion a key that would open it. Once in, he used a series of strong
magnets to manipulate the machines into releasing their jackpots. His
actions went unnoticed for eight long and lavish years before one
casino’s security time finally caught on. He was arrested shortly
after.
Following a 5 year prison sentence, Dennis eventually returned to
Vegas in 1991, thinking he’d get right back to his old ways. Slot
machines had changed a lot since then, and Dennis had to come up with
a new way to cheat them. So he did. Nikrasch teamed up with tech
wizard Eugene Bulgarino, a former associate from the Genesse Crime
Family.
Together, the two got their hands on some of the newer slot machine
models and dissected them from the inside out. It didn’t take long to
discover that the computerized machines ran on a microchip, as
opposed to the old mechanical reels, and that the microchip was
responsible for triggering jackpot payouts. After months of hard
work, he was able to replicate the chip, except that his version
would command the game to pay out its top prize the very next time
the reels were spun.
Nikrasch’s biggest problem now was finding a way to switch out the
microchips in a busy casinos without drawing suspicion or setting off
a machine’s tamper alarm. The solution was easy enough – recruit a
large team of helpers to disguise his actions.
While Dennis was sitting at a slot machine, appearing to play the
game, an entire crew of helpers were moving about the casino,
ensuring that his view was blocked from the casino’s security cameras
at all times. Once he had finished replacing the chip, he would leave
the machine and one of the team members would come along to play
instead. One spin later, that inconspicuous member struck the
jackpot.
There’s nothing uncommon about one player walking away and the next
one striking paydirt, thus the casinos didn’t catch on to what
Nikrasch’s team was doing for several years. Odds are they never
would have figured it out if Dennis hadn’t been betrayed by one of
his own partners.
Exactly who turned on him and why is a matter of speculation, but
it’s believed it was a woman from the team who wanted more than
Dennis was willing to give. When she tried to turn him in to the
police, the FBI was eager to get involved, but try as they might,
they could not find a single scrap of evidence that he had tampered
with any slot machine. The security cameras showed nothing, and he
left no trace of manipulation on any machine. Even IGT, the company
that manufactured some of the games he cheated, could find no hint of
tampering.
The FBI resorted to tapping his phone, but of course Nikrasch and his
colleagues were too smart for that. What they didn’t prepare for was
the bugging of Dennis’s home. The FBI overhead a conversation in
which Nikrasch invited Bulgarino to his home. Just hours before,
agents snuck in and planted listening devices throughout the house.
During the meeting, the two discussed every aspect of their previous
crimes in an effort to find areas of improvement. They spoke of
upcoming hits, and ways to spend their ill-gotten gains.
That was more than the FBI needed to storm the home and arrest them both. Dennis Nikrasch plead guilty to all charges and agreed to reveal all of his slot machine cheating secrets to help casinos catch other people like himself. For his cooperation, his sentence was reduced to 8 years.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael – Monkey Paw, Monkey Do
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was a product of the mid
1950s, a time when technology was all the rage. Electronic wonders
were coming out of the woodwork, and they fascinated Tommy. He was
that kid that ignored his friends pleading to visit the soda shop,
and instead stayed in his room, dismantling a ham radio just to see
how it worked.
When he grew up, Tommy’s love of small
machinery led him to open Ace TV Sales & Services in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. The business was going great, but then everything began to
fall apart. Prior drug convictions had him on probation and doing
community service. He was in the midst of divorce proceedings from
his third wife. Similar shops were opening all over town, driving his
revenue into the basement.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was in shambles.
That’s when Ray Ming, an old high school buddy,
walked back into his life and change everything. Ray led Tommy
outside to his car and told him that the object inside his trunk
would change his life forever. He was right.
Within the confines of Ming’s trunk was a
small-scale slot machine and a cheater’s tool known as a “top-bottom
joint”. Neither Ray or Tommy knew how the gadget worked,
but they were determined to find out. Carmichael took the slot
machine home and disassembled it, learning the inner workings of the
game and how to exploit it with the mechanism. Finally, after
fiddling with the tool for many hours, he felt he was ready to use it
in a real casino.
His first trip to Vegas started with a nickel
machine, which he was to strike a $35 win on. He then moved up to
quarter slots, and by the time the weekend was over, he had taken the
casino for nearly $10,000.
His cheating ways continued with great success
for the next few years before casinos updated their machines to RNG
technology, forcing him to rethink his strategy. Unable to use the
top-bottom joint on the newer models, Tommy limited his gaming habits
to smaller casino joints beyond the strip, where the older machines
were still in use.
Smaller crowds made for easier detection
though, and it didn’t take long for police to catch up to him. They
followed him for a week gathering evidence before he was arrested,
charged and convicted of running an illegal gambling enterprise.
Since he was already on probation, he was sentenced to five years in
prison.
Years later, in an interview with USA Today,
Carmichael said about this time in his life:
“You think about what you did, and the mistakes, and how to correct them. You either get straight or get better.”
Carmichael got better.
In the years he was away, machines continued to
evolve, so Tommy decided to go back to school, so to speak. He worked
multiple minimum wage jobs until he’d saved enough money to purchase
one of the newer machines. Not a slot machine this time, but a video
poker machine. He spent more than a year learning the how the RNG and
micro-processing units worked before he was ready to head back out
into the casinos with his new invention – The Monkey Paw.
It’s engineering was genius, yet its operation
simple. Built with guitar string and steel springs, it did resemble a
monkey’s paw. And when it was inserted up the payout chute of a
gambling machine, it triggered a mirco-switch that released a payout.
Tommy was “winning” thousands of dollars
every outing, but just as before, times were changing, technology was
evolving, and casinos were updating to newer machines. Carmichael
decided to save some time and play it cool, disguising himself as an
affluent with interest in purchasing one of the new slot machines.
Under this presumption, he convinced a casino
employee to open up one of their new machines and explain how
everything worked. In that limited space of time, he conceived his
next big invention – The Light Wand.
As is turned out, the new games were just as
easy to cheat as the old ones, but instead of making contact with the
trigger, he needed only light to pass over it. Like before, the light
wand was inserted into the payout chute. When the light shown on the
sensor, coins were released.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael became extremely wealthy
at this point, not only because his new slot cheating device worked
so well, but because he was making loads of money on the side selling
them to fellow casino cheats. He was so rich at this point, he took a
6 month vacation from Las Vegas, pilfering the machines on casino
cruises in the Caribbean.
Upon his return, Carmichael decided to set up a
team. He partnered with Ramon David Pereira and his old prison buddy,
Michael Balsamo, among others. Each member had an important role,
scoping out the machines, keeping a watch for security, blocking the
line of vision from security cameras at just the right moments.
If the stories are true, these guys were so
successful that at their peak, they were raking in upwards of $5
million a day, virtually raiding the vaults of every casino on the
Las Vegas Strip. Then one day in 1996, it all came crashing down.
The group was running their scheme at the
Circus Circus Casino when authorities closed it. Tommy had no idea
the casino had updated its security cameras. His blockers were no
longer effective. Security saw everything. The moment Carmichael
inserted his light wand into a machine, a team of guards pounced.
He was charged with cheating, manufacturing of
a cheating device, and possession of a cheating device. However,
authorities didn’t have enough evidence to make all the charges
stick. They had to release him the next day.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was arrested again in 1998, to no avail, and one last time in 1999. That time it stuck. He was sentenced to 1 year in prison and 3 years probation. After his release, he turned his life around, sort of. Carmichael began working with the casinos instead of against them, and made his new fortune developing tools to help stop cheaters. Might as well, since he’s engraved in Nevada’s Black Book of life-time banned players.
Ronald Harris & Reid McNeal – The Ruinous Nature of Greed
In the mid 1990s, a pair of seemingly unlikely comrades were getting rich quick off Nevada casinos. One was Ronald Dale Harris, a respected engineer with a strong background in computer programming and a convenient source of employment. The other was Reid Errol McNeal, an old school yard friend of Ron’s who just happened to be in the wrong situation at the right time.
The story begins in the early 1990s, when Ron Harris applied for a
job with the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). He had all the right
skills and his record was squeaky clean, thus he was a perfect
candidate for computer programmer. His responsibilities included
analyzing the state’s slot machine software for glitches and flaws.
In Ron’s defense, he had no intention of going rogue when he was
hired. However, his job granted him access to very sensitive
information, and it wasn’t long before he realized how easy it would
be the manipulate the system from his position. All he had to do was
alter the erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) within a
slot machine to govern its payout release. And so he did…
Harris knew the inherent dangers of his actions. He knew that if he
went to the casino and won a jackpot himself, it would look awfully
suspicious. That’s when he decided to contact his old childhood
friend, Reid McNeal. The two had stayed in touch over the years,
enough that Ron knew Reid had recently lost his job and was hard up
for cash. Needles to say, it didn’t take much convincing to bring
McNeal aboard.
Ron would program the EPROM chips of certain slot machines to line up
a big win when a certain sequence of coins was entered. Then Reid
would play the slot machines his friend told him to play, in the
exact manner he was told to play them. For instance, one of Ronald’s
favorite sequences – one no other player was likely to insert by
accident – was 3 coins, 2 coins, 2 coins, 1 coin, 3 coins, then 5
coins. If that precise number of coins was inserted per play for six
plays in a row, the sixth spin would result in the big win.
At first, they were the perfect duo, splitting the profits down the
middle. They won relatively lucrative amounts of money, but never
more than a few thousand per strike. It kept the prying eyes of the
NGCB off their backs, and put far more in Harris’s pocket than his
day job allotted. But then, as criminals so often do, the two got
greedy.
In 1995, Ron wanted to try his illicit programming skills on keno
machines, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing it in his home state.
They left Nevada for the east coast, bringing with them all the
equipment required to manipulate a gambling machine on site. They
booked a room at an Atlantic City hotel and set their sites on a keno
machine at Bally’s Park Place Casino.
In the beginning, everything worked just as planned. Harris gave
instructions to Reid, who inserted $100 into the appropriate machine
and – as expected – won the $100,000 jackpot. It was the largest
keno prize ever paid by the casino. But instead of uncorking the
champagne bottles and taking pictures with oversized cardboard
checks, casino staff became instantly suspicious of Reid McNEal.
His first mistake was his lack of reaction. He did not seem surprised
or even excited by the 6-figure win. He remained perfectly calm and
asked for his winnings to be paid in cash. No payout would be
forthcoming however; not just because the casino suspected something
was up, but because any win of $35,000 or more required an
investigation to confirm the win.
As protocol called for, security protected their latest big-money
winner back to his hotel room, where they just so happened to find
Ron, along with all of the equipment the two brought with them to
manipulate the machines and cheat the casino. That was all police
needed to place the two under arrest.
Ronald Harris plead guilty to more than twenty counts, including abusing his position with the NGCB, using confidential information for personal gain, and rigging gambling machines from Las Vegas to Atlantic City. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released on good behavior after serving just two. Reid McNeal cut a deal with authorities, testifying against his friend in exchange for exclusion. Subsequently, all charges against him were dropped.
Ida Summers – The Vegas Vixen
People often jump to conclusions when it comes to the roles women
play in large-scale casino cheating scandals. It is assumed that any
woman is merely a distraction – a decoy – directed by a man or
group of men to swing their hips and bat their lashes while the real
geniuses get the job done. That stereotype had nothing to do with the
success of the fraudulent femme fatale, Ida Summers.
Ms. Summers was, for the most part, a one-woman show, and one of the
most successful Vegas fraudsters of all time. And while she most
certainly distracted the dealers and pit bosses from what was really
going on at the table, it was for her own benefit.
Aside from her deviant charms, Ida’s claim to notorious fame was her
indubitable skill at sleight of hand. From the late 1960s to the
early 1970s, she pocketed thousands of dollars a day at Las Vegas
casinos, mostly by adding or removing cards – sometimes entire
decks or shoes of card! She was so adept at it, she eventually earned
the nickname Vegas Vixen.
We must attribute a great deal of her success to her beauty, and
ability to flaunt it. With a petite frame and slender physique, 5’2”
and under one hundred pounds, every head in the room turned when she
walked in. As competent as she was at sleight of hand, her
flirtations were her most dexterous skill, allowing her to easily
move cards around without notice.
Ida was especially fond of technique known as hand-mucking. It
involves exchanging one or two cards in your hand with outside cards.
In order for this to work, of course, you need the additional cards
to flawlessly match the current cards. She had no trouble solving
that potential problem, either.
Ms. Summers would either steal a deck cards right off the table when
the dealer was distracted, or she would use her charms to convince a
dealer to give it to her, even though it is thoroughly illegal to do
so. The Vegas Vixen was known to draw a dealer so deep into her
flirtations that when she asked for a deck of cards, just so she
could “practice at home”, they were more than willing to risk
their job just to make her smile and flash those beautiful eyes once
more before she left.
Having an entire casino deck to work with, Ida would slide cards up
her sleeve and discreetly pull them out as needed. She used them most
often at the blackjack table to give herself a hand of 21. She was
also known to cheat at Texas Hold’em poker and Caribbean Stud.
In her most daring adventures, she would stack an entire shoe with
“cold decks”, prearranged to guarantee beating the house. Of
course, replacing an entire shoe was much more difficult, and far
riskier, than replacing a few cards. This was one area in which Ida
Summers required help, recruiting a number of people to assist her in
the job. She would remove one shoe from the table and slip the
stacked shoe back in its place, then rest the original shoe in her
lap, just out of sight under the table, until an accomplice could
discreetly take it from her.
It’s crazy how successful she was in these duplicitous endeavors,
despite the seeming blatancy of her crimes. One could say it goes to
show how gullible men can be when it comes to the charms of a
beautiful woman. However, once the casino managers became suspicious
and brought the FBI in to investigate, it still took them several
months to gather sufficient evidence to prove she was, in fact,
cheating the casinos. This attests to her immense skill at sleight of
hand.
Eventually, she and several of her accomplices were caught. The charges against her so well stacked that she should have spent several years behind bars. But her days of charming weren’t over yet. We can only assume that she was able to flirt her way out of the courtroom, handed nothing more than probation, even though several accomplices served time in jail.
Louis “The Coin” Colavecchio – The Counterfeit Con
Louis Colavecchio was not a casino cheater in the traditional sense.
He did not manipulate the games to increase his advantage over the
house. There were no Aces or mechanical devices up his sleeves. Mr.
Colavecchio’s crime was more subtle, and far less detectable by
casino security. He was a superbly skilled counterfeiter of slot
machine coins.
For many years – no one knows for certain how long – Louis was
using special equipment to mint counterfeit coins that perfectly
mimicked the tokens accepted and emitted by casino slot machines. His
coins were so on point, it wasn’t just the cashiers that were
fooled by them. He is believed to be the first counterfeiter that was
able to successfully recreate coins even a slot machine’s
sophisticated software was unable to identify as being fake.
Louis wasn’t always a con artist though. He was the son of a poor
immigrant-turned-businessman who rose up to open his own machine
manufacturing company. In hopes of following in his father’s
footsteps, Louis, who was very intelligent, went to college and
opened a business of his own – a jewelry store in his hometown of
Providence, Rhode Island. It was years later, after a brutal burglary
destroyed his business and almost took his life, that Louis got
involved in counterfeiting.
Using the insurance money from the robbery, he opened a new jewelry
store and began taking “business trips” to Atlantic City. Those
trips were actually a front for a new addiction – playing slot
machines. The store, in turn, became a front for counterfeiting
coins. He started out minting fake chips for the blackjack and poker
tables. This was far easier than slot machine coins, but yielded a
minimal profit. Eventually, he decided the reward outweighed the risk
associated with counterfeiting slots tokens.
Louis would make his way to Atlantic City, bringing a stash of coins
he’d minted on a machine originally built to engrave jewelry. He
would then use these coins to play the slot machines, appeasing his
addiction with no risk to his financial welfare. A bad run lost him
nothing, but when he had a good day, he was able to cash out for pure
profit.
Mr. Colavecchio is said to have made over one million dollars
counterfeiting slot machine coins before the law finally caught onto
his deceptive ways. It started with a phone call to the New Jersey
Department of Gaming Enforcement from Caesars Palace after the staff
discovered a massive surplus of $10 slots tokens during an annual
inventory check. All other casinos in the area were informed, and
when they ran their own counts, they found equally sophisticated
counterfeit coins in their network.
The casinos were put on high alert, and when Louis Colavecchio and
his then-girlfriend, Donna Ulrich, entered Caesars Palace the
following weekend, it didn’t take long for security to catch on to
their suspicious habits. They spent hours watching the two, making
note of their game choices. When they left, security opened those
machines to find counterfeit coins in the hoppers of each and every
game they had played.
In 1998, Louis and Donna were arrested. Authorities found them in
possession of 750 pounds worth of counterfeit coins from various
casinos in New Jersey and Connecticut. In exchange for a reduced
sentence, Colavecchio agreed to tell the casinos how he had
counterfeited the coins so perfectly. He spent the next 7 years
behind bars.
Upon his release in 2006, he went right back to his old ways. Within a few months, Louis was arrested for the exact same activity. Years later, after statute of limitations had been exceeded, it was revealed that rumors of Louis Colavecchio’s involvement with the mafia were true. He admitted that the brutal robbery of his first jewelry store was really a premeditated scam to claim insurance money. He is also said to have been involved in other mafia-related robberies, arson fires and shootings. Louis was arrested again in 2013 for drug trafficking.
Phil Ivey & Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun
The name Cheung Yin Sun may not ring a bell, but surely you’ve
heard of the highly decorated, world-class poker pro, Phil Ivey.
He’s got 10 WSOP bracelets under a multi-million dollar belt. But
poker isn’t the only game he excels at. Paired with Cheung Yin Sun
– better known as “Kelly” Sun – this
duplicitous duo was caught cheating more than one casino out of
massive amounts of cash.
Ivey and Sun seemed to be the world’s most successful baccarat
players, right up until the casinos figured out how they were getting
so lucky. The two were using a special technique known as edge
sorting. This system only works if 1) the players are extremely
observant, and 2) the deck of cards in use has some sort of
discernible flaw in the pattern printed on the back of each card.
Some say these two actually manipulated the cards in some way to
achieve their edge-sorting advantage. Whether that’s true or not,
we don’t know. What we do know is that Ivey’s immense bankroll
and intelligence, combined with Sun’s expert edge-sorting
capabilities, made one heck of a time – for a while.
Ivey and Sun famously cheated the Crockfords Club casino in Mayfair,
London in 2012. While playing Punto Banco for high stakes, they
utilized an erroneously printed pattern on the cards that helped them
predict whether the next card would be high or low. In this way, the
two were able to wrangle up a massive £7.7 million in winnings at
Crockfords alone.
Unfortunately for them, that kind of cash isn’t handled directly.
When Ivey requested the winnings be transferred to his bank, the
casino instead froze his account and launched an investigation. Soon
enough, they filed charges against the two for outright cheating.
Ivey of course claimed that they had merely found a fair edge and
used it to strategically win. After a 5-year court battle, the London
Supreme Court sided with Crockfords, declaring Phil Ivey and
his accomplice were “undoubtedly cheating”. Thus, the
casino did not have to pay Ivey or Sun the millions of pounds they
had illegitimately won.
Crockfords wasn’t their only high-rolling haunt. When the pair
weren’t edge-sorting the Punto Banco tables in London, they were
doing the exact same thing at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. It
wasnt’t until the Borgata caught wind of what was happening across
the ocean that they took greater notice of Ivey’s baccarat play at
their own establishment. Low and behold, Ivey always played alongside
Kelly Sun, and together they had taken the Borgata for more than US
$12 million in April 2012.
The Borgata, having already paid out their winnings, filed charges
against the duo – more severe charges than they faced in the UK.
Ivey and Sun were accused of cheating, and were also brought up on
charges of fraud and racketeering (via the RICO
Act). If convicted on all counts, they would have faced at
least $30 million in fines, not to mention jail time. As it was, the
extra charges were dropped, leaving Ivey and Sun to pay back the more
than $10 million.
While Phil Ivey was attempting to file an appeal against that
judgment, he was also learning that the UK courts had ruled against
him. He would not be receiving any money from Crockfords Club.
Without that cash, he told the courts he could not afford to repay
the Borgata – that the “enormity of that amount would clearly
be of devastating impact”, resulting in “irreparable harm”
to both Phil Ivey and Cheung Yin Sun.
Borgata wasn’t falling for it, and neither were the courts. Ivey
did not have enough liquid assets in New Jersey to cover the cost,
but he had no trouble spending money in Nevada – including the $10k
buy-in for the 2018 World Series of Poker Championship. The NJ courts
ruled that the Borgata could pursue Ivey’s assets in Nevada,
including any futures winnings from poker, until the casino had been
paid in full.
Phil has yet to give up on the court battle. In March 2019, he filed
an 800-page appeal in hopes of practically rearguing the entire
original case. He maintains to this day that neither he nor Sun
interfered with the deck of cards in any way. However, it was proven
that the two requested the same deck be used for an extended period
of time. During that time, they were placing $150,000 bets, and won
$12.6 million. When a pit boss intervened and demanded that a new
deck be introduced, Ivey and Sun immediately cashed out and left.
Phil Ivey finished in the money in several events at the 2019 WSOP,
where he won a combined $133,395. He never saw a penny of it, though.
WSOP host Caesars Entertainment instead sent the money to The
Borgata, which had obtained a court order to seize his poker winning
in Nevada. To date, still owes millions of dollars to The Borgata.
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