Baccarat card-cutting gang

If we know about the fraud, then the fraudster has not succeeded in hiding his machinations from law enforcement. Such a crime can hardly be called perfect. But even if the cheater’s fraud is uncovered, it is not always possible to arrest him. Very often it happens that there is not enough evidence to solve the crime.

The Cutter Gang is very famous for being in a similar situation. The members of the gang were caught many times in various casinos, but none of them could be arrested. The players acted very professionally. Their scams can be considered the most sophisticated in history.

Historical background

In January 2011, the management of a major Las Vegas casino began to suspect that some baccarat play might involve cheating. The timing was significant: Chinese New Year was approaching, traditionally one of the busiest periods for baccarat on the Strip, with casinos preparing for an influx of high-stakes players. Contemporary Las Vegas reporting noted that baccarat could involve wagers of $100,000 a hand and that Chinese New Year regularly generated some of the strongest baccarat activity of the year. At the same time, Las Vegas casinos were being warned about a technologically sophisticated cheating method that had already drawn attention from regulators abroad. Because the suspected losses in Las Vegas were believed to exceed $1 million in January alone, the matter attracted the attention of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, whose enforcement staff became involved in the investigation.

All this was not in vain. Gaming Control Board agents identified and detained a group of baccarat players after concerns were raised about their activity. Investigators believed that the group was connected to a wider baccarat cheating ring suspected of operating across multiple casinos. The case therefore attracted attention not simply because of a single unusual run of winnings, but because authorities were already examining reports of similar activity at other gambling venues.

But, as luck would have it, the evidence that the experts gathered was not enough to imprison the group of crooks. Naturally, their names were never released and the security services declined to comment on the situation.

The cheat’s secret

In spite of all the above, it turned out to be quite realistic to find out what the scam was all about. The key thing is that the cheats have a small camera up their sleeve, which they use to peek at cards during the game.

The baccarat master allows the contestants to cut off a pack of cards themselves. The cheat takes the cards and bends their corners a little. A camera reads the face value and the order of the cards and a computer automatically processes everything. The information was transmitted to the other thugs, who had only to act correctly. In addition, the person who read the pack of cards would leave the table after a while, or leave the casino altogether.

Consistency, confidence in their actions, a well-honed scheme, precision, the right place and time, a high level of professionalism – all this allowed the gang members to always win while avoiding responsibility.

The casino’s surveillance footage did not show a clear illegal move, and agents were unable to locate the miniature camera they suspected was being used. Contemporary reports stated that the available evidence did not provide probable cause for a full body search, so the players were released. Nevertheless, the wider ring was linked to substantial losses: Las Vegas casinos alone were believed to have lost more than $1 million to the scheme in January 2011, while security specialists also associated the group with similar incidents outside Nevada.

They were repeatedly arrested in various casinos, however, due to a lack of evidence of their fraud, the players had to be released again and again.

Conclusions

It is unlikely that any of the cheaters of this group can still be apprehended, but they may have retrained by starting to cheat at online casinos. The gang’s players operate with incredible care and caution. Nothing has been heard from the gang at the moment. Accordingly, it is possible that they have gone underground. Or it could be that they have begun to act even more professionally.