People can do some pretty crazy things when it comes to gambling – particularly players who try and cheat casinos.
These people will go the extra mile in order to win big. For years they’ve used their skills and smarts to evade casino security for millions in winnings; some even became celebrity cheaters! Here are some of the most well-known casino scams and cheaters.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael
Tommy Glenn Carmichael is widely considered one of the world’s premier casino cheaters. Using tools such as kick stands and monkey paws to rig slot machines he stole millions. Additionally he devised devices, like light wands to trick slot sensors. Furthermore, his foolery even fooled security as well as gambling dealers!
He started as a TV repairman in Tulsa, Oklahoma but his financial woes forced him into casinos where he soon became adept at stealing thousands of dollars per day – until finally caught when police raided a Denny’s restaurant where they found his top-bottom joint tool in his pocket.
Prison didn’t put an end to his criminal career, however. Together with fellow inmate Michael Balsamo, he began devising new ways of defeating casinos. They were successful with this when they came up with the “light wand,” using camera batteries and small lights to blind slot machine sensors and force payouts from them.
Richard Marcus
Richard Marcus was one of the world’s most infamous casino cheats. Traveling around the globe and scamming casinos out of an estimated $30million without ever being caught, his story reads like something out of Hollywood: from early years betting horses and high-roller casino games like blackjack to eventually landing a job dealing baccarat at Four Queens Las Vegas where Joe Classon taught him how to cheat casino table games he quickly rose through the ranks before eventually finally being brought down by authorities.
Marcus created some of the world’s finest table game cheating techniques during his 25-year run as a table game swindler, using acting skills to distract casino security while placing bets just seconds before their permitted limits were hit. Furthermore, Marcus gained insight into how casinos operated their security systems so he could make virtually impossible-for-a-casino bets that were illegal despite this information gathering process. Today he offers security seminars to casinos so they can spot individuals trying to cheat at their tables.
Monique Laurent
Monique Laurent remains relatively obscure outside of casino cheating scandals; however, one such scandal was made famous when she took part in it with her brother in France on Valentines Day 1948. Monique pulled the strings behind their plan together but made sure it ran successfully by managing all aspects of it herself.
The brothers had devised a method using a radio transmitter concealed within a cigarette pack to control where the roulette ball ended up on the wheel, giving Monique, who was serving as a croupier, the ability to make her bets by pressing an invisible button when placing her bets.
But it was her winnings that caught the casino owners’ eye; not her beauty or other attributes. They quickly checked her roulette wheel for signs of bias or tampering but came up empty handed.
Scott Tom
Although casino security has never been tighter, some gamblers still find ways to cheat casinos out of thousands of dollars by employing deception or stealth techniques to outwit security measures and use these skills against casinos. Some have become legendary figures and part of gambling history itself.
Richard Marcus was one of the most notorious casino cheats ever. Utilizing his knowledge of blackjack and baccarat to bilk casinos out of millions using simple sneakiness such as stacking two red $5 chips over one large brown $500 chip so it only appears as $15 bet in dealer’s eyes.
He became adept at past-posting for both roulette and blackjack, using this technique to view other players’ hole cards and bet accordingly. Unfortunately, he eventually got caught and banned from all Nevada casinos; since then he works closely with casinos to improve security and prevent fraud.