Is anyone aware of an instance where a casino was caught cheating and then somehow punished? This could be for any game.

Also, was wondering if it was ever discovered that a slot machine was paying out a lot less than it was supposed to and perhaps the casino brought to task over that.

Several years ago, (maybe 15 or so), I remember a off strip bar that had Jacks or Better machines with a progressive jackpot.

They got a computer chip which was designed so that if the Royal, (Jackpot Hand) , came up it would re deal the hand, nullifying the previous jackpot.

The gaming commission caught them on a random check, gave them a big fine and pulled their gaming license.

Most Las Vegas convenience stores, gas stations and even major mall stores have slots. Beware.

No successful casino will do this as their gambling license is their life.

Here's a post I made on another board about calling gaming on a rigged machine.

I called gaming on a Buffalo slot machine at The Suncoast in Las Vegas in Dec 2011, I blew through $250 playing 40 and 80 pennies a spin, I lost the whole $250 in about 15 minutes and didn't get 1 bonus. On this game you need 3 or more coins to get the bonus, the machine kept hitting 2 coins but would never drop the 3rd, I'd say it probably happened 15-20 times during the session. It also didn't hit any pay higher then around $4 during the same time. That was not the first time that's happened on that same machine at The Suncoast so this time I said **** it, I'm calling the NGC. The gaming agent came out, explained to me about variance (I know all that already lady, I've been gambling for 17 years!) She pulled up the numbers on the machine, said they were kinda weird so she had the slot tech insert $40, it was gone in about 3 mins with no bonus and no big hits at all. She pulled up the numbers again and the machine was paying out around 69%!! It showed the total amount wagered through the machine since it was installed in Suncoast which was around $700,000 and showed what it had paid out, IE. cashouts, line hits. Apparently I had found the one slot machine that was paying under the state minimum of 70%.

She broke out some special NGC tape (she said she has never used it before) and proceeded to tape up the bill slot and the whole machine with all this brightly colored tape that said NEVADA GAMING COMMISSION, DO NOT REMOVE! She then told the slot people that the machine must be put out of service, can not be emptied or removed from the casino floor until the forensic investigator checks out the machine on the following Mon or Tues, it was a Saturday night when I had called them. The gaming agent said even after they do their investigation I still wouldn't get a refund but the casino would receive a big fine if the machine is truly paying out under 70% which is the state minimum.

Then she told me "if I were you I wouldn't play here, it's a locals casino off the strip in Summerlin, their machines should be paying in the mid 90% range and this one machine is paying 69%". Then she told me I would receive a report/letter in the mail from them after their investigation is complete. About a month later I got a basic letter that said they took some sort of action against the casino but it was confidential and they thanked me for contacting them.


Moral of the story, don't hesitate to call the gaming commission if you think something is amiss and the Suncoast Casino and their rigged machines can eat a big bag of *****!

About 15 years ago or so in Biloxi a guy from Vegas arrived in town. Altered decks of cards were created and resealed to look original. There were 2 types of backs on the cards, high gloss and regular. The tens were swapped between the decks. This guy taught dealers on single deck games to know what was to be dealt by the feel of the top card. If it was a regular gloss deck the dealer could run his thumb over the top card and detect if it was regular gloss or high gloss (T,J,Q,K) and vice versa for a high gloss deck. He would then know if the top card was likely to help the player or hinder him and would deal either the top card or deal a second depending on the situation. After an hour or so of play the backs of the cards were well worn and virtually indistinguishable at that point. There were 4 casinos involved with specific dealers in each. The FBI investigated and said it didn't go as high as the shift managers.

I saw a dealer dealing seconds about 15 years ago. Young kid was way up, they brought in a new dealer and wiped him out.

That wouldn't have been at the Cypress Bayou in Charenton, La would it? They had quite a rep for cheating at blackjack for years. New Mexico casinos had some rumors floating around for a while too. Both are native American casinos btw.

Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh was fined $100,000 on Wednesday by the state Gaming Control Board for a variety of violations.

The board approved consent agreements with Holding Acquisition Co., LP, operator of Rivers Casino on the North Shore, for table game violations and mailing promotional materials to those on the gaming board's self-exclusion list.

A $50,000 fine was levied for a violation of the casino's internal controls that outline procedures that must be followed in the room where currency is counted.

Specifically, the board contends, casino personnel improperly permitted table inventory slips to be corrected by table games supervisors, rather than utilizing an error notification slip as prescribed by regulations.

The casino was fined $40,000 for three occasions when table games employees ignored an automatic shuffler's red light that indicates an error with the cards, the board said.

In addition, the casino was fined $10,000 for mailing promotional materials to 93 people on the self-exclusion list. Gaming facilities must refuse wagers from and deny any gambling privileges to anyone on that list.

http://www.goerie.com/article/201305...for-violations

Really, those all seem to be procedural violations rather than "cheating".

'error with the cards,' doesn't sound like a procedural violation, sounds like bad cards.

violations in the count room sounds like skimming, which is cheating, so does allowing floormen to correct slip errors, which means they could be stealing, which is cheating.

of course when a player takes casino money it's cheating, when management does it they call it a 'procedural error'

'error with the cards' -- missing card or two cards got stuck together in the suffler. If they had any indication that the casino was actually doing something to the decks (ie, remove some 10's and A's from the BJ deck and replace them with 4's and 5's) the fine would have been much bigger.

count room -- what is the difference between Supervisor changing the slip (which leaves a paper trail) and filling out the "error report notification"? Yes, it does bury the change in the system (but it does not remove any trace of it) instead of sending them to one central location, but it sounds more like an employee taking a shortcut rather than some skimming scheme.

Example of "proper procedure" , ie mandated by govmt:
Local casino. Normal drop: $4. No flop drop: $1
No flop, dealer drops $4.
How about my $3?
We need your ID and have you sign this form.
WTF?
Regulations.
Just forget about it.
We can't. Okay, just give me your first name.
Puddintane.
WTF?
Parents had an odd sense of humor.
--Two trees worth of forms later I get my $3.

Cheating the IRS or state tax agency perhaps (although it doesn't even sound like that is what was happening), but not cheating the customers. Which I'm pretty sure is the topic here.

No it was a strip casino in Vegas. I'd rather not say the name.

this might be casino cheating
http://news.msn.com/world/man-steals...en-esque-heist

http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/1203...operators.html

An old one where the casino boat was removing face cards.

I'm interested in hearing more specific information about the New Mexico casinos, as I live in New Mexico. Location? Game(s)? Technique?

Single deck blackjack, dealing seconds. No official involvement, just enough seasoned card counters warning others about playing there and believing they saw dealers dealing seconds and then suffering extremely poor results with no one reporting ever winning. It was 12 - 15 years ago and if I remember correctly it was 2 of the 3 casinos in the Camel Rock cluster but I couldn't swear to that. I know it was at least one of them. I played all the casinos in NM at one time or another and got smoked a couple of times each at the 2 in question but I personally didn't notice anything unusual either way and it wasn't the first time I got smoked at a SD game so I can't verify or deny what was said. I don't remember whether or not they switched in a dealer on me after I was playing a while. I did have that happen in Charenton, la.


I played Sandia and Isleta the most, there was never anything questionable at either of them either reported or in my experience. BTW I saw my first roadrunner at Sandia and they look just like the cartoon. I also almost started a riot at Isleta when I asked the pit to stop a group of little gangbangers from trying to look into my pocket when I was reaching for money.

I have heard multiple anecdotes in the past (and several online claims) that Soaring Eagle, the largest trial casino in Michigan, has cheated by taking aces out of their blackjack decks. The way I originally heard the report (years ago), they were fined by the tribal regulation body. I've looked but I can't find any substantial evidence.

I've been to Soaring Eagle (not for blackjack) and I remember hearing rumors about them too. So, of course, they're hired to set up an online gaming operation...

http://www.blackjackonline.net/blog/...solution-1044/

Last fall the St. Louis Ameristar casino was given a huge fine and several dealers and security guards fired because they did not check the ID of a kid was turned out to be 16. Apparently the security guards did check his ID but determined his ID was real. Then the kid proceeded to play for four hours on the craps table before a dealer from the incoming shift decided to check his ID. After checking the ID they couldn't believe the guy was over 21 so they had the ID checked and that's when they found out he was only 16 years old. Now the dealers check ever young face religiously after seeing some of their fellow employees fired.

This is clearly casino cheating.

lmao! Maybe not, but I still wanted to post that story.

That much is obvious.

I will say this, one night on the craps table last fall a guy next to me said, "look at the dice and watch them pull back towards the wall after they hit the wall." Sure enough the next roll that is exactly what happened. He laughed and said "did you see that?" He then asked the dealer, a woman he had been flirting with the whole night, in a joking manner when they were going to turn the magnet off. She jokingly laughed it off the first time then totally ignored him when he repeated the question a few minutes later.

As for the dice getting pulled back towards the wall once the dice bounced off of the wall, I did see that happen a few times once he made a mention of it. I thought it was weird and left the table.

I find it interesting that people always accuse the casino's of using a magnet that I live by either outright, or in a joking manner. Usually the casino dealers either ignore the remarks, or they give a smart ass joking response. Which leads me to a question that I have asked other players in my area several times: If the crap tables have no electronic devices, why can't you use your cell phone at the craps table?

I find that to be a good question because all the dealers always claim that the table and dice have no electronic devices, but yet they yell at you once you pull out your phone.

Because its rude and bad etiquette. You will find this at all the table games I know of, not just craps.

Also do you think that the dealers are CIA level employees who know the casino is cheating but fear their lives if the cat gets out of the bag?