Nakharar Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 'Laser scam' gamblers keep $1.9m LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A trio of gamblers who used laser technology to win over a million pounds ($1.9 million) from London's Ritz casino have been told they can keep their winnings, police say. http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/WORLD/europe/12/05/casino.scam.reut/story.wheel.jpg Police say a laser scanner was used to calculate the ball's resting place. The Hungarian woman and two Serbian men used a laser scanner hidden in a mobile phone linked to a computer to gauge the speed of the ball and the roulette wheel, and hence the number most likely to come up. They were able to do the calculations swiftly enough to place their bets as required before the roulette wheel has gone round three times. On the first night they won 100,000 pounds, and on the second took home another 1.2 million pounds, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. It said all three were arrested after the casino instigated enquiries, and their funds frozen. But police told Reuters on Saturday the case had been closed and the three allowed to leave with their money because they had broken no laws. The newspaper said casinos throughout the country were examining security as a result of the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 That's AWESOME!!! I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Aaahhh technology to the rescue of the gambler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 I think this is a great story. I love it too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 And they say Jews and Armenians are smart ... More nations join the club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harut Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 The Hungarian woman and two Serbian men used a laser scanner hidden in a mobile phone linked to a computer to gauge the speed of the ball and the roulette wheel, and hence the number most likely to come up. style_images/master/snapback.png And they say Jews and Armenians are smart ... More nations join the club style_images/master/snapback.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 style_images/master/snapback.png Sagh ashkharn el hay en eghbayr. Chinaciq el en hay bayc chgiten ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harut Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 so i can take a pen and paper and start writing down all the cards that come out of the deck and see what's left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Harut jan, there is NO law against counting cards. You can count cards as much as you want, but the minute they find out that you are they kick you out because it is a private place and they refuse service to you. Have any of you read the book on the MIT guys that took Vegas for a ride? It was incredible what they were able to do. Won many millions, but non went to jail as it was not illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 (edited) I've seen the discovery channel special on those MIT guys ... it's pretty amazing what they did. Harut, counting cards in a deck is really not that hard in Blackjack. All you have to do is keep track of high low cards to get an idea of what the chances of there being "10's" in the deck are. The problem is when they use more than two decks, as many times they do in Veags, and when you are on a table with a lot of players. If you are in a table by youself, you can sometimes count successfully but it takes a lot of practice and concentration. A good trick is to keep track of the differential between faces/10s and lower cards. It's just one number ... you increase every time you see a low card and decrease every time you see a 10 or higher. But don't even try counting cards on a machine All of them shuffle before each hand I think. Edited December 7, 2004 by Seapahn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Sip that is exactly the system they used.(kind of) 2,3,4,5,6 was -1 and 9,10, j,q,k, was +1. 7 and 8 not counted. Aces were counted separately. So if the card count got to be very low the chances of getting a high card were high and if the ace count was 0 or very low then chances of black jack was high thus they would come and bet big bucks at that. the MIT guys had other people doing the big bets who were not at the table at that time so the casinos were having a hard time figuring out that they were counting. The MIT system They had a spotter who would stand behind count the cards. they would have 2 players on the table who were counting as well. one just making same small bet all the time the second making bonehead moves just to distract some attention away from the dealer to spot the real counters. They would have a 4th person waiting a bit far away from everything. when the players and the spotter would give the signal the real big better would come and bet. They also had keywords that they would mention to the person just arriving so that he or she would now the approximate count as well. The big betters were usually women or blacks as casinos have a bias thinking that women and blacks are not smart enough to count. How smart of the casinos. I think, I can remember the number but they won something like 6 million or some ridiculous amount before they were thrown out of casinos and put on a list with all casinos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 (edited) I don't think those MIT guys invented the card counting trick ... it's just the elaborate ways in which they did it is what was amazing. I remember about this guy that had a counter built into his show. Taps with his tows would count up/down or just rest. I don't remember how he would read the count but that's a really easy circuit to set up! I much rather just spend my time at the craps table and not worry about small details like "winning" Edited December 7, 2004 by Seapahn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 I don't think those MIT guys invented the card counting trick ... it's just the elaborate ways in which they did it is what was amazing. I remember about this guy that had a counter built into his show. Taps with his tows would count up/down or just rest. I don't remember how he would read the count but that's a really easy circuit to set up! I much rather just spend my time at the craps table and not worry about small details like "winning" style_images/master/snapback.png heheheh. Well if I made big bucks like you I would not worry about winning as well. I dont think I have been to vegas for the last couple of years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anileve Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 (edited) It said all three were arrested after the casino instigated enquiries, and their funds frozen. But police told Reuters on Saturday the case had been closed and the three allowed to leave with their money because they had broken no laws. style_images/master/snapback.png Brilliant! I bet it was the woman's idea, that's why they walked away with all of their money. Our analytical mind allows us to think of all of the possible outcomes and their consequences. By the way, I still don't understand why counting cards is illegal. You are not scamming anyone if you are using your superb mental skills to count. It takes so much effort! When I was playing BJ, I was hardly managing to calculate my first two cards, when everyone else was clapping because I won. The entire game I was like this and relied on peoples faces like this to know if I won or not, I don't know if anyone detected that I had a hard time counting. I counted on my luck and the security guy who was helping me out, such a girl! Edited December 7, 2004 by Anileve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 (edited) I still don't understand why counting cards is illegal. ... Counting cards is NOT illegal. ... mainly because no one can ever really prove you were counting cards And Azat, there is one place in Vegas I always win without much effrot ... yup you guess it Edited December 7, 2004 by Seapahn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anileve Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Counting cards is NOT illegal. ... mainly because no one can ever really prove you were counting cards And Azat, there is one place in Vegas I always win without much effrot ... yup you guess it style_images/master/snapback.png Okey okey, no need to scream...Jeez... - Is card counting illegal? - As it noted several times in the book, counting cards is not illegal by law. It is illegal to use devices, calculators, etc., to count cards, but as long as you are using your grape you are ok. That said, the casinos have the right to "ban" card counters from the casino. Banned card counters are tracked by most of the casinos by a firm that organizes this info. I guess that's why I was under that impression. Seap, will you ever stop talking about your buffets?! We all know you are a winner in "eat all you can" game. That being said, I just lost an ebay auction and that my friends makes me really really sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Seap, will you ever stop talking about your buffets?! We all know you are a winner in "eat all you can" game. Who said anything about buffets? It's not my fault Azat guessed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmEngine Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Seems highly unlikely that they would let them go! Using any electronic device as an aid is cheating. Cheating is against the law ... seems to be urban legend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.