Famous Cheaters in Casino History – The Biggest Scandals and How They Got Caught
While it might be unfavorable, people do cheat casinos – some even becoming notorious for it.
Louis Colavecchio wasn’t your traditional casino cheater in terms of using mechanical devices or hiding cards; rather, his methods focused more around counterfeiting.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was an ambitious and resourceful individual who became famous by manipulating slot machines to earn himself significant wealth for over four decades. This allowed him to gain immense returns.
Former TV repairman turned slot machine rigger, he used his skills to rig fruit slot machines at casinos across Las Vegas and other cities. Over the years he developed many tools that enabled him to gain entry to coin hoppers and steal cash; perhaps his most ingenious creation was a sliding device with monkey paws capable of interfering with sensors in machines; in addition, he created light wands which worked on newer electronic machines.
Carmichael eventually changed his ways after getting caught cheating a few times and decided to work with casinos to develop anti-cheating innovations, including some which can be found online casino games like slots NZ.
Richard Marcus
Richard Marcus failed to make his living gambling legally in Las Vegas and found himself homeless, becoming homeless he began work as a blackjack and baccarat dealer to gain an insight into how casinos operated and find ways to beat them. Joe Classon recruited him onto his team where, within weeks of training, he started making thousands of dollars!
He achieved unparalleled success through the ‘Savannah’ strategy of concealing a $5,000 chip beneath two $5 chips so they appeared as just one $10 chip to surveillance cameras.
Casinos tend to scrutinize winning bets more closely than losing ones, so Marcus’ scam initially went undetected. But eventually sharp eyes caught on and Marcus was banned from casinos forever. Since then he has used his knowledge of casino cheating to educate others – even writing a book detailing his methods! Additionally he runs websites and blogs dedicated to helping others succeed.
Ida Summers
Many casino cheaters are men; women typically serve only to distract pit bosses or dealers. Not so for this Vegas vixen; she did all of the dirty work herself. Her criminal exploits extended beyond blackjack tables alone: she also committed fraud at poker games and Texas Hold’em tournaments.
She began using hand mucking techniques at the table, which involved concealing cards up her sleeve before retrieving them to form winning hands – an intricate trick as she needed to do this without being noticed by the dealer.
She eventually progressed to placing entire shoes with prearranged “cold decks,” intended to guarantee the house would lose. Although much more risky, she managed to successfully carry this out. Nowadays she consults with casinos to improve security and prevent cheating; though being careful as she was caught once! Heh..heh
Monique Laurent
Casino cheaters have long been an infamous part of life. While some depend on math and probabilities to rig games, others take more creative approaches. One such person was Richard Marcus – widely considered the premier blackjack cheater of all time who even wrote an autobiographical account of his adventures in his book!
Laurent became part of what would be known as the French Cigarette Pack Team in 1973. Her brother worked as a croupier while she stood close by with an invisible transmitter concealed in a cigarette packet containing her transmitter hidden from view inside a packet cigarette holder. At her husband’s signal, she would press a button hidden within to influence roulette wheel results and they earned over 5 Million Francs each week through this exploitation of players!
At first this seemed like a large sum for casinos to bear, but eventually they caught on and hired outside experts to inspect the wheels for abnormalities. Although nothing abnormal was discovered during this investigation, they noticed Monique frequently holding onto a pack of cigarettes without actually smoking any; this served as an indicator that she may have been using a radio transmitter device.