Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

Ok, set let me know if this is just crazy paranoia, but a friend of mine is absolutely convinced that basically all poker dealers are capable of being card mechanics and manipulating the deck, second dealing etc.

Also, he believes they have deals with certain players and give them good cards for a cut of the winnings. And if you tip well or otherwise get on their good side somehow they will help you out too.

I know that is all pretty vague, but he has some crazy stories, most of which are confined to the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Anyone have stories of their own, specifically about the Trop, or otherwise?

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

Has your friend ever played in casino?

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Has your friend ever played in casino?

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that rhetorical? He has played enough at the Trop to qualify for their monthly freeroll tourneys, with extra starting chips.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

Yes, it's paranoia. If virtually all dealers had the card handling chops to cheat undetected, they wouldn't be risking prosecution or even working a job as tough as dealing to split winnings or gather a few extra tokes. Maybe in private games, but highly doubtful in casinos. There was only one time (at the Trop, coincidentally) when I thought a stud dealer might have -- emphasis on "might" -- been manipulating the deal. Some a**h*** got abusive and caught the deuce of clubs as his upcard four times running It could as easily have been just a statistical anomaly, or karmic tumblers clicking into place. But as a regular occurrence? Nope.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

It was a serious question. Why would he play there so much if he has numerous stories (that he seems to believe) about the dealers cheating?

Re: the original post

I doubt there is any cheating.

1. Seems extremely difficult. The dealers will have to be paying attention to everything happening at the table and also where relevant cards are in the deck. Then they'd have to manipulate it so that the cards go where they need to with the cut card at the bottom.

2. Even if they could do that, it couldn't be that profitable if each dealer has 30 minute downs. How many times can you get the same dealer in a night? The dealer can get fired or worse if caught.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

I used to work as a corporation banker in the california card clubs on the paigow tables... basically our jobs is to pay out winning hands, catch dealer mistakes and make sure the dealers go through all the procedures...

There is a procedure the dealers have to do when they are shuffling the cards.
1. Is the scramble... make sure the dealer is doing a through scramble.... This is really important because a really good SHADY dealer could mark the joker this way.
2. The shuffle...box cut shuffle.
3. The most important is the CUT. even when you play @ home games make sure the guy cutting the card cuts at least 7 cards.

Usually when a scam like this goes on...one of the players is in with the dealer. 1 Player got caught marking the tip of the card with her fingernail.... When the dealer sat on the table he was good enough to feel the card when he cut the card making the cut card the first card dealt.

Whenever you see any marks on the cards or if the dealer isnt doing the proper procedure immediately call the floor man and ask for a deck change or ask about the procedures.

After working this job... It really gave me a different prospective in the poker room.

Oh yeah...watch out for invisible ink! Believe it or not...its out there.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

telly our friend to stop sniffing the glue before playing. You can make the case that 1 dealer and 1 player might have a deal, and you caught it, but all of them or its common practice....

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

The one time I felt cheated at the Trop in AC was when I found out the only beer they served in the poker room was Milwaukee's Best in plastic cups.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

What would be a dealers motive to cheat? That he was in cahoots with a player is the only answer I can think of. The casino would not make any money from it, and they would not want the dealer cheating. A big casino woudn't make enough money off of it even if they wanted to get involved to make it worth it to them I don't think.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
when I found out the only beer they served in the poker room was Milwaukee's Best in plastic cups.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, nh

... is this true? bleechhhh

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

the dealers at the trop have a hard enough time dealing the cards normally. dont be ridiculous.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Ever feel cheated in a casino?

[/ QUOTE ]

Everytime walk through the door.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

Once I felt cheated, not to say I was. Las Vegas Club, downtown. Blackjack. They changed decks, taking all the old decks out of play. They brought in new set of decks, not brand new onces, True they shuffled up at the my table. When I asked pitboss he said they came from another table that was closed down.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
The one time I felt cheated at the Trop in AC was when I found out the only beer they served in the poker room was Milwaukee's Best in plastic cups.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just threw up a little in my mouth.


I guess that is a good policy if you don't want anyone drinkin beer in your room.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

Paranoid schizophrenia requires medication and your friend should seek a doctor asap for his condition. His fears are so ridiculous I almost wondered if I was on the internet forum and he was talking about party poker being rigged (yet again). It's just as ludicrous.

al

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

In order to manipulate the deal you have to manipulate the shuffle. This requires you to build a runt of the cards you want to control. Cameras catch this sort of thing. I know quite a few dealers, three of which claim to be cheaters. They were all caught, had thier gaming license revoked and in one case did jail time.

Cameras see all.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

Your friend must really suck at poker.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
And if you tip well or otherwise get on their good side somehow they will help you out too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously, the solution is for your friend to tip better. Dealers are happy, player's happy (gotta love the placebo effect), everyone wins.

As others have stated, a rigged shuffle is pretty easy to spot, and there's just not much of an upside at a name casino. I've heard it told that most mechanics need to use a two-handed false-cut, so if the dealer's doing a one-handed cut (like they should), there's very little to worry about.

Either that, or they're just that good. Ooh!

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I almost wondered if I was on the internet forum and he was talking about party poker being rigged (yet again). It's just as ludicrous.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just wait till Penn Jillette's new book comes out. I predict many "The dealer was a total mechanic putting ice-cold work down!" types of posts.

Re: Ever feel cheated in a casino?
 

[ QUOTE ]
The one time I felt cheated at the Trop in AC was when I found out the only beer they served in the poker room was Milwaukee's Best in plastic cups.

[/ QUOTE ]

Remind me to never go to the Trop. I mean, christ, even bad college parties serve beer better than the beast.