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Cheating is currently only a small problem in legal casinos in the United States, but stay alert. You should be aware of ways that dealers can cheat and know what to look for. If you are cheated, you will lose very quickly. It will take you a week of playing against honest dealers to earn back what you can be cheated out of in an hour.
From the reports I get I am sure cheating still exists. But I have not knowingly been cheated in a long time. I am still always alert to the possibility of being cheated. No matter how friendly the dealer or how long I have been playing in that same casino, I always watch for cheating. I have not seen any in many years. The only times I have been cheated in recent years were in Indonesia and Korea. All Indonesian casinos have since been closed. Cheating is not a problem at Walker Hill in Seoul and the other major casinos, but in Korea avoid small hidden casinos (that might be illegal) and casinos way-out in the country that get almost no customers.
I never cheat. I have had instances where a dealer gives me a sly or knowing look and flashes the next card to be dealt or the hole card. I always get up and walk away. I want to win, but I want to win honestly. I do not mind profiting from dealer errors or dealer sloppiness, but I refuse to be a partner with any dealer in a scheme to steal from a casino.
Atlantic City
Cheating has never been a problem in Atlantic City casinos.
Nevada
Cheating has not been a problem in Nevada casinos for a long time. There will always be accusations of cheating whether or not cheating actually exists. Whenever anything unusual happens and you lose, you are likely to claim that you were cheated. You will occasionally lose ten hands in a row just by chance alone; losing ten hands in a row is not prima facie evidence of cheating. Some card counters incorrectly think that winning is due to skill and losing is due to being cheated. The truth is that winning and losing are both chance events.
Casino regulators are supposed to impose stiff penal-ties against cheaters. If gaming commission sleuths spot cheating at a casino, they can close that casino. Cheating managers are not supposed to be allowed to manage casinos any more. Cheating owners are not supposed to be allowed to own casinos anymore. All of this makes it unlikely that you will encounter a legal casino where cheating is house policy.
On day shift at a large Las Vegas casino, I encountered a dealer who twice turned up his second card (instead of the first card) after considerable fumbling. The first time he had 10 up and a 4 in the hole. The second time the upcard was again a 10, so I stood with fifteen. This time the hole card was 5, and I won the hand.
In a situation such as Freed describes, what the dealer did is against the rules and dishonest. However, it may yield information on which you can capitalize. For example, suppose the dealer looks at the first card before turning it over. If the first card is 2,3,4,5, or 6 the dealer looks at the second card. If the second card is ace or 10, the dealer turns up the second card instead of the first card. Suppose the dealer is otherwise honest.
In the situation of the above paragraph, the dealer is giving you additional information. If the dealer turns up the second card, it will be 10 or ace and the hole card will be 2,3,4,5, or 6. If the dealer turns up the first card and it is 2,3,4,5, or 6, you know that the hole card is other than 10 or ace. If the dealer turns up the first card and it is 7,8, 9,10, or ace, you have no new information about the hole card.
This information is valuable to you. If you know how to use it, you are better off than if the dealer did not try to cheat. Since I do not want to encourage you to play against cheating dealers, I am not going to work out the appropriate strategy or expected value of this scenario.
I should mention that if you ignore the dealer's actions and just play your normal game with decisions based on the dealer's upcard, you will be worse off due to the cheating.
The cheating dealer shows aces and 10s too often, and the players bust much too often.
At a major Las Vegas casino a young dealer named Paul was blatantly peeking at the next card to be dealt, ostensibly for the benefit of a pretty female player who was toking heavily. Paul had the audacity to call for insurance before taking a hole card, peek at the top card, and then deal himself a natural after his female friend put up an insurance bet! I did not catch him dealing seconds, but the peek was obvious. It seemed like just "good-natured" cheating, but it is kind of scary to think that a dealer can be so blatant and not worry about being caught. When the girl hit a hard seventeen with a $5 toke riding on the hand and caught a 10 to bust her hand, Paul looked at her hand, said "You can't hit a seventeen," and put the 10 in the discard rack, handing her back her seventeen.
This is the first article of the series: Cheating by the dealer, you can continue with the following one.
© Copyright 2007 Gambling Central's material. It may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
From the reports I get I am sure cheating still exists. But I have not knowingly been cheated in a long time. I am still always alert to the possibility of being cheated. No matter how friendly the dealer or how long I have been playing in that same casino, I always watch for cheating. I have not seen any in many years. The only times I have been cheated in recent years were in Indonesia and Korea. All Indonesian casinos have since been closed. Cheating is not a problem at Walker Hill in Seoul and the other major casinos, but in Korea avoid small hidden casinos (that might be illegal) and casinos way-out in the country that get almost no customers.
I never cheat. I have had instances where a dealer gives me a sly or knowing look and flashes the next card to be dealt or the hole card. I always get up and walk away. I want to win, but I want to win honestly. I do not mind profiting from dealer errors or dealer sloppiness, but I refuse to be a partner with any dealer in a scheme to steal from a casino.
Atlantic City
Cheating has never been a problem in Atlantic City casinos.
Nevada
Cheating has not been a problem in Nevada casinos for a long time. There will always be accusations of cheating whether or not cheating actually exists. Whenever anything unusual happens and you lose, you are likely to claim that you were cheated. You will occasionally lose ten hands in a row just by chance alone; losing ten hands in a row is not prima facie evidence of cheating. Some card counters incorrectly think that winning is due to skill and losing is due to being cheated. The truth is that winning and losing are both chance events.
Casino regulators are supposed to impose stiff penal-ties against cheaters. If gaming commission sleuths spot cheating at a casino, they can close that casino. Cheating managers are not supposed to be allowed to manage casinos any more. Cheating owners are not supposed to be allowed to own casinos anymore. All of this makes it unlikely that you will encounter a legal casino where cheating is house policy.
Which Card is Upcard?
Axel Freed says:On day shift at a large Las Vegas casino, I encountered a dealer who twice turned up his second card (instead of the first card) after considerable fumbling. The first time he had 10 up and a 4 in the hole. The second time the upcard was again a 10, so I stood with fifteen. This time the hole card was 5, and I won the hand.
In a situation such as Freed describes, what the dealer did is against the rules and dishonest. However, it may yield information on which you can capitalize. For example, suppose the dealer looks at the first card before turning it over. If the first card is 2,3,4,5, or 6 the dealer looks at the second card. If the second card is ace or 10, the dealer turns up the second card instead of the first card. Suppose the dealer is otherwise honest.
In the situation of the above paragraph, the dealer is giving you additional information. If the dealer turns up the second card, it will be 10 or ace and the hole card will be 2,3,4,5, or 6. If the dealer turns up the first card and it is 2,3,4,5, or 6, you know that the hole card is other than 10 or ace. If the dealer turns up the first card and it is 7,8, 9,10, or ace, you have no new information about the hole card.
This information is valuable to you. If you know how to use it, you are better off than if the dealer did not try to cheat. Since I do not want to encourage you to play against cheating dealers, I am not going to work out the appropriate strategy or expected value of this scenario.
I should mention that if you ignore the dealer's actions and just play your normal game with decisions based on the dealer's upcard, you will be worse off due to the cheating.
The cheating dealer shows aces and 10s too often, and the players bust much too often.
Peeking
A reader says:At a major Las Vegas casino a young dealer named Paul was blatantly peeking at the next card to be dealt, ostensibly for the benefit of a pretty female player who was toking heavily. Paul had the audacity to call for insurance before taking a hole card, peek at the top card, and then deal himself a natural after his female friend put up an insurance bet! I did not catch him dealing seconds, but the peek was obvious. It seemed like just "good-natured" cheating, but it is kind of scary to think that a dealer can be so blatant and not worry about being caught. When the girl hit a hard seventeen with a $5 toke riding on the hand and caught a 10 to bust her hand, Paul looked at her hand, said "You can't hit a seventeen," and put the 10 in the discard rack, handing her back her seventeen.
This is the first article of the series: Cheating by the dealer, you can continue with the following one.
© Copyright 2007 Gambling Central's material. It may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.