Gambling Cheats.

 

So you call yourself a gambler? Then you would certainly have heard of the name Darwin Ortiz, genius card manipulator, magician and one of the world's leading authorities regarding gambling scams.

 

This article has been written for the purposes of giving readers an introduction to the wonderful world of scams (with some other stuff thrown in because the author finds them interesting and thinks you will too). Let us start with a brief history of the man behind the legend:

 

History:

Darwin Ortiz is an American, born in NYC in 1948 where he began his lifelong interest in the art of card manipulation and trickery. He studied law for a while at New York University (thus, a very clever man), but left after deciding that he would prefer to pursue a career in performance, namely magic shows.

 

To support himself as he built up a reputation as a skilled trickster he played the blackjack tables at local casinos where he used card counting techniques to help him win; he also lectured at Harry Lorayne's School of Memory- Harry Lorayne is himself a master magician, he is a memory training expert and was even called "The Yoda of Memory Training" in an article by Time magazine. Harry is recognized for his mnemonic displays, mnemonic's is a memory technique that aids people to remember facts through visualisation and association (and actually helped the author of this article to get an A grade in a psychology exam, so well worth researching if you an aid to memory).

 

Mnemonics is also a method that can be used to memorise packs of cards, and the order in which they are arranged, and thus is a useful technique to know if you are looking to exploit casino gambling games, in a bricks-and-mortar casino.

 

In his more recent career, Ortiz has been a professional consultant for a variety of large casinos, in this capacity he has spanned the globe, working in America (including Caesars World in Las Vegas), Australia, Africa and Europe. He consults casinos on the best methods to identify card and gambling scams in their establishments through his vast knowledge on how to cheat the games.

 

He provides the casinos he consults with information on scams regarding blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat/mini-bac and craps- even though some of these games are so-called ‘unbeatable'; he also advises on body language teaching them the various ‘cheating tells' that can be observed in individuals who are involved in scam gambling; and there a lot, lot more besides.

 

Ortiz is author of the textbook Gambling Scams which is used worldwide by universities and casino training courses as an advanced text.

 

He is internationally renowned as one of the world's foremost sleight-of-hand specialists.

 

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Ortiz is a very clever man; he has relied on a photographic memory and a mathematical ability that places him in the top 1% of the entire population of the world- skills that he has used to get ahead of the game, it just goes to show that the most important aspect of card tricking is intelligence, not manual dexterity.

 

Anyone wanting to emulate this grand master of card mechanics had better be prepared to put in some hard work, he practices everyday for at least six hours!!

 

Here are two excerpts from his book Gambling Scams to give you a taster for the realm of casino cheats (the first paragraph is particularly pertinent given the current climate in modern day casinos- the art of cheating is becoming as popular as gambling itself):

 

"In the gambling world, there has always been a constant competition between those whose job it is to devise precautions to prevent cheating and those whose job it is to devise cheating methods to overcome the precautions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of slot machines. An endless technological race is going on between those who manufacture slot machines and those who rip them off. Who is winning the race may be indicated by the fact that the Nevada Gaming Control Board estimates that between ten and twelve million dollars a year is stolen from the state's by slot machine thieves.

 

If you want to become a slot thief, the first thing you should do is go to mechanics school. Slot mechanics are the men the casinos employ to perform the constant maintenance work these machines require. There are schools in both Nevada and Atlantic City that will train you for such a career. Some of the top slot thieves in the business have attended such a school and then served a short apprenticeship working for a casino before moving on to bigger things. The next step is to buy a slot machine and study it to determine what part of the machine is most vulnerable to attack. Once you have found a technique for making the machine pay off, you are in business.

 

Keep in mind, however, that it is only a matter of time before the casinos and slot machine manufacturers become wise to what you are doing and begin to incorporate design modifications to prevent your form of cheating. At that point it is back to the drawing board for you to either determine how to overcome the design modification or find a completely different aspect of the machine that can be explained."

 

And a little excerpt on Marking Cards:

 

"Relatively few professional cheats use paper (marked cards), partly because they know that when the average player suspects cheating, the first thing he thinks to loo for is markings on the back of cards. However, when an amateur decides to cheat his friends, the technique he is most likely to turn to is the use of paper for precisely that reason- it's the first thing he thinks of! It is also the most accessible technique. A would-be cheat who is not part of the hustling community would not know where to buy sophisticated or elaborate gambling gaffs nor would he know where he could go to learn even simple sleight of hand moves. However, every city of any size has one or more novelty shops that sell marked packs of cards for six or seven dollars.

 

Resealing Decks: These are legitimate decks of popular cards which have been marked by hand by the crooked gambling equipment supplier. Many players are under the false impression that, if a deck of cards is still sealed, it proves the cards have not been tampered with. The technique among the hustlers and their suppliers is to carefully open the cellophane wrapper along the bottom and slide out the card case. The box is then opened along the side, the glued flaps being pried apart with the aid of a razor blade. The deck can now be removed without touching the stamp which seals the flap of the card case.

 

Once the cards have been marked, the deck is replaced in the box, which is sealed shut with rubber cement. The box is then slipped back into the cellophane sleeve, which is folded along the original creases, then resealed with a drop of glue. The closest examination of either the wrapper or the box will reveal nothing amiss. Half-smart gamblers will minutely inspect the manufacturer's stamp, unaware that the stamp is never touched when a deck is removed for marking and resealed..........

 

Blockout and Cutout Work: The marked decks that are easily available to the average person are almost always some form of blockout work. An aniline dye is diluted enough to exactly match the colour of the card back design. It is then used to cover a very tiny portion of the white design of the card. The mark can be very easily hidden in the floral patterns and scroll designs that cover the backs of most playing cards....On the equally popular Bicycle brand cards with the rider back, the most common marking system is to use the small eight-petaled flowerlike design which appears near each corner. Part of the petal will be blocked out using a cock dial system. If the mark appears at nine o'clock, the card is a nine.......

 

The Riffle Test: Smart gamblers have long known that the way to spot blockout or cutout work is to hold the deck by the bottom end in one hand and riffle the top end of the cards with the other hand in a much the same way you would riffle through a flipbook to create a moving picture. These are the markings shifting from one position to another on each subsequent card. Repeat the test several times, focusing your eyes on a different part of the back design each time."

 

 

We hope you have enjoyed these short excerpts, but unfortunately, if you are interested in learning more then you will need to buy the Darwin Ortiz's book Gambling Scams.