Reading an Australian court report about the way that in May 2005 a “highly organized Asian syndicate cheated the Gold Coast's Conrad Jupiters Casino out of almost A$1 million in less than an hour at the high rollers' tables before being arrested,” reminds me of several such scams that have been tried in casinos the length and breath of the baccarat shaped globe.

The report says that the Asians’ modus operandi “involved one man switching cards from hands dealt by the baccarat dealer with cards hidden in the palm of his hand in a bid to weaken his chances of winning.” As the gambler changed the Bank’s (his) cards for low count cards, “other members of the Chinese group sat at the same table and bet against” him on the Player’s cards.

Allegedly, in just 50 minutes the gang had netted more than A$750,000, but were arrested that night at the airport after casino security staff monitoring video footage alerted police. As is usual in cases like this, one has to ask the question: What were the dealers and supervisors doing when the cheat was palming cards left right and centre?

More important though, what was the casino floor management doing as the table went from hero to zero in just one hour? The answers to these questions are not hard to imagine. They were doing nothing, or were in league with the cheats. And what type of dealing procedures allow players to palm cards for practically one shoe or more of play?

Of all the casino games Baccarat is singly the most dangerous and exposed house game, but should also be the most profitable for the casino if everyone does what they are paid to do. In the Gold Coast scam, surveillance personnel are said to have detected the cheating team hours after they left the casino, who were then caught as they were waiting at the airport for their flight to leave.

I expect people have said: “Well done surveillance guys!” But did they have to wait so long to detect the robbery? Why was the cheat not detected during play? Was the baccarat table doing its conkers while the surveillance guys were having a cup of tea or looking at the blonde’s big boobs? Cheats prosper in casinos because the human element fails. Mostly the security procedures are there for staff to implement, but sometimes they just go to sleep and cheats are always waiting in the wings for this to happen. (E-11.27.07)

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