Roulette Scams

Before Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, methods for cheating the patrons were commonly employed. Illegal gambling (along with other illicit activities) was prevalent in Vegas since the turn of the century. Special or modified rulete wheels were part of the action.

Many of these rigged or gaffed wheels remained in operation for several years after 1931. Once the new gaming commission was established and put into power, these wheels found their way over to off-the-beaten-path places and illegal out-of-state operations. As the commission developed some teeth in their bite, casino cheating ceased to exist in Nevada. These gaming commissions can stroll up unannounced, confiscate any gaming equipment as they see fit and take it back to their labs for a thorough inspection. The casinos do not want to risk losing their gaming license. Today, in Nevada or Atlantic City, you wont find any gaffed or juiced wheels out on the casino floors. But any gaming establishment operating where gambling is illegal is already breaking the law and has no license to lose. Be advised, you are probably being cheated in some way. Even in places where gambling is legal, but there is no strong regulatory agency, be wary! I have included several of the more common modes of cheating. Most of these are antiquated.

Magnets

Probably the most elaborate way to cheat the players was by installing four equally spaced, concealed electromagnets around the stationery bowl. This was used in conjunction with a ball containing a steel core. By activating the magnetic force, a ball could be repelled off the upper race or ball track and sent down, a little earlier than nature would dictate, toward the spinning rotor. By pressing a hidden button (thus completing the circuit to the magnets at the appropriate time) a skilled dealer could force the ball drop-off and anticipate a rendezvous with a particular sector of the slowly spinning rotor. The dealer, having sufficiently memorized the wheel layout, could observe the betting layout, target a sparsely wagered sector on the rotor and competently steer the ball away from the heavily bet numbers.

Another method includes using a rotor where certain pockets have been magnetized. Here, a ball with a steel core is spun and allowed to break naturally from the upper track. As it spirals towards the rotor, it is attracted to the magnetized pockets. Because the rotor is a moving component, it is difficult to devise a way to toggle the charge on and off, so the pockets must be pre-selected and magnetized. If no one had bet on the magnetized numbers, then the dealer would use the steel-cored ball, knowing it would be attracted to these pockets.If there were sufficient action on the magnetized numbers, then the dealer would simply switch back to a regular roulette ball and let the 5.26% edge take effect.

Wheel Tampering

The casinos werent the only ones altering the wheels. There are many stories of brazen individuals who snuck into the casino wheel room after closing and doctored up the roulette wheels. Armed with pliers or other tools, these people would loosen up a few of the pocket frets by twisting them back and forth. These loosened separators would then absorb more of the balls energy, causing it to remain in that pocket. Others would glue some kind of material to the bottoms of certain pockets to affect the roulete balls bounce. Depending upon the material, different results could be expected.For example, gluing thin sheets of lead on the bottoms of select pockets would deaden the balls bounce and make it more likely for the ball to stay in that pocket. Whereas affixing thin sheets of hyper elastic material, like that found in a super ball, to the pockets bottom would cause the ball to easily bounce out and avoid that particular pocket. Either way, the perpetrator is attempting to create a biased wheel.

Probably the most common form of player cheating and the easiest to attempt is a method called �past posting.� This technique originated at the racetracks some years back.

Scams continued...