While it is true that the primary purpose of gambling was always supposed to be entertainment, there are a lot of people who are obsessed with maximizing their profits this way. Some of these people have no moral or ethical restrictions in this regard and intend to get what they believe what they’re due by any means necessary. Naturally, this leads them to consider cheating. Now, cheating itself is as old as gambling itself. This means that the evolution path of cheating in casinos is several millennia-long, on its own. With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top 10 ways people are cheating in casinos.
1. Late betting
The simplest way to explain this would be to put it into the perspective of one of the simplest games out there – rock, paper, scissors. You’ll win every time if you wait until you see what the opponent is going to choose. With the benefit of hindsight, you’ll win 10 out of 10 times. Ideally, this wouldn’t work in games such as roulette, seeing as how the dealer is there to control the players. This is why cheats work in small groups so that some can distract the dealer first.
2. Fake chips
Playing with fake chips is like paying with fake money – you’re using something worthless in order to get something of value. The thing is that this method is not available to everyone. Counterfeit casino chips (especially those that can fool seasoned dealers) are insanely expensive. This is what makes this method particularly expensive. Nonetheless, present-day casinos have built-in chips in their chips. This makes recognizing fake chips a matter of seconds.
3. Stealing chips
What if we’re not talking about fake chips but real, actual chips. What if you didn’t pay for these chips but actually stole them. The problem is that casinos are covered with security and cameras looking out for this thing specifically. The success rate also depends on how good the con artist actually is. The idea of a regular person pulling this off is quite absurd. For this, you would have to be a professional pickpocket.
4. Cheating with magnets
When it comes to cheating the machine, the solution is usually of a mechanical nature. In the past, people have either used strings or magnets and some believe that these methods still work. According to AskGamblers, there are a lot of myths about how to cheat a slot machine with a magnet, but it is really hard to do it – no matter which method you choose.
5. Capping
While playing a game, you’re betting a certain number of chips on the hand. Now, if betting a pile of chips, there are not a lot of people who can tell straight away how many chips are there exactly. This makes some people add (cap) or remove (pinch) chips, depending on how the circumstances have changed. The key thing in this is to do it without drawing the attention of the dealer. This is easier said than done.
6. Working with the dealer
Previously, we’ve mentioned a lot of methods that depend on your ability to trick the dealer. However, what if the dealer is not paying attention on purpose? What if you’ve paid off the dealer to look the other way or they’re in on the action? This setup, nonetheless, is quite hard to organize and the perpetrators are discovered sooner than later. Most often, the group becomes too greedy and pushes it until they’re discovered.
7. Card counting
This topic is a bit controversial, seeing as how it’s not illegal nor can it be legally prohibited. Still, if you are caught counting cards, a casino can do one of two things. They can either ask you to leave (completely in their right) or they can force you to play fixed bets on every hand. This way, the method would be ineffective. Most importantly, some casinos also use shuffling machines, which makes counting cards completely impossible.
8. Card marking
If the cards are marked, you can easily tell what hand your opponent has or what card comes next. There are so many types of special (invisible) liquid that can be seen under infrared light (special contact lenses). This way, the gambler gets an edge that’s particularly hard to notice. However, it would require that one has access to decks, which also means having a person on the inside.
9. Malware
We’re living in a world in which online gambling is becoming a bigger and bigger trend with every passing moment. So, how would one cheat during online gambling sessions? Malware is an obvious answer. However, online casinos usually have top-notch anti-malware systems. They spend a fortune on cybersecurity and track any suspicious behavior. This malware can also be either pre-installed or infiltrated later on. Overall, hacking is a real thread for online gambling.
10. Sharing information
Like in several previously-discussed methods, this one also depends on one’s ability to work with others. During card games, you’re supposed to make decisions based on the limited amount of information that you have. There are 52 cards in the deck and you can only see 5-6 of them. So, what would happen if players exchanged the information? There are so many non-verbal means of exchanging information and some players get especially creative with it.
Wrap Up
Remember, all of the above-listed techniques are, more or less, general knowledge, which means that casinos are aware of them, as well. Cheating is as old as gambling but so are anti-cheating methods. Present-day casinos have reached the pinnacle when it comes to cheating prevention, even though these techniques don’t work 100% of the time. The bottom line is that cheating never pays off. Chances are that you’ll get caught, which is an alternative that’s always worse than just losing. Most importantly, it kills all the fun that comes from gambling and makes you take these things far too seriously.
