When it comes to casino scams in 2024, the use of concealed cameras in poker games is the number-one attention-getter, said Willy Allison, founder of the annual World Game Protection Conference in Las Vegas.
The issue blew up during the summer Olympics in Paris and hasn’t died down since. In addition, new rules were introduced in December by the World Series of Poker.
In the Paris case, two Eastern European men were indicted for organized fraud following their arrest at Enghien-les-Bains casino. They were accused of going to European casinos and winning tens of thousands of euros with their undetectable-to-the-naked-eye cheating system. They were only caught when authorities, acting on a tip, set up surveillance to nab them.
One of the men at the poker table used an earpiece so small that not only wasn’t it detectable, but it had to be removed with a magnet. His accomplice in a car outside gave him instructions while viewing the cards dealt in the game via a camera built into the side of the player’s phone sitting on the poker table.
Allison, who releases the Monitor Room newsletter that tracks casino crime and scams, said that the player also had a button camera on his shirt. This technology has been around for years, with tiny cameras in cigarette lighters and watches.
“This has been going on for a long time,” Allison said. “They’re positioning cameras on the table that have better views than casino surveillance to see the cards being dealt. The dealers have to lift them out of the shuffle machine to place them and in a poker game, that allows people to make decisions on how to play the hand.”
Since the incident, a lot of discussion from both players and casinos has been dedicated to dealing with the problem. Players have been very vocal about their concerns. Maria Konnikova, a poker professional and author, will talk about the problem at the World Game Protection Conference to be held March 11-13 at the Rio Las Vegas.
“She’s currently researching cheating in all sorts of games,” Allison said. “She’s been quite vocal in the poker fraternity about banning electronics from the table games. I’ve been quite vocal about that for years, but casinos aren’t listening.”
The reason they aren’t is marketing allows people to bring in cameras and stream out to the world to get more exposure, Allison said. Even though security experts have warned about this, casinos see the benefit of getting likes and clicks over the risk of being cheated.
“Maria headed the call for poker rooms to ban electronics on the table,” Allison said. “Put them in your pocket, for goodness sake. That’s a simple solution.”
Another solution is to feed cards from a chute instead of a dealer pitching them to players.
The problem has been that casinos pay little attention to poker, because it’s not a house-banked game, Allison said. They should; the technology is now being used on the house-banked poker-derivative games.
“The scam in Paris and a scam in Asia both took place on house games,” Allison said. “For a number of years, we haven’t seen the threat taken seriously in poker games, because it’s player against player. We took a step back to players policing their own games. but there’s been an increase in talk about these cheating scandals.”
The World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas in July had controversy amid winner Jonathan Tamayo’s getting advice at the final table from friends on the rail. It was further fueled by conspiracy theories raised when the person who gave advice had an AirPod fall out of his ear.
In early December, the World Series of Poker issued rules that players are no longer allowed to have electronic devices on the table or even the rail. Players and spectators are barred from using any form of electronic assistance in the tournament room at the risk of disqualification and removal. Spectators are also prohibited from coaching during gameplay.
“In reaction to this increased talk about cheating incidents, the World Series of Poker introduced new rules acknowledging people are cheating the game using concealed cameras,” Allison said. “You could say that Maria was instrumental in this, along with the other high-profile players. They know it’s been going on.”
The question remains, however, what are casinos going to do on a day-to-day basis? In the last two years, MGM has implemented a new policy enabling influencers to use cameras at the table, adding to the risk.
“Because people have been getting away with it for so long, European teams have gotten highly organized,” Allison said. “Their camera technology is better positioned to take advantage of the game. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cell phone on the table or not. It could be a concealed camera. That’s the dilemma.”
Allison said the good news is that public awareness has been raised over the problem and now the “ball is in the court of the casinos,” as pressure is put on them. Allison aware of any arrests in the U.S. similar to Paris, but reports of it happening are coming out of Las Vegas. “This is the hottest news going around right now.”
Allison will release his annual top-scams list at the World Game Protection Conference.