Poker Cheating Manifesto
- From: "RussGeorgiev@xxxxxxx" <RussGeorgiev@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 8 Aug 2005 13:26:13 -0700
Poker Cheating Manifesto
Before I begin let me state that I have run across many honest card
rooms in my life. But as we all know the world is an ever-changing
place. Years ago there weren't the mega-casino card rooms of today.
For a card room to be a high stakes card room, it must keep a core of
high stakes games. In order for this to happen, it must have a nucleus
of players - all manner of players.
People are generally under the impression that the professional
cheaters go where the action is, but, in reality, the action comes to
them. (The old cliché, "I know the game is crooked, but it's the only
game in town", had to come from somewhere.) The truth is the live ones
need the action, and the cheats need the money. There is always a
casino willing to accept cheating.
This has to make sense to you, so take a moment to 'massage' the
idea. If cheats didn't swindle, bilk, deceive, con, bamboozle,
defraud (yes, CHEAT) people, they wouldn't be cheats.
Where would you expect to find the cheats? They go to one place and one
place only - where they can do their thing - professional cheats go
where the money is. If you were one of the best cheats in the world
would you be in Iowa, playing for $5 bills? Obviously not. You'd be
in Vegas or L.A. playing for the sky. The problem for the regular Joe
who wants to gamble is that cheats have their roots so deeply embedded
into management and staff that it is almost impossible to separate the
two. They are well organized, like the Mafia. Gambling is a
multi-billion dollar business, and more people than ever are getting
addicted to it.
The lives ones go to the casinos that have the action. The cheats
travel in packs and start games for the house, knowing a live one will
soon show up. People don't understand the depth of the connection
between the cheats and the management. Think of it as a tree with many
roots and branches that has been growing since the day poker began.
Once a pack corrupts one member of management they go for a second. It
is easy. The first guy will recommend a friend or the cheats will show
up with a person. Consider the environment. The people who work in
Vegas are constantly seeking compensation for any and all services they
provide for you. It is the same in casinos around the world.
Remember that all of the big shots of poker have been around since the
70s or even earlier. I am not talking about tournament players. This is
a different kind of cheating. Tournament play was created back in the
70s to get fresh live ones to the table. Good marketing touted that
anyone could win on any given day. This is true to a large point.
Tournaments are more honest than high stakes poker. But you have to
realize, that isn't saying much.
High stakes poker is as corrupt as anything that has ever been. The
people who were in power 25 years ago are still at the helm. Logic
would dictate that those who endorsed cheating in the old days would
not have turned over new leaves, and, so, are still participating in
that practice in one form or another. Logic would also tell you the
best players would be the best cheats. There is nothing that could stop
me from going into a card room anywhere in the world and beating the
highest stakes games - nothing but the cheats who control the
management in those casinos.
If I were an unknown entity, it would be easy for me to go into a
casino and play honestly (and alone) for a month or two and become
acquainted with other players. Now its time to throw in the old "birds
of a feather" cliché (where did all the cliché's come from, anyway?)
That would be the beginning. All it takes to start is for two friends
to say, "Let's split what we win and let it go from there." To be
able to cheat any game, all you have to do is start infiltrating. One
by one you build up your scamming team. You start off with two of you
playing the same money. Soon you feel others out, people who play well,
but may be desperate. There are many who need to be staked. (This is
generally a green light for you.) Someone who has been staked has more
pressure on him to win. Additionally, he knows if he beats the person
who put him in the game, that individual is liable to get angry. Thus
we have soft playing from the start. Soon both parties see there is a
better solution to the problem; play the same bankroll and the problem
is solved. Now you are three deep.
Alas, you may soon realize that in the many times you are in a hand
together, you lose double to a person who sucks out. So to counter this
you begin to employ signals. Better to communicate and not be involved
in the same hands - just let the best hand play. Soon you appreciate
how well this works. Along comes another friend who has gone busted.
You can't help him out by having him in the same game as you, as this
will hurt your bottom line. If you put him into another game, he may
win or he may lose, depending on how much money you care to give him.
Basically you are not keen on the idea of loaning him money. However,
you come up with a better plan. You have him enter your group or pack.
Now you are four deep.
Suppose you started this 30 years ago. How would you protect your game
from others who have the same operation in place? Another cliché -
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em". Or in this case, have them
join you - bring them into the group. There is plenty of money to go
around, and you can't play the games all day and night. The best
scenario for making the most money possible is to have a constant game
going. Thus more and more cheats are integrated. Soon you have a dozen
cheats working a game. You are organized and have signals for
everything.
Day after day, year in and year out, you play in the same places. You
are a dozen strong, not unlike a small military unit. Each needs to
play 40 hours a week for a weekly total for the pack of 480 hours. All
the members of this 'dirty dozen' continue to play and make money,
and everyone is happy. Everyone is happy because the house benefits,
too. The house has games in which they don't need any props, as the
props are the cheats themselves. And the county who issued the
casino's license is happy, too. Taxes, you know. And so on, ad
nauseum.
This loop brings about $1,000,000 revenue a game into the casino's
pockets each year. Do you think they are going to complain? Everyone
stands up for the unit, and if questioned, the dozen professionals
affirm that no one is cheating. Who is going to doubt these words?
Suppose the casino goes under. You have seen it time and again -
another card room, larger and more lavish, is built a few miles away.
And the players go over there. The old card room is only a memory. Or
is it? In one case the same management traveled from one place to its
next incarnation and then on to its third. (This is not something you
see a lot of.)
It was different In California. For a period of 50 years or so Gardena
was the Poker Capital of the world. And eventually demand called for
the addition of more and more casinos. Cheats who were friends of the
new management beat you to the punch and got 'in' first. Your
casino closed down and a newer, bigger one took its place. You had to
move also. (Do you think the other cheats were going to let you in to
cheat the biggest games? So ... what does your team do? You have lost
power and therefore have to play smaller. You got the second biggest
game.)
Remember this all began more than 25 years ago; the management and
players are built in fixtures. As long as you are not greedy, you can
make money. It just depends on how much you want.
In California in the 80's casinos couldn't be built fast enough. The
cheats traveled to anywhere they were welcome. By that time there were
so many groups and so much corruption in management that it was
impossible to get them out. Each one endorsed the other. Each one had a
following. Each one praised the others, all knowing that it was one big
cheating fest in high stakes poker. Dozens of people with impeccable
credentials corroborated stories about one another. Accusations were
made and denied on a daily basis. But the bottom line was that the
cheats established in particular casinos had the management bar any
opposition they did not care for. In effect, the cheats ran the card
rooms. In the event a casino was pressured into asking a cheat to stay
away from its games, the cheat would leave and take his pack to another
casino - that drastic drop in revenue usually had the effect of
'killing' the first casino.
But the plus side for the casinos was and is enormous. Think of having
4 or 5 games going for about 70% of the day without needing any props.
In return for allowing the cheats to scam, the casinos reap the benefit
of 4 or 5 million dollars in collections and all the publicity that
goes with having the biggest games. The cheats are loyal and keep the
games flowing. This is their source of revenue. They tip generously,
day after day, to keep everyone happy. All employees of a top section
double or triple their salary without doing anything. Imagine what
happens when they aid in placing marked cards in the game! Millions can
be won and lost in a night in high stakes games - the thought of that
tip would be powerful incentive for a dealer willing to put in a box of
marked cards.
In the past it was very easy to put the cards in. The card rooms were
smaller and needed all the games they could get to survive. The cheats
lured fresh cash to the casinos. The players came to play high.
With marked cards there really is no down side. There aren't any
fluctuations when you cheat, and all but the cheats get slaughtered in
the short run, let alone the long run. Obviously it takes the best to
play marked cards to their full potential. Only a World Class Player
would have a chance of detecting play with marked cards. However, even
WCPs would not have a chance playing against other WCPs that had marked
cards in the game. They simply would not know.
I was asked how I was helpful in making the casinos money while I
worked in them. The answer is that I would start and keep games going.
I would bring in my crews to work the games. This allowed the casinos
to look like there was a lot of action without having the expense of
providing props.
Remember the old movies? Did you ever see an honest gambling house? The
good guys were always catching cheats playing in their joints. About
the only honest player you ever saw was Maverick, and he was always
going broke. Believe me, the cheating part has not changed.
When I went over to a club in the mid 90s, there was one game of
$20-$40 in the top section. Within 4 months of my arrival the top
section had 17 $20-$40 or higher games going at times. To accomplish
this feat I employed a method I call B.Y.O.G. or 'bring your own
game'. With the aid of management I brought a group of my fellow
scammers and created games for the house. Each game generated X amount
of dollars that the house wouldn't have had if we hadn't been given
the green light. If we had not been allowed to scam, we would not have
been there.
'Everyone' says the games were crooked in the 70's. However,
'everyone' from the 70s is still around and is as big as ever. In
fact, most made their names in the 70s and early 80s. How did they
survive the crooked 70s if they weren't crooked?
Russ Georgiev
this article and many more appear on www.pokermafia.com
.
- Prev by Date: OT: Your microwave
- Next by Date: Re: rgp challenge
- Previous by thread: OT: Your microwave
- Next by thread: Re: Poker Cheating Manifesto
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
