Do Casinos Cheat?
Dear Mark,
I have always been a bit suspicious of casinos and especially
their ability to cheat players. Come clean, Mark. Do the
casinos tell the dealers to cheat the customer? Ron T.
If you follow my column regularly, Ron, you will notice
my commentary ordinarily puts me on the side of the player.
With machete in hand, I am always willing to slash through
the green felt jungle for my readers. Most would call me
a casino adversary/player advocate. Thank you. But in the
case of a casino cheating a player, Ron, I would be remiss
if I didn't say with 100 percent conviction that the casinos
are in no way out to cheat you.
There are two key reasons why casinos don't play the game
of deception. First, most casinos are publicly traded companies
on the NYSE not interested in exposing their gaming license
to loss with any inkling of cheating going on. Also, here
in Nevada, you won't find a more regulated industry chock-full
of rules that would close a casino down for defrauding the
public.
A second, if not even more significant reason, is the way
casinos reap their profits-paying players less than the
true odds. Meaning, every game offered to the player is
mathematically in the casino's favor. Example: When you
flip a coin there is a 50/50 chance of your winning. But
instead of getting even money for every dollar you wager,
you are paid 99¢, or 83¢ or maybe even 75¢.
This in a nutshell is how casinos operate their license
to print money, paying you less than even money on every
bet you make.
Now, if every single wager placed in the casino is based
on that principle, why, Ron, would they ever want to swindle
you? That's not to say that a rogue employee on his own
never tries to manipulate the cards in the casino's favor.
That is why the casino manager watches the shift manager,
who watches the pit bosses, who watches the floorman, who
watches the dealers-with the eye in the sky (camera in the
ceiling) watching everybody. It doesn't take long for a
dishonest employee to be weeded out.
I would also note that in 17 years of casino employment,
working in seven different casinos, I have never been asked
to do even the slightest thing that borders on fraud. I
have been asked to speed up my hands per hour dealing blackjack
or pick up the pace on a crap game, but that's to get the
math to work in the casino's favor-never to cheat.
So, Ron, I would be more suspicious of the wagers you make,
not the casino. Let me ask you this: Are you getting back
75¢ (keno) for every dollar bet, or 99¢, (perfect
basic strategy in blackjack)?
Follow
up: This past week I was deluged with calls and e-mail
about an investigative report by ABC-TV's PrimeTime regarding
slot machines in Nevada that are preprogrammed for "near-miss"
read-outs, which entice gamblers to play longer. The theme
of the discourse was "I knew all along they were cheating
us."
PrimeTime's main source; a former Nevada Gaming Control
Board computer whiz and convicted felon named Ron Harris,
who prior to sentencing found religion.
Sorry, but I'll stick with my biased conviction that because
casinos have the percentages working for them on each and
every slot, there is little chance they would conspire,
in this case with a slot manufacturer, to cheat a patron.
All pulls of the slot handle produce random results-albeit
results that, based on the slot pay table, generally create
losers. Besides, near-miss technology is not only illegal
in Nevada, but tampering with a computer chip can easily
be detected with the right equipment, even by a low-level
computer nerd like me. Chips are not only tested before
leaving the factory but randomly checked for integrity on
the casino floor.
Coincidentally, another TV news magazine program, to which I promised confidentiality for both the show's name and content, wanted my opinion about an upcoming investigative report they were doing regarding a highly sensitive casino issue. Because my take on the subject matter wasn't the sensationalist spin that would improve their ratings, my viewpoint will find it's way to the cutting room's floor. Why should they use me? In the gambling industry they can easily find someone with limited credentials willing to say off camera or in silhouette, "Yeah, that's the norm, happens all the time." Sounds very similar to the PrimeTime investigative piece above.
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