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I definitely don’t recommend that you get into the business of cheating casinos. Being caught could potentially land you in prison.
The time you spend cheating could be better spent learning an advantage play technique like card counting, hole carding, or shuffle tracking.
At least you don’t have to worry about legal consequences when caught as an advantage gambler.
But looking through the eyes of casino cheats is interesting, especially when considering the mind games they play with the employees.
These tricks are essential to a cheat pulling one over on the house. Keep reading as I cover the main psychological tricks employed by gambling cheats.
Create a Fun Atmosphere
The best way to avoid looking like a cheater is to make oneself appear as a fun-loving gambler who’s having a hot night.
Card sharps are great at banter and making fellow gamblers laugh. This creates a lighthearted mood that makes the cheater come off as a cool person.
Contrast this to somebody who intensely rips off the house and fails to socialize. They don’t create a positive atmosphere at the table, which makes them subject to more scrutiny.
Establishing Rapport with the Floorman
Floormen oversee several table games during their shift. They’ll often come over and greet players of interest, especially those who are betting big.
It seems logical that a cheat would want to spend as little time conversing with these employees as possible. After all, the swindler can avoid drawing too much attention to their actions this way.
But a cheater should actually establish rapport with the supervisor. A skilled cheat will gladly speak with the floormen and accept any invitation to have their play rated for comps.
Cheating casino games is only part of the equation when it comes to making money. One must also get the employees on their side, especially the supervisors, who are second in rank to pit bosses on gaming floors.
The easiest way to win floormen over is by being polite with them and acting like a normal player. This process includes being cordial and having your play rated.
Making Oneself Look like a Regular High Roller
Earning profits through cheating is easiest with larger bets. You know that you’re going to win through cheating, so it only makes sense to maximize this edge.
Of course, bigger bets also draw attention from the casino staff. Therefore, it’s necessary to give off the appearance of a high roller.
Past-posting teams, which specialize in adding chips to bets after results are determined, especially need to look like high rollers.
They do this by making a legitimate $500 or $1,000 bet in the beginning. Doing so gives them credibility when they later add chips to a smaller wager.
Contrast this to a gambler who starts with $25 or $50 bets, then past-posts to create $500 wagers. The dealer and/or supervisor will naturally be curious about these events.
Buying Big Chips from Another Table
A good gambling cheat doesn’t make a spectacle of themselves right away. They instead take casinos by surprise, so that the employees aren’t immediately monitoring their play.
One way to accomplish this is by purchasing large chips from one table, before using them at another. For example, a cheat would play baccarat for a short while with $500 or $1,000 chips.
They’d later take these chips to a blackjack table so that they could begin past-posting (or using another cheating move).
This seems to contradict the advice of trying to look like a high roller. But the key benefit to buying large chips at another table is that casinos have less time to scrutinize cheats when the big chips are wagered at the new table.
The gambler still starts out by making 1-2 regular big bets. However, they quickly shift to the dishonest wagers afterward without giving employees as much time to monitor their action.
Betting Back After Big Wins
A swindler would ideally cheat on every hand so that they can get max profits out of their “advantage.” The problem with this, though, is that casinos will have an easier time catching them if they continually cheat.
Betting back can be used to cool things down after a large profit. This term refers to placing a normal wager after successfully conning the casino.
Here’s an example:
- Tom past-posts a $1,000 bet.
- He books a $1,000 profit.
- Tom makes a regular $500 wager on the next hand.
- Win or lose, he’s at least guaranteed a $500 profit.
The problem with the $500 bet is that it’s subject to the house edge. But even if the gambler is facing a 2-3% house edge, they’ll lose very little of their profits over the long term.
Betting back is overall a good thing for cheaters. It helps them sell the legitimacy of their play for a small long-term cost.
Leave the Table in a Celebratory Manner
Many cheating mind games revolve around doing the opposite of what instincts would suggest. Such is the case with leaving the table, where you’d think that quickly leaving would be the best idea.
A skilled cheater will instead leave the table in a natural manner. They’ll behave like somebody who just won a small fortune at the table.
This behavior can include smiles, a parting joke to the table, and/or plans on what they’ll do with the money.
All of this makes it less likely that employees will suspect something and call for surveillance to review the action.
Waiting to Color Out Chips
Coloring out is the process of exchanging low-denomination chips for high-denomination ones. Gamblers do this so that they don’t have to deal with as many chips when visiting the cage cashier.
Of course, coloring out offers the impression that a gambler is happy with their night and ready to cash out. Doing so only adds to the suspicion if an employee is already questioning how a player won so much.
Afterward, the cheat can still cash out with the only downside being that they’ll have to deal with more chips. They could also visit another table and play for a short while, before asking to color out there.
The latter option is a good coverup. If surveillance ever did review the cheater’s play, they’d see the player making normal bets at another table.
Tip the Dealer
It’s well known that dealers don’t receive enormous salaries from the casinos themselves. They’re usually paid minimum wage and rely on tips for a large portion of their salary.
Therefore, the last thing a cheat wants to do after ripping off a table is stiff the dealer. A croupier may have slight suspicions about how the gambler won so much money already. They’re more likely to speak with their supervisor and ask for a surveillance review if they don’t get tipped.
Obviously cheats want to keep as much of their profits as possible. But a large dealer tip after a supposed hot night is a good investment.
Don’t Strike Up Conversations at the Cage
Everything up to this point suggests that cheats act jovial at the tables and make friends with dealers and supervisors. But the cage cashier is a different story.
By this time, a cheater has already won their money and just wants to get out of the casino. They don’t need to buddy up to the cage worker and chat about their big night or the weather.
A cheater still responds to any questions or comments that the cage employee may offer. However, they don’t try to make a new friend – there’s no need at this point.
The best thing for the cheater to do in this situation is to lay their chips down and wait quietly for the money.
Is It Worth Cheating if You Know All These Tricks?
The actual process of cheating a casino isn’t the world’s most-difficult task. Most moves involve team coordination and quick actions.
A little practice before entering the venue should be enough for cheaters to pull off their caper.
However, the casino has plenty of lines of defense, including dealers, floormen, and surveillance.
This makes employing psychological tricks a necessity. A smart cheat who uses various deceptions on employees will get away with their ruse far longer than those who don’t.
Even with a bag of tricks, though, the penalties for getting caught are great. Laws and punishments can differ by the gambling jurisdiction, but you always face the possibility of jail time if caught. Some people go to prison for multiple years if their plot is elaborate enough and causes serious financial damage to the casino.
These may not be the old Vegas days, where mobsters would break people’s fingers for cheating. But the penalties are definitely severe enough to make one think twice about cheating.
Of course, a cheater often rationalizes that they’re not doing anything wrong. Casinos have the odds stacked in their favor, so why who cares if a player takes advantage of them?
Courtrooms don’t subscribe to this rationalization, though, and will punish any guilty parties accordingly. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend putting the tricks discussed here into practice.
Conclusion
You don’t have to be an expert swindler to attempt casino cheating. You could easily try past-posting, card marking, or hide cards in your sleeve.
But those who make a career out of the matter need a little something more than good hand-eye coordination. They must also master psychology as it relates to befriending casino staff members and appearing to be a regular gambler.
Somebody who cheats long enough is eventually going to attract suspicious at some point. Surveillance records all the action, meaning casinos can review the footage at any time to catch a scammer.
The true cheating artist will behave in a manner that helps avoid attracting any skepticism. They’ll use a bag of techniques to get the staff on their side.
The best place to start is by acting like anybody else would on a hot streak. Normal gamblers don’t sit at the table rigidly while winning $1k bets – they chat with fellow players and celebrate a bit.
It’s also important to strike the balance between looking like a high roller without becoming an attention magnet.
Earlier I discussed placing a couple of regular big bets to start off with. Doing so makes it look like one is just an average high roller.
At the same time, they don’t want to buy big chips from the same table where they’ll cheat. It’s better to introduce large bets suddenly, without warning.
How a person cheats following their con is another trick to avoiding detection. Betting back is a good way to take off the heat after winning a large profit.
Even leaving the table requires a certain finesse. Exiting the table like a natural big winner is preferable to acting like one has something to hide.
Tipping the dealer is also essential to successful cheating. A suspicious dealer may offer the benefit of the doubt as long as they’re tipped well.
Even the best cheaters who thoroughly master all these techniques are bound to be caught eventually. But they can at least evade being caught for a while if they master dealing with the employees.
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It’s well known that dealers don’t receive enormous salaries from the casinos themselves. They’re usually paid minimum wage and rely on tips for a large portion of their salary.
Therefore, the last thing a cheat wants to do after ripping off a table is stiff the dealer. A croupier may have slight suspicions about how the gambler won so much money already. They’re more likely to speak with their supervisor and ask for a surveillance review if they don’t get tipped.
Obviously cheats want to keep as much of their profits as possible. But a large dealer tip after a supposed hot night is a good investment.
Don’t Strike Up Conversations at the Cage
Everything up to this point suggests that cheats act jovial at the tables and make friends with dealers and supervisors. But the cage cashier is a different story.
By this time, a cheater has already won their money and just wants to get out of the casino. They don’t need to buddy up to the cage worker and chat about their big night or the weather.
A cheater still responds to any questions or comments that the cage employee may offer. However, they don’t try to make a new friend – there’s no need at this point.
The best thing for the cheater to do in this situation is to lay their chips down and wait quietly for the money.
Is It Worth Cheating if You Know All These Tricks?
The actual process of cheating a casino isn’t the world’s most-difficult task. Most moves involve team coordination and quick actions.
A little practice before entering the venue should be enough for cheaters to pull off their caper.
However, the casino has plenty of lines of defense, including dealers, floormen, and surveillance.
This makes employing psychological tricks a necessity. A smart cheat who uses various deceptions on employees will get away with their ruse far longer than those who don’t.
These may not be the old Vegas days, where mobsters would break people’s fingers for cheating. But the penalties are definitely severe enough to make one think twice about cheating.
Of course, a cheater often rationalizes that they’re not doing anything wrong. Casinos have the odds stacked in their favor, so why who cares if a player takes advantage of them?
Courtrooms don’t subscribe to this rationalization, though, and will punish any guilty parties accordingly. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend putting the tricks discussed here into practice.
Conclusion
You don’t have to be an expert swindler to attempt casino cheating. You could easily try past-posting, card marking, or hide cards in your sleeve.
But those who make a career out of the matter need a little something more than good hand-eye coordination. They must also master psychology as it relates to befriending casino staff members and appearing to be a regular gambler.
Somebody who cheats long enough is eventually going to attract suspicious at some point. Surveillance records all the action, meaning casinos can review the footage at any time to catch a scammer.
The best place to start is by acting like anybody else would on a hot streak. Normal gamblers don’t sit at the table rigidly while winning $1k bets – they chat with fellow players and celebrate a bit.
It’s also important to strike the balance between looking like a high roller without becoming an attention magnet.
Earlier I discussed placing a couple of regular big bets to start off with. Doing so makes it look like one is just an average high roller.
At the same time, they don’t want to buy big chips from the same table where they’ll cheat. It’s better to introduce large bets suddenly, without warning.
Even leaving the table requires a certain finesse. Exiting the table like a natural big winner is preferable to acting like one has something to hide.
Tipping the dealer is also essential to successful cheating. A suspicious dealer may offer the benefit of the doubt as long as they’re tipped well.
Even the best cheaters who thoroughly master all these techniques are bound to be caught eventually. But they can at least evade being caught for a while if they master dealing with the employees.
