<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAll of these methods are relatively simple but when mastered and used carefully, they could steal hundreds of thousands from a casino without anyone being the wiser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately (for the cheaters) one of the smartest ways to use this is for a dishonest dealer to use multiple takeoff players so their bosses never see a pattern of player\/dealer winning streaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this strategy has a fatal flaw: The more people who know about your scam, the more chances someone will talk or trade that information to beat some other charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another powerful strategy employed by these cheaters was to steer high cards to the dealer\u2019s hand in order to bust the dealer and pay off the entire table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This can be an easy way to make a lot of money if the cheaters have the table \u201clocked\u201d (every player is in on the scam) but it further exposes the crew when so many players are needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before The Machines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Hand shuffling (without a shuffling machine) offered crooked dealers and their partners many opportunities to create memorized slugs of cards that could be dropped into play at a known point then used to fleece the house for one or two rounds of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know of several shuffling procedures that were vulnerable to dealer\/player scams where one player would sit on third base as six or eight decks were being shuffled, carefully watching the top of each stack as they were being interlaced with other cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From this position, the player could see a small number of cards that were dropped onto the top of the shuffled stack and memorize those cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to the prescribed shuffling procedure, the dealer would shuffle cards together from two larges stacks, each made up of half the decks being played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By grabbing cards from each of the initial stacks, the dealer created a third stack that would grow until it consisted of all eight (now shuffled) decks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What made the flash possible (and incredibly profitable) was that the dealer had to carry back a deck from the shuffled stack and then shuffle that with cards from either of the two initial halves of the eight-deck stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This carry-back rule seemed to shuffle the cards even more, but it allowed a crooked dealer to keep cards on top of the shuffled stack throughout the entire shuffle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initially, this might have been a good way to keep a memorized slug but there\u2019s always a chance that playback (recordings from security upstairs) might reveal that a sequence of cards was repeated after a shuffle so instead, the cheaters simply flashed cards that went to the top of the shuffled stack and kept them there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The player on third base would memorize the cards then calculate which hands to bet on for a surefire win or, more practically how to make sure the dealer busted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a locked table, crews could clean out the chip tray but too much and too soon will get the attention of the eye in the sky so smart teams balanced their surefire rounds with multiple rounds of honest play between shuffles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a lot more to this than I can share here and in fact, a crooked dealer capable of executing some clever shuffle strategies can reap a lot more with another scam I\u2019ll discuss in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these methods are long dead in places that use shuffle machines but those devices are far from perfect and there are other ways of beating a machine either with technology or something surprisingly simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s for sure is that scams that seem to be killed off by modern technology often evolve and return with a new angle that beats whatever precautions the casino thinks it has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If The Shoe Fits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Flashing or peeking doesn\u2019t always happen when the cards are being shuffled or dealt from a dealer\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special dealing shoes have been made to allow a glimpse of the next card to either dealers or players depending on the construction of a secret device that transmits that information without any electronics or moving parts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll talk about gaffed shoes another time but let me leave you with this: Some entirely legitimate dealing shoes could allow dealers to peek or flash the next card and completely crush the game of blackjack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a dealing shoe that has been tampered with in any way but an entirely legitimate piece of gaming equipment found in hundreds of casinos yet vulnerable to one of the simplest and most devastating scams in the casino industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More on that in a later article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The peek is a powerful tool for crooked card players and can be used to steer valuable cards to one\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":35492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3644],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
How Outsider Peek Scams Work \u2013 Dealers And Players Collusion<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n