Move Over Blackjack – Baccarat is the New Cheater’s Game of Choice
Cheat at blackjack
Bill Zender, a Las Vegas casino security consultant, believes that baccarat cheating is on the rise, and may soon overcome blackjack as the card cheater’s game of choice.
The mathematical nature of blackjack card games appeals to cheaters who use mechanical and electronic devices to help them count cards and stay a step ahead of the dealer. But cheating at blackjack is complicated, and usually requires strong math skills to pull off.
Baccarat draws cheaters for other reasons. It’s a game with simple rules and few strategy decisions to complicate things. Baccarat tables often have high limits, making them ripe for the picking. Because baccarat is a much simpler game than blackjack, baccarat cheating tends to be less mathematical and more technical.
In a recent video demonstration given to security officers at the Tuscany Casino in Vegas, Zender showed off some of the devices that are being used to cheat at baccarat in Cambodia. Most are mechanical card switchers – small concealed devices that let players quickly and secretly swap bad cards for good cards. This sort of card-switching equipment requires cheaters to steal high-value cards from various casinos, but that has not stopped them from growing in popularity across Asia.
While Cambodia is far from Las Vegas, Zender warns local casino operators that these cheating devices are making their way to the US.
While the famous MIT Blackjack Team made headlines in the early 90s for taking Vegas casinos for hundreds of thousands of dollars using a complicated blackjack card counting system, the largest casino cheating ring in US history actually involved baccarat. A team called the Tran Organization took dozens of casinos across 10 states for some $15 million by cheating at baccarat before they were shut down by the FBI in 2007.
Players interested in enjoying blackjack and baccarat games the honest way can find great games and tournaments at these recommended online blackjack casinos.
8 Comments
Wow. I have seen this kind of thing in the movies, but I didn’t know anybody was dumb enough to try something like that in Vegas. Anyway what’s the fun of cheating? It takes all the thrill out of the game…
Wow. I have seen this kind of thing in the movies, but I didn’t know anybody was dumb enough to try something like that in Vegas. Anyway what’s the fun of cheating? It takes all the thrill out of the game…
i was once told by a Star City casino employee in Sydney that Baccarat is the best game to make money in a casino. you can easily turn your $50 into a couple of thousand…kind of explains the cheating
i was once told by a Star City casino employee in Sydney that Baccarat is the best game to make money in a casino. you can easily turn your $50 into a couple of thousand…kind of explains the cheating
Well, i suppose that’s about the only way to make the American version of baccarat interesting.
Well, i suppose that’s about the only way to make the American version of baccarat interesting.
By comparing card counting in blackjack (which is a skill – as even court verdicts have agreed with) to outright cheating (which is what the Cambodian team tried to do) – Bill Zender shows his bias, mendacity and manipulation. Zender is obviously a casino tool not an objective “security consultant”.
By comparing card counting in blackjack (which is a skill – as even court verdicts have agreed with) to outright cheating (which is what the Cambodian team tried to do) – Bill Zender shows his bias, mendacity and manipulation. Zender is obviously a casino tool not an objective “security consultant”.