Here's a next-generation cheating trick (from an article about casino cheating by Richard Marcus) to go along with all the next-generation surveillance equipment being installed in casinos to protect them from cheaters:
But the [cheat] that really impressed me, was [one ] player who was wearing buttons that were actually infrared cameras, capable of capturing the identity of cards as they pass through a shuffle machine. One shuffle machine in particular had a tiny hole that revealed each card, but not to the naked eye. The infrared camera illuminated the card, and the video images were transmitted to a vehicle in the parking lot, where collaborators slowed the video down and could tell their player in the casino which card was coming next. Hitting on 17 is a smart move when you know a four is coming next. Beating the shuffling machines is definitely avant-garde in the realm of casino cheating.
One of the other main points of the post, though, was interesting in a whole different vein:
[Jeff Jonas, an expert on the Las Vegas gambling/surveillance industry] stated his opinion that Vegas seems to put an enormous focus on high-tech security, but in some ways the casinos are just doing enough to get by. He pointed out that they spend the minimum amount of money on security and surveillance and would rather buy three more slot machines and make money. In other words, even though they spend a fortune on state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, it is a paltry sum compared to what they spend on raw gambling equipment.
We find it amazing that many organizations are willing to pay top-dollar for underperforming big-name systems, and that others underspend on low-end equipment and get something that gives them very little value (poor frame rates, poor resolution, bad image quality, etc.)
Abigail
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