How Do You Cheat at Roulette?
Cheating has been a part of casino games ever since casinos were invented. Although roulette was considered hard to beat, it has been proven that roulette can be beaten through cheats.
How do you cheat at roulette? Cheating in roulette is nearly impossible, but it can happen by wheel modification and lasers/microcomputers, among others. According to Albert Einstein, the only way you could win at roulette is to steal chips when the dealer isn’t looking.
Several methods of cheating in roulette have been developed since then and are used regularly today. This article will talk about the cheating methods and the people who got caught using them.
Cheating by Roulette Players
Throughout the years, several scams have been practiced, such as using magnets or other devices to affect the wheel’s results.
The most difficult part of this task is getting close enough to the roulette wheel.
Plenty of famous cheating attempts came from players who were looking for ways to coax the house edge through wheel manipulation.
There are two ways for players to perform this cheat: tampering with the results or working with the croupier.
Another popular cheat involves collusion between a croupier and another player. This type of cheating is very controversial.
There is a shred of evidence that a scammer can pull off this cheat without noticing the unfair spin.
Using a handheld device is a newer method for cheating. The handheld device predicts where the ball will land. However, this “new” technology was surprisingly practiced during the 1970s.
Cheating by Roulette Operators and Casinos
Casinos can sometimes be the biggest cheaters. Multiple gambling halls and underground casinos use rigged roulette wheels to cheat their players.
Reputable casinos are unlikely to use this type of wheel.
This type of cheating allowed players to come out ahead, even on rigged roulette wheels. Experienced gamblers can easily detect a rigged wheel, especially when large bets are placed opposite those wagers.
If a rigged wheel scoops up huge bets, sharp players will win their modest wagers.
When Roulette Cheating Isn’t Cheating
Several forms of gaining advantages are likely to be thought of as cheating when they aren’t.
The most popular method involves a player taking advantage of a biased wheel. Professional gamblers can detect a biased wheel when a certain number appears more often than the other numbers.
However, for some players, it might take them days before they notice any hint of a biased roulette wheel.
In that case, players will bet more on the number that appears more often. It will provide them with the confidence to win.
Imagine yourself playing roulette, and the same number hits five times in the course of eight games.
This will immediately cause you to sense a biased wheel and will make you place more bets on the number.
Do you think you’re cheating? I don’t think so. It’s not your fault that someone made the wheel biased.
Most people would keep this to themselves rather than report it to the casino. They know well enough that they would also benefit from this in the longer run.
Courts won’t even regard this as cheating! Players do not need to use any device to tamper with the result to win in this manner.
This makes playing, tracking, and betting on a biased wheel legal and justifiable.
Assuming you won successive times on the biased wheel, and the casino tried to sue you, it is highly unlikely that the court would take the casino’s side.
The court would usually say that the player did nothing wrong and that it was the casino’s fault for not fixing the biased wheel.
Forms of Cheating in Roulette
The majority of roulette cheating methods are illegal, especially those that involve tampering with the wheel and sleight-of-hand tricks. Some roulette cheating methods are ambiguous based on gaming jurisdiction.
Take a closer look at these roulette cheating methods. While some of them are quite simple and easy to do, others are almost impossible.
Wheel Graffing
Wheel graffing, otherwise known as “wheel modification,” involves adjusting or modifying the roulette wheel. This creates an effect such that the spins will be more predictable.
Another way to perform this action is to loosen certain parts of the wheel. This method will make the ball bounce less to some wheel areas, which will create a biased wheel.
On a biased wheel, as discussed above, specific numbers will appear more often with every spin.
While this may benefit a lot of innocent people, it is also a temporary thing. As technology progresses, casinos have invented ways to easily detect unfair play, especially the biased wheel.
If you are betting in roulette, it’s worth noticing any unfair gameplay. You’re in luck when the wheel is biased, as you can fairly and legally take advantage of it.
For this reason, you should pay more attention to the play itself rather than just the result.
Past Posting
Past posting is where people change their bets after the occurrence of the outcome.
Say, for example, you wagered $40 on a single number using eight $5 chips, and you see that you’re going to win. You’d decide to replace your bet and add more chips to receive more rewards.
People do this by using sleight-of-hand to replace lower-value chips with higher-value ones. This will drastically increase their total winning amount.
This is highly risky because croupiers are vigilant about this kind of behavior. While croupiers sometimes miss it, CCTV operates to prevent such actions from occurring. CCTV is everywhere in a casino.
Sometimes, casinos even let their dealers wear hidden cameras. Therefore, it’s unlikely that you could do this often and get away with it.
Magnetic Balls
The magnetic ball method is a cheating method hardly ever done by cheaters and scammers. This is a difficult cheat to perform with CCTV.
This cheat involves replacing the real ball with a magnetic ball so that the cheaters can influence the ball’s behavior.
They use magnetic impulses to make the ball land on whatever number they please.
Making this method more interesting, cheaters who attempted this cheat rarely used fully magnetic balls. This is because if they used a fully magnetic ball, it would stick to any metallic object near it.
Therefore, they used a ball with special diodes wrapped in a coil.
This method allows the cheater to observe the ball’s expected landing once it falls onto the rotor. There are instances in which the ball doesn’t land in its expected place.
The inside components of the ball are programmed to move the ball to its correct place. Cheaters will do everything to have a sure win with every bet they place.
The whole process is intended to avoid causing any interference with the casino’s electric systems. This trick is hard to start, but once the cheater successfully replaces the real ball, everything will go as planned.
Casinos cannot easily determine and catch those people guilty of following this method.
Laser and Microcomputer
Using a laser and microcomputer is not a common method. Some people believe they can utilize a device with a laser to estimate the speed of the roulette wheel.
Once they have this information, they create feedback on other devices, such as phones or computers.
From there, the gadgets will notify them as to which area of the wheel the ball might land.
A roulette cheater did use this method to win, but some are still skeptical.
Sector Targeting
This kind of cheat is almost impossible to perfect. No matter how much you’ve planned, you would still need luck to side with you.
Sector targeting is a method of cheating in roulette that is difficult to get 100% right; it still involves luck for those daring enough to try it.
An average person’s brain can hardly compute well enough to achieve a 50% success rate.
With the added pressure from the casino’s environment itself, this could hardly be achieved.
Above all, the theory focuses more on a player who can work out where the ball passes a definite point on the wheel after some spins. The theory is that one should work when the ball slows down.
This part predicts the segment of the wheel where the ball is more likely to land.
Sector targeting is not legal, though it is difficult to prove if someone is guilty of using this method.
Computer Software
Almost everything today can be found on the internet, including casino games. Online casinos work hard to prevent people from cheating on their websites. Such casinos are like with land-based casinos.
People go there to bet, lose, or win. The only difference is how much easier cheats are online.
Some online casino players do not use a random generator, so you can easily cheat. This cheat uses computer software that determines whether the wheel is biased.
The online casino industry is poorly regulated. Using computer software to gain an advantage over the house is actually legal.
However, the use of it may result in a permanent ban from the website if you are caught.
Collusion
Aside from using technology, another way to cheat roulette is to get comfy with the dealer. Develop a friendship, or at least set up a deal, and try to talk to the dealer to give your bet more leniencies.
This method sometimes includes the dealer allowing players to place a bet later than the allowed time. This allows certain players to have an idea of the outcome.
It can also go as far as mistakenly paying out for bets that clearly did not win, only to benefit their friend.
Dealer-player collusion can result in significant penalties, including detention or prosecution.
The dealer will lose his/her job and other casinos will be notified to ban both parties from entering.
Is Roulette Cheating a Bad Thing?
Cheating in roulette is a great money maker if you plan it well and successfully perform the actions. Some gamblers have gotten away with roulette cheating and made good money just by manipulating the odds.
As you know, cheating in casinos is illegal and can lead to multiple consequences. When caught, you could be banned from all casinos, reported to the authorities, and possibly face prosecution.
While I’ve discussed ways to cheat in roulette, I will not discuss the matter’s legality.
Cheating in Roulette is Illegal in Most Countries
Certain types of roulette cheating are illegal regardless of the casino’s jurisdiction. Some of these are past posting, wheel modification, magnetic balls, and collusion.
The above-mentioned methods require skills beyond concentrated efforts to swing the odds in your direction.
Cheats are illegal when they involve sleight-of-hand, colluding with the dealer, moving chips from or to the table, and altering the equipment.
Never engage in any of these cheating techniques, wherever you go. Being blacklisted is just one of the several consequences you might face if found guilty.
However, computerized devices are a different story, as they are not explicitly illegal in all gambling jurisdictions.
The equipment you use won’t alter the casino equipment; the device merely helps you see potential winners.
Also, think about the public attention and embarrassment you’ll face once you’re kicked out of the place. Your face might even appear on virtual posters, making people aware of the scam or cheat you attempted.
You might think that the embarrassment won’t affect you that much if you win big. But also think about the fact that you’re going to get banned and this will probably be your last time to play. That isn’t fun, right?
Casino Security
Let’s say you have planned your “perfect” cheat or scam. How sure are you that you’re not going to get caught? Casinos are places where you can win big.
Don’t you think casinos have prepared for cheaters? They certainly have!
Gambling establishments invest in trained security personnel and high-technology equipment.
Before starting the game, employees thoroughly inspect casino equipment to ensure that no foreign objects are there. This will avoid problems such as wheel modification and magnetic balls.
Aside from the visible cameras you see, several more hidden CCTVs surround the room.
You may not notice this, but dealers sometimes carry cameras that blend well with their clothes. This is to let other security personnel get a close view of the players at the table.
So, you see, casinos are doing their best to secure the premises and the casino’s assets.
If you’re planning to cheat, you’d better think about it for a very long time and hope that luck sides with you.
A Roulette Cheater Who Got Caught
Cheating at roulette doesn’t sound fancy or cool at all. Remember that all bad things are bound to lead to serious consequences. This creates certain risks.
If you want to try cheating, you might want to consider doing so on a cruise ship in international waters. This is because there are almost no laws on the high seas, which makes cheating not illegal.
However, in terms of land-based casinos, all other countries strictly prohibit cheating on any casino games. When proven guilty, expect significant punishment from the law.
Casinos will do anything to prove that you are cheating. They don’t want to lose their assets over someone who engaged in unfair gameplay.
Las Vegas, one of the world’s gambling capitals, considers casino cheating to be a state felony.
Because casinos have several players, you might think that there’s a low chance you’ll get caught. Well, that’s not the case at all.
Even one of the largest groups, the Serbian Team, got caught while claiming their rewards.
The Serbian Team
Two technologically competent Serbian men and a Hungarian woman utilized mobile laser scanners to predict where the ball would land. This happened in 2014 at the Ritz Casino in London.
The casino lost $1.568 million to the fraudsters, who later became known as the Serbian Team.
The casino gave them $361,864 in cash, while the rest was a cheque.
Despite what they did, the court let them go with no charges. However, these cheaters are banned from the Ritz Casino, where the event took place.
Richard Marcus
The legendary Richard Marcus started his career as a croupier in Las Vegas in 1976. It did not take long before he learned skills with roulette gambling.
He lasted at least 20 years in the industry before retiring.
He used past posting to work with some other cheaters, placing bets only when the outcome had already occurred.
At his peak, he earned $100,000 weekly. However, casinos surrounded Marcus with CCTVs to protect themselves from future loss.
He was very eager to cheat and win, and even came up with his own method, called “Savannah.” That was the name of his favorite Vegas stripper.
It involves hiding a large bet under two $5 chips to fool the dealer.
When he lost, Marcus would just get the three chips back, replacing them with real $5 chips. If he won, then he won big time.
He was never caught cheating, but he did confess later on, when he changed careers. He didn’t face any prosecution. Instead, casinos hired him to train security personnel to avoid another Richard Marcus.
Conclusion
Regarding Albert Einstein’s predictions about roulette’s durability against cheats and hacks, it’s safe to say that he made a mistake.
Since this prediction, different cheating techniques have become popular and vastly used.