Blackjack is every casino's most popular and profitable game but the house's bottom line could be even stronger were it not for the efforts of thieves, called crossroaders. The most dangerous form of cheating, claims the top expert in the field, is done with the aid of crooked dealers.
"I would say that there's almost nothing that I could share with you, for shoe games, the wheel and craps, nothing in my experience - 30 years of collecting hustlers' moves, forays, scams, you name it - that would have any real threat to the casino bottom line that doesn't involve somebody on the inside," said Steve Forte, the man many regard as the nation's leading authority on casino games cheating. "Employee theft is a reality in any industry and the gaming industry is no exception."
Crooked dealers, many of them capable of sleight of hand tricks and close-up magic, have a variety of ways to work with an accomplice or
agent. In a hand-held, single-deck blackjack game, the most common method is for the dealer to
seconds, that is, the second card from the deck while pretending to deal the first. Usually a crooked dealer will use one of two hand manipulations, the
two-card push off or the
strike to deal seconds. Before seconds are dealt, the dealer first determines the top card's identity through a peek. An adept dealer also can look (
bottom peek) and deal (
base deal) from the bottom of the deck.
A blackjack dealer also can increase the agent's chances of winning by showing or
flashing him the next card.
A proficient dealer, or
mechanic, can transform his agent's losing hand into a winning one by substituting a card from the deck. A mechanic who specializes in switching cards is called a
hand mucker.
But while cooperation of the dealer makes cheating easier, it's not essential to the cagey crossroader's success.
Expert hand mockers can gain an edge by palming two cards off the cut. It doesn't even matter if they're poor cards, say a three and a six, because the mucker always can substitute them for an ace and a picture card once he's legitimately been dealt those cards through the course of play. When he's accumulated the ace and picture card and switched out the three and six, he has a stolen blackjack in his possession. On the next hand he makes a limit bet and inserts the pilfered blackjack.
Muckers also use sleight of hand when playing two hands at once. An ace-five in one hand and a king-six in the other, two 16s, can be turned into a blackjack and a potential-laden 11 by
switching cards between the two hands. Sometimes the mechanic is so proficient that the move is difficult to spot even with slow-motion surveillance equipment.
A third method employed by muckers is
capping or
pressing, a technique in which the mechanic adds chips to a favorable hand.
Dragging or
pinching is the reverse, removing chips from a poor hand.
Knowledge of the blackjack dealer's hole card is an enormous edge and thieves have devised some ingenious ways to attempt to gain that information. Before objects on a table were banned, some cheats employed a
glim (also called a
flick,
light, or
twinkle) a shiny object, such as a cigarette lighter, which, if strategically placed on the table, will reflect the dealer's hole card when it's transferred from the deck to the table. Of course, casino surveillance experts know of glims so crossroaders have gone to great lengths, including building a prism disguised as an ice cube which floats in their half-finished drink, to improve the scam.
Another method of gaining access to the dealer's hole card is called
spooking, where a
spook sits at another table behind the dealer and signals when the dealer checks his hole card for blackjack.
But by far the most devastating cheating is the
cooler, where a stacked
deck or
package, is inserted into the game in place of the casino deck(s).
As many as nine thieves, seven players, including one who will make the switch with the accomplice dealer, and one who will distract or
turn the pit boss, a
bagman to carry out the legitimate deck(s), and another turn person (often an attractive woman or a skirt) to create a disturbance, can take part in the scam.
Of course, the thieves need exact copies of the casino's distinctive cards, less of a hurdle than you might think in today's technological era.
So, while surveillance techniques have improved and the odds of success at cheating the house at blackjack have diminished, there are always those who will try.
Next: Part 3, dice swindles.
This article was written by Luken Karel for
http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online casinos and sportsbooks offering
blackjack, craps, slots and other casino games and sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to
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