New cheat method...

[dacium]

Firstly I have never cheated in blackjack and even if this work I would probably never use it in real life, this is why i am freely talking about it because I don't really care if some wizz bang people take this idea and get it working good (if you do thought cut me 10%!)

I come up with what I believe is a new way to cheat that I don't think anyone has ever done yet. I got this idea a while ago and I have now been able to at least prove the concept.

Last year I worked with infra-red lasers. Basically using a laser it is possible to mark a card by shinning the laser on it and heating a small spot on it. the temperate is not high enough to burn the card, but quite high (over 150 degrees celcius) It cannot be felt because of being extremely fine (around 100 micrometers in diameter). The heat circle expands is it cools as the heat dissipates through the card. Even after 15-20 minutes its still possible to clearly notice a card that has been marked and one that has not (using night vision infra red goggles).

Basically I am down to trying to use a infra red sensitive phosphor that can be painted onto glasses so you can see infra red. Its very primitive, but you can certainly notice if the next card to come out of a shoe was painted. The glasses have to block out all light (like blind man glasses) for you to be able to see, so probably acting as a blind man with a friend is the best cover. As for the laser, well a pocket sized one that I have has to be held for about 30 seconds on a card to heat it enough and it has to be held by a stand so its always on the same spot, else you never get the point hot enough.

The current range of my laser is about 15-20 inches. This needs to be exctally aligned to focus the laser. But all that is needed is a more powerful laser that could do it nearly instantly there are certainly available (and dangerous), using one would likly be very risky (shining in someones eyes could probably completely blind them - im talking class 3 laser here). Even they can be made extremely small if you only need a quick burst.

I am almost to the point where I think I can do this for real even in the crude setup I have. I would sit at a CSM (less heat) with a 'lucky charm' that is actually the laser. The entire outer coating would be infra red shield perspex. So it would not look to have any openings at all. Using my glasses (one eye peice is totally covered and dark and painted with the phosphor so i can see heat, the other eye I can see out off to play) I aim it at where the dealer deals his up card (as this card will likly sit there for 30 seconds). I would have to the laser sitting at the right spot and hope his up card always goes to the same spot as it is very hard to get the distance exact else the laser will not focus and will not heat properly.

I patiently play until he shows an ace, then I paint it by pressing on the lucky charm. I mull over taking insurance and ask for it to be explained etc. getting enough time to mark the card. Then any time the next card is a an ace out of the csm, I bet it up big. I play really fast to try and get a market ace back out on the table.

Ultimately I could probably mark aces in the corner and tens near the middle, knowing my first card is a ten is still a huge +VE (I think, anyone know for sure how much?)

Obviously if i won to much they would get suspect that every time i bet big I drew an ace, so I would have to hide it with some other fake bets. Ideally I would do this by painting a couple cards that are not aces so even I am surprised when I get a bad card

I will keep you all informed and try and get some pics next week.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

No way that won't work on several levels.

First of all, you are planning on heating the card and hoping the thermal radiation from the card will be visible on the next shuffle? No way in hell. Something so thin as a playing card will become indistinguishable from ambient temperature in just a few seconds.

Also, just putting a phosphor on glasses won't work. You would have to image the mark. So perhaps you could put the phosphor on your retina! IR phosphors work by imaging the IR onto a phosphor-coated screen, and then you look at the screen.

If you want to fool around with an IR source at the table, you can try blinding the cameras with it. Pick a source around 900-950 nm, which is at the peak of transmission of that black plastic around the cameras.

 

[dacium]

Believe me, it does stay heated above ambeint, I have infra red camera that we use to map air temperature when designing cabinets with fans in them and can clearly see the cards still heated even after 5 to 10 minutes.

I am totally wrong about the phosphor, it will not light up on its own, you need to use a photocathode to excite it, so pretty much you would need night vision goggles...

All i really need it a very sensitive IR camera. I would point it at the shoe and it would somehow communicate to me that the card it is pointing at is giving off ir.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

It can't stay heated. It would have to remain warm to the touch for 5-10 minutes. You could set an edge of the card on fire and it wouldn't remain warm for 5-10 minutes after you extinguished it. What you are probably seeing is a change you are creating in the dye of the card that changes it's thermal emissivity

If it's not warm to the touch, then just the heat of the dealer's fingers would create a stronger IR signature than your mark.

 

[EdgeCapper]

The equipment you need for this would be too hard to keep out of sight. I am picturing a lazer the size of the machine from Honey I Shrunk the Kids being positioned next to the table and a man with a welders mask paired up with a Station Casinos "Im a Jumbo Jackpot Winner" t-shirt, that he wears to blend in, holding the cards in position to burn a mark .

I was a pit supervisor at a casino downtown a couple of years ago and we caught a guy cheating our roullette game by buying in with $1 chips, pocketing one or two stacks, then come back the next day and buy in asking for the same color, but had the dealer mark them up to $5 chips. He'd place outside bets one chip per spin while he snuck his chips from his pocket to the table, making a $4 profit per chip. He hit us up three times for about $500 total before we took notice of his suspicious $100-$200 wins from playing outside bets for very short periods of time. He came in the next week and the pit staff played it cool while surveilence focused the camera on him pocketing the chips. The next day, he played worry-free as pit supervisors stayed away from the game while we gathered footage of him taking his $1 chips and instantly transforming them into $5 chips. While he was coloring up and preparing to cash out, our security team swarmed in and made the catch. Nevada Gaming Agents showed up with LV Metro Police to make an arrest and we then found out he was wanted for doing the same thing in other casinos in Las Vegas, but nobody could catch him. Our casino was the first that he tried to steal from more than twice and so we were more prepared for his return. I was told by my former shift manager that he was sentanced to nine years in prison for stealing only a couple thousand dollars.

Cheating in a casino is a serious crime. Using any device to assist with cheating makes matters even worse for the cheater.The penalties are harsh and the risk vs.reward just doesnt balance out for what were talking about.

Any game that you could potentially make a big score is sure to be well protected. On a high limit pitch game, the dealer should be skilled enough at game protection to know to keep the deck close to his/her chest to prevent the player from seeing the back of the cards and if not, the floorman would make sure they did after taking a quick glance at the game. I know of only two ways to mark a card on a multi-deck shoe game because the backs are never exposed after being dealt face-up, with the exception of the top card in the discard rack and that would be a difficult angle for anybody to mark. The moves I do know of are tough to do effectively without being caught and not even worth the thought of attempting.

It is much safer to find a dealer who unknowingly exposes their hole/hit cards which has the same effect of marking the cards (10-25% edge), but wont land you in a prison cell. I could tell you of many dealers in Las Vegas who do this and have no clue about it and have been doing so for several months. All you need to do is pay attention and you will stumble upon them. I work at a strip property that is known for having some of the best skilled dealers in Las Vegas and I could name two dealers who I know do this consistantly. Some of the other dealers and I often joke about these two screw-ups, who make many serious mistakes repeatedly, but still keep their jobs because of the people they know. They just don't give a damn about their game because they are getting paid regardless. The bosses have to keep them on low limit games to prevent any significant loss.

I just realised that I have spent too much time on this post and I need to get some real work done today. I think I have said enough to make my point. What was my point again? Oh yeah...I had a couple of them. Number one, Cheaters never win(But, damn it's tempting!), and mainly, don't watch Honey I Shrunk the Kids when your a grown man because it is not nearly as magical as I remembered it from when I was a child and seeing it again recently just spoiled it.

I hope you didn't spend as much time reading this as I did typing it.

Good luck to all of you,
EC

 

[dacium]

The laser is no bigger than a small laser pointer. And when you use a different shaped battery, the entire thing can be as small as a box of matches.

Im not interested in using it for real in a casino cause I have a family etc to look after. But that doesn't mean I won't be looking at proving the concept.