Over decades, crafty criminals have found innovative ways to cheat at casinos and walk away with big winnings. Though not all were able to pull off their stunt for long, some famous casino cheaters did manage to walk away with millions of dollars for a long time.
Now that online gambling is popular among millions of players worldwide, what are the top strategies that are a big no?
Let’s look at some cheaters who could trick casinos out of money but found their way to the jail cell eventually.
3 Most Popular Casino Cheaters
Here are the 3 most popular casino cheaters of all time.
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Dennis Nikrasch
Dennis Nikrasch was a locksmith who robbed luxury homes using his locksmith tools. And he never got caught once, which impressed the Genessee Crime Family, who recruited him to do more crimes. However, he ran out of luck and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
After serving his full term, he began a new venture to manipulate slot machines to trigger instant jackpots using his locksmith tools. He won huge jackpots without getting caught for eight years. But he was caught by a group of casino authorities one day and was forced to serve in jail for five years.
That didn’t make him give up his old habits. He returned, and this time, he recruited many people to help him execute his plan. They could pull off without getting caught for years until one day; the FBI set up wires in his house when he was away to overhear the conversation with his friend.
He was then sentenced to 8 years in prison and was backlisted on Nevada’s Blacklist Book, and banned from entering into casinos for the rest of his life.
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Gonzalo Garcia-Pelayo
Gonzalo’s story is quite interesting. He was into film production and music but was barely making ends meet even though he produced music for Alameda, Smash, Triana and others. His hunger to make more money made him enter the gambling space, and there are no looking back.
He started playing roulette, where he observed that the roulette wheel had some inconsistencies, which made him sure that he could beat the game. He observed the spins at Casino Gran Madrid for several months and recorded the results, which he then analysed using computer analysis.
After doing this for several months, he and his eldest son and daughter started placing wager officially, where they managed to win $700,000. He was later sued by one of the casinos, but the court overruled the charges against him as it said he wasn’t wrong in making educated guesses.
He and his family later went to Las Vegas and made more than $2 million before casinos, and the public knew about the family who beat the roulette wheel. But because of his mastery, he is called the “Master of Roulette.”
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Ida Summers
Known as Vegas Vixen, Ida Summers was able to pull off cheating techniques for years before getting caught. Many believe her charming personality and good looks made it possible to make millions from casinos.
She mostly played blackjack. He used a cheating technique called hand mucking, where she would hide a card in her sleeve and use it when it was the right time. She would hit up a conversation with the dealer with her captivating personality and shift his focus.
This tactic worked so well that none of the dealers could guess she was cheating, so she went on winning big wherever she went. She even started bringing her own cards, which were of the same brand used by casinos, and when casino authorities got doubtful, she would purposefully lose the game.
She even recruited 10 people, where she taught them her cheating techniques and took a small percentage of their winnings. But she eventually got caught when casinos put up surveillance cameras, swapping a card with her own.
Interestingly, she was never sentenced to prison but was charged with probation for a year. People say that she could attract the judge with her endearing personality to get away without a sentence for her wrongdoing.
Final Thoughts
The list doesn’t end here, but because of the techniques used by these cheaters, casinos have tightened their security today. While some cheaters have been behind bars, some ended up consulting casinos and helping them identify potential cheaters.
