---
title: 'How Casino Fraud Works | How Crime Works | Insider'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=-N4mjdDF5rI'
video_id: '-N4mjdDF5rI'
date: 2026-07-20
duration_sec: 1732
channel: 'TRIP REC.'
---

# How Casino Fraud Works | How Crime Works | Insider

> Source: [How Casino Fraud Works | How Crime Works | Insider](https://youtube.com/watch?v=-N4mjdDF5rI)

## Summary

This video features Richard Marcus, a former professional casino cheater, who details his 25-year career defrauding casinos using techniques like 'Savannah' and chip manipulation. He explains the psychology, teamwork, and specific methods used, as well as how casinos have evolved their security. Marcus now works as a gaming security consultant, teaching casinos how to prevent such fraud.

### Key Points

- **The Savannah Technique** [00:48] — A method where a $5,000 chip is hidden under a $5 chip. If the bet wins, the dealer pays $10,000; if it loses, the cheater grabs the bet before the dealer can take it. The dealer only noticed once out of five times.
- **Social Engineering in Cheating** [05:38] — Joe taught Marcus to manipulate chips under the dealer's nose, then claim a mistake and show high-value chips to appear as a 'whale' (high roller). This psychological trick prevents security from being called.
- **Team Roles** [06:50] — A typical team included a leader (Joe), a claimer (Marcus), a mechanic (Duke) who handled chips, and a bet placer (Jerry) who created opportunities. Later, Marcus worked with a reckless player (Bols) and a new claimer (Pet).
- **Roulette Requires Choreography** [08:38] — Roulette scams needed four people: three sitting, one standing. It took time to occupy positions. Scammers often place chips perfectly in circles to avoid dealer adjustment, and use signals like ear tugs or chin rubs.
- **Best Times to Cheat** [09:38] — New Year's Eve, big fight nights, or concerts are ideal because of high action and many players. However, casinos are crowded, and waiting for a seat can take hours. A simple Savannah takes only a few minutes.
- **Favorite Casino: Caesars Palace** [10:22] — Marcus won about $4 million at Caesars Palace, calling it a 'chocolate casino' because $5,000 chips are brown. They targeted casinos with high-value chips. To cash out, they would break chips into smaller denominations at regular tables over a day or two.
- **Mafia Era Threats** [12:24] — Marcus operated at the end of the mafia era. He was once taken to a penthouse balcony and threatened with being thrown off if caught again. He was also threatened with prison and broken bones, but nothing materialized.
- **London vs. US Security** [14:37] — London casinos have hidden microphones in tables and a dedicated observer on a high chair. US casinos rely only on cameras, with one supervisor for multiple tables. Audio surveillance is absent in the US.
- **Rival Italian Team** [16:53] — At Lake Tahoe, Marcus encountered an Italian team using a technique where they slid a stack of chips onto a winning number before the dealer placed the marker. He admired their skill but was frustrated they were better.
- **The Golden Nugget Incident** [19:03] — After a Savannah at the Golden Nugget, the dealer left, tables closed, and the casino president refused to pay. Marcus was told to contact the Nevada Gaming Commission. This ended his Las Vegas career.
- **Penalties for Cheating** [20:08] — In Nevada, even a $5 cheat can lead to a year in prison for a first offense. Europe is softer. Marcus suggests harsh penalties would deter most cheaters. He now trains dealers as the first line of defense.
- **Modern Cheating: Digital Technology** [21:50] — Slot machine fraud is rising via reverse engineering. Machines' randomness can be analyzed, and images sent to labs for predictions. AI is overrated; only facial recognition works. Cheating still accounts for a similar percentage of revenue as in retail.
- **Casinos Cheat Players Too** [24:44] — Casinos change rules to reduce odds, e.g., adding a third zero in roulette or reducing blackjack payouts from 3:2 to 6:5. Marcus considers his cheating a victimless crime, as only the casino loses.
- **End of Career and Aftermath** [26:28] — After the Golden Nugget incident, Marcus quit. The Gambling Commission tightened laws. He wrote 'American Roulette' in 2003. He later publicly confessed to a Canadian scam but was not prosecuted due to lack of video evidence. Now he trains casino staff.

### Conclusion

Richard Marcus's story reveals the intricate methods of casino cheating and the evolution of security. His transition from fraudster to consultant highlights how casinos can better protect themselves by training dealers and improving surveillance.

## Transcript

$25 million.  Never got caught.  And that's how crime works.  Translated and how crime works.  Translated and voiced by order of RG.  When people only thing they know about the underbelly of Las Vegas is what they
underbelly of Las Vegas is what they see in the movies.  They are not familiar with this.  There's a lot going on there.  Soft cheating, hard cheating.  There is theft, there is robbery. Trying to cheat a casino is a very dangerous
activity.  You will most likely be arrested and sent to jail, so don't do sent to jail, so don't do it.  Chapter One.  Savannah.  Winning $5,000.  All my attempts to cheat the casino were based on two or three simple
things.  One of them was to sharply increase the bet size.  Make 1 thousand from a $10 bet . . or make 10,000 out of 100
, and only after the outcome is known, declare that the dealer came up with a way to hide a $5,000 chip under a $5 chip
.  Then the dealer only saw the $5 chip on top. The top five dollar chip cast a small shadow on the bottom one, making it unclear what denomination it was.  You knew the chip was there, but you could
n't see it, so the dealers naturally assumed it was just two $5 chips.  If the bet wins, they must pay $10,000.  If the bet loses, before the dealer can take it, I step
out, grab the bet and take it.  And most often the dealer didn't even see me doing it .  It seems like it's an easy scheme and the dealer will always catch you out.  But in fact, the dealer noticed this only once out of five times.  So,
when we lose, we cheat, and when we win, we do nothing. If the bet wins, we get 10,000. But the dealer couldn't see the bottom chip, and he had to call the supervisor.  They reviewed the
CCTV footage to check if the chip had been planted.  And everything was clean.  This means you get the winnings. After all, everything was legal.  In the opposite situation, if I lost, I would simply take the $5,000 chip and give
the dealer $10.  After all, he initially thought there was a ten there.  We were spinning the savannah with a minimum win of $5,000 and a maximum of $20 when we made several bets at the same time.
There were a few instances where I was caught, but never held accountable.  Andy Anderson stalked me all over Las Vegas when he worked for a private detective agency that worked for the casinos
to protect them from people like me.  He always took me to the secret service to establish my identity, just to torment me.  He was quite a pain.  But when I wrote the book and first met him, not in the casino back alley
but at a casino security conference where I was giving a speech, he told me that back in the nineties they used to go around casinos like the nineties they used to go around casinos like Caesars and take apart the roulette wheels.  They were looking for
one even thought about using electronics to cheat roulette.  They assumed that I had a magnet with which I controlled the ball.  I was shocked by what I heard, because my technique was incredibly simple.  If
you won, you received money.  If he lost, he took his bet.  And that's all. Now I work with casinos.  I teach them how to stop taking Savannah.  It all comes down to a simple action.  When the dealer says, "No more bets," he
should not just stand there and scan the table with his eyes.  He must step out of his box, step to the side and look at the chips from an angle.  Make sure that all the values are correct and only then
launch the ball.  Chapter two.  Recruitment. Horseshoe Casino.  When I first came to Vegas and started cheating the casinos, it was the end of the
mafia era.  Everything felt different then. No volcanoes, water parks or entertainment.  Only excitement, only the game. I was invited to join the team by a professional con man named Joe
Klassn.  I was working as a croupier at the Forks in Downtown at the time.  He came up to my desk and said, "How about a drink after your shift?"  We met across the street at the
Horseshoe Casino and he asked, "Why are you the only one who doesn't steal chips from the cash register?"  And he was right.  I actually saw other dealers stealing
$10-$15, red chips for five.  But I wasn't interested in that.  He said that he was a professional swindler and he needed a new person to join his team.  One left and he is looking for a replacement.  After 2 weeks I
quit and went with them.  I didn't know anything about how they worked.  They didn't steal, they manipulated the chips.  I had to learn from scratch.  Chapter three. training.  Social
engineering.  The first trick he taught me was this.  I bet $15, three red chips for $5.  When the dealer pays
$5.  When the dealer pays out, I discreetly exchange two chips for $500 chips with one five on top.  Total 1.5 dollars.  Hey, you made a mistake, you made an incorrect payment. After that, I raise my hand and show
my chips, and all the chips there are worth 500 dollars and more.  That is, I show that I am a serious player.  Joe explained how it works. All this social engineering is pure psychology.  I can convince anyone
that I am a guy who bets $10,000 at a time.  And they believed me. Security is never called for such cases.  Dealers think it 's a whale, an important player.  He trained
me to be a claimer.  This is the one who takes the winnings and does not change the chips.  Everyone thinks that cheating at casinos is a sleight of hand.  Like, look over there while I change the chips here.  They say the main thing is to distract attention.  But
Joe taught the opposite, you do everything right under the dealer's nose.  Chapter Four. Team.  Almost like a choreographer.   For the first 13 years there were four of us.  Joe is in charge.  He was responsible for security and
surveillance.  He was our score.  I was a claimer.  Collected score.  I was a claimer.  Collected the winnings.  Duke is a mechanic.  His task is chips.  And also Jerry.  He placed his bets in such a way as to
create the right situation for the mechanic to move. And after that I could take [music] the winnings.  This was the first command.  In the second half of my career, I worked with
two guys.  One of them is nicknamed Bols.  He reckless.  When he played poker, he could throw $5,000 or $10,000 into the pot throw $5,000 or $10,000 into the pot without even blinking.  The second guy, Pet, he
became a claimer, and I became a mechanic. This is how we worked for another good 12 This is how we worked for another good 12 years.  First, we chose the right casino and saw if it would suit us.  Then they took out chips of the required denomination.  There
should always be high value chips. Then we took our positions at the table.  In Then we took our positions at the table.  In BKJack one seat is enough.  Everything is BKJack one seat is enough.  Everything is easy.  The KRPs needs a mechanic and a claimer.
One stands behind the other.  It's not difficult either. But roulette is almost choreography.  Four people are needed there. Three are sitting, one is standing.  And it
takes time to occupy these positions .  So sometimes it all could easily recognize scammers by their betting style.  They always place the chips
exactly in the circle, exactly on the number. Why?  Because they don't want the dealer to touch the chips or adjust them.  If everything is perfect, the dealer won't
touch them.  They never talk to each other, they always use signals and gestures.  For example, he tugged at the ear: "Come to me."  Rubbed the chin.  Everything is
fine.  The casino is not trained for this.  They don't understand sign language.  Nobody bothers about sign language.  All casinos rely on these days is video surveillance.  The best time to cheat a
casino is, without a doubt, New Year's Eve.  This evening sees the most action, the most players and the most bets, especially in Las Vegas.  Also great moments on big fight nights or concerts.  Then
all the influential players come together and everyone makes big bets.  And this is exactly what we need.  But there is a downside.  On days like these, the casinos are crowded and you have to wait.   An hour or two just to get a seat.  If we were preparing a complex technique, it could take an
hour and a half from start to finish.  But a simple savannah is only a few minutes.  All you need are certain are certain chips.  A few minutes and the appointment is made.
Chapter Five. Money.  Feeling deprived.  My favorite casino is without a doubt Cesar Palace in Las Vegas.  There we were greeted best of all .  Of my entire cash register, about 4 million
were won there.  We call these places chocolate casinos because the $5,000 chips are usually brown.  But not all casinos had such chips.  There simply weren't any bets of that size.   It goes without saying
that we went where they were.  You could say that any casino that had $5,000 chips was our favorite.  The problem was that we couldn't just go to the checkout with these chips.  There were a lot of questions about where you
got them, where they came from, who gave them to you, where you won them, and so on.  That's why we had our own separate scheme for withdrawing money. We'd wait a day or two after winning, and then go to the regular tables and break up the five-thousand-dollar chips into smaller ones.  And only
then did they go to the cashier and cash out the regular chips without any unnecessary suspicion.  So how did we divide the money we won?  Not only was I the main claimer, but I also came up with most of the new
techniques.  But in any criminal case, there is always some internal tension, just like in any ordinary business.  Some people are jealous, others feel deprived.  Here things are even more serious.  If you quarrel with someone, you may get into trouble.
Someone might turn you in and you will lose your freedom.  That's why we always divided everything equally between all team members, without exception.  We all spent this money differently.  For example, I loved sports betting and lost a ton of
money doing it.  He loved restaurants, good food, lived beautifully, and didn’t spare money on anything.  And, to be honest , I never made any smart investments .  Chapter Six.  Broken arms.  When I was younger, there were
only Italians around.  Nowadays, I'm often asked: "You cheated casinos during the mafia days, right?"  You've seen the movie Casino, where Denir's character orders the arms of someone who
cheats to be broken.  I just happened to be at the very end of that era.  The main thing the Italian mafia did was in the casinos.  They were taking money out of the accounting rooms.  This is also shown in the movie Casino.  All these scenes where Joe Pe and his
guys come out with suitcases of cash, which, of course, is not accounted for anywhere, neither by the inspectors nor by the tax authorities.  There was a mafioso named Tonis Pilotra.  He led the infamous Hole in the Wall gang.  They
rented a room next to the room of a wealthy guest.  And while he was having fun somewhere outside the room, they drilled a hole in the wall and cleaned out his room.  Movies like 21 show
card-counting teams like MIT getting a hard time.  And this is not a fiction.  I started in the early seventies.  And yes, I was really threatened.
They had no proof, but they knew what I was doing and they didn't like it.  Two security guards took me to the very top, to the penthouse of the Desert in Inn Hotel. They had the key.  They led me through the room and out onto the balcony.  And one of them
said: "Boy, if we see you here again, you'll leave the casino through this balcony ."  Then they turned around and left.  There were several threats.
They threatened me with prison and broken bones.  All this happened, but in the end nothing happened.  The person who initially dragged me into this matter warned me right away: "In any situation, keep quiet. If they have evidence, they will show it, and if
not, you will only harm yourself by trying to get out of it with words."  I have always been confident in what I do, and this confidence has helped me.  Chapter Seven. Security service. Hidden microphones.  In the United States, the
main casino game is, of course, BlackDk. In Asia it's Bacarat, and in the UK it's Roulette.  To be honest, it is the hardest to cheat casinos in London.  There is incredible trust in the staff.  Plus
a supervisor, but also a special observer on a high chair, just like at tennis matches. The man sitting on it does not take his eyes off the table.  It is his only task to keep a
constant watch.  And we had to take this into account.  In America, everything is simpler.  One supervisor for two or even six tables at once .  And in London there is also audio surveillance.  There are microphones hidden right in the tables .  There is no audio recording in the US
.  All protection is just the camera.  So the main thing we did was just try not to arouse suspicion.  We didn't stand near the tables to count cards.  After all, often the person counting the cards simply
stands near the table and then signals the player to place a was not getting a request from the surveillance service, because the
cameras themselves never catch professionals. Without signals from the audience, they never catch players.  Without a signal from the audience, they have nothing to look for.  And this is also understandable.  Previously, cameras were
focused only on protecting the game.  These days, security doesn't just monitor the game.  They also have to protect their assets and keep an eye on everything that's going
on.  Before, all they did was watch the game. And these days they have to worry about terrorist attacks, armed raids.  In addition, human trafficking and prostitution are problems.  They must protect themselves
from possible robberies.  They train constantly.  Service dogs, security, train constantly.  Service dogs, security, they are busy with everything, not just tables.  They don't follow the game as closely as they could.  Chapter Eight.
as they could.  Chapter Eight. Feud.  Lake Tahoe. From the very beginning I knew that we were not alone.  The best scammers who were Italians.  In the entire world, there
Italians.  In the entire world, there .  One day we went to Lake Tahoe and started working on a roulette wheel.  The essence
of the technique: we caught up with the bet after the number had already come up. They threw $100 chips directly onto the winning number.  Winning 3500. And here is winning number.  Winning 3500. And here is Duke, our mechanic, reaching for
Dolle.  And towards his hand comes the hand of another mechanic.  And it was an Italian from an Italian team.  That was a moment.  The problem was that everyone was on the south side of Laketahoe, and there are only
four casinos there.  And so eight people gathered in one place.  In the end, we agreed: “Okay, you take these two casinos, and we’ll take the remaining two, and we won’t interfere with each other.”  Later, as time went by, we would
run into each other again, and each time I would try to see what tricks they were to see what tricks they were doing.  For a long time I couldn't understand anything, but one day I saw everything, and what I saw was
magnificent.  They placed four stacks of one dollar chips. to different areas of the wheel.  The winning number usually falls somewhere nearby.  And as soon as the dealer reached to
nearby.  And as soon as the dealer reached to place a Dolly, their mechanic, or whoever was closest, instantly, literally with one sharp movement, moved the desired stack right onto the winning number, even before the dealer reached there.
Imagine a stack of twenty chips.  And he moves them so fast that none of them fall.  When I saw that, I thought, "Damn, these guys are cooler than us, and it bugged me ."  Chapter Nine.  Decline.  We do
n't pay you.  I once did a Savannah at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas.  Everything is as usual.  I've done it a thousand times already. Everything passed.  And suddenly the dealer gets up
from the table and disappears.  The casino began closing tables.  They tried to pressure me.  They were waiting for me to leave on my own.  They cashed out everyone else at the table.  The
dealer and I stayed there and we stood there for about 3 hours.  And at the top, the security service made the decision.  And then, finally, a man comes down into the hall, comes up to me and hands me a business card.  Mr. Marcus,
my name is So-and-so.  I am the president of Golden Nugget.  We won't pay you. repeats: "We will not pay."  If you prefer, contact the
Nevada Gaming Commission.  Let them pay.  We won't. That's how it all ended in Las Vegas.  Chapter Ten. Las Vegas.  Chapter Ten. Violations.  Professional
gamblers in Nevada, if you are caught cheating at a casino, even for $5, you are arrested and charged with a If this is your first offense, you could get a year in
get a year in prison.  In Europe, everything is softer.  If penalties were harsh everywhere, most cheaters would simply become legitimate players.  Yes, they would earn less, but they would
players.  Yes, they would earn less, but they would not risk their freedom.  What can casinos do to reduce
know the schemes, learn to recognize them, hire coaches to help with defensive play.  And casinos need to communicate this knowledge to the
knowledge to the dealers themselves, because dealers are the first line of defense against cheating. They are able to protect you from everything.
state police, and the police, unlike casino security, have access to databases and criminal information.  If the casino has a suspicion but no evidence, they can
get more information through the police. For example, if a person has already been involved in crimes.  Even if a person was not involved in fraud, but there were other crimes, this says a lot. Chapter 11. The Future.  Outsmart
the casino.  Most schemes are just new versions of old tricks.  Savannah, by the way, is a variation of an older scam called WW Cam.  In those days,
cash was used instead of chips. Today, cheating in casinos is only growing.   It's all because of digital technology.  There has been a particular surge in technology.  There has been a particular surge in
slot machine fraud.  The reverse engineering method is used .  That is, the slots supposedly work randomly, but any such machine obeys certain laws.  This means that the operation of the machines can be analyzed.  It's a
difficult question, but it's possible.  And if you transmit images or videos of the machine's operation to calculation laboratories, for example, in Russia or China, you can get an accurate
get an accurate forecast of which machine will soon players are displacing ordinary digital scammers.
perhaps the most overrated anti- fraud system.  The only thing that actually works in it is facial recognition. If your photo is already in the database and the government has a good scanner, they will immediately
receive information that you are in the building.  But artificial intelligence itself does not stop anything. Artificial intelligence won't be able to come up and say, "Hey, this is Richard Marcus, and he's going to cheat at
table number 14."  This will definitely not higher, the techniques are also more sophisticated, but the percentage of total revenue
that goes to cheating is roughly the same in all casinos. the same in all casinos. Here, as in retail, there is always a loss of
the situation as a whole, fraudsters steal hundreds of millions of dollars a year steal hundreds of millions of dollars a year
the reputation of a particular casino.  If players know that there are scams thriving there, regular casino visitors will be reluctant to go to places where they can be
reluctant to go to places where they can be cheated.  And this could seriously harm the get involved in fraudulent schemes .  Usually they
don't cheat the players, but the establishment itself.  This is already a conspiracy.  Cases like these make headlines . But do casinos cheat the But do casinos cheat the players themselves?  It depends on what you mean by deception.
They change the rules so that the chances of winning become winning become less and less.  For some people, this is a
BlackDK.  Roulette originated in England and France.  Initially there was only one Zero is the number at which all other bets lose. I bet on any number and lost. I lost on red, and on black too.  Then
the Americans came and added a second zero.  And now in the USA there are already tables with three zeros.  And this means a triple advantage for the establishment compared to the original rules.  The second example is BlackД.  Previously, if you had a
natural BlackDeck ace plus a ten, you would get paid 3 CD to two.  Now most casinos don't have vada.  For the same win you get 6 to the birdie, which is a difference.  I believe that casino cheating is a
victimless crime.  I can say that I have been cheating casinos for 25 years and no one has suffered except the casinos themselves .  Of course, someone will argue with me and disagree. Perhaps it's because I'm offended by the fact that I'm a fraudster, but I don't think anyone, for example, has
much sympathy for banks or airlines if someone cheats them.  So that's my opinion.  Chapter Twelve.
Consequences.  Golden Nuggt. When I got caught hosting Savannah at the Golden Nugget Casino, and the casino president came down and said, "Sorry, we're came down and said, "Sorry, we're not paying you."  That was the end.  The end of my
career and not only mine.  It was the end for PTA and for Bols.  The Gambling Commission was keeping an eye on me.   Because of me, they tightened the laws and started
putting people in jail.  They didn't need people like people in jail.  They didn't need people like me. will be the night of January 1, 2000.  I wrote the book American Roulette, but
not right away, only in 2003. My career ended in 2000. I was never caught.  In the US, the statute of limitations for financial crimes is 3 years.  In 3 years, that's it. But one day, after the book came out, I
was asked to comment on a scam in Canada.  And I told the journalist, "Oh, yeah, I was in that casino, I cheated." I did n't know then that there's no statute of limitations in Canada . I publicly confessed to the crime, but I was
crime, but I was lucky. The thing is, they didn't have video footage, and I was in no danger, but it was scary. way encouraging anyone to cheat casinos. It's an extremely dangerous
cheat casinos. It's an extremely dangerous business. Now I'm a gaming security trainer. I travel the world and train casino staff. All the techniques we
talked about. I teach them how to improve surveillance, how to protect themselves from fraud. surveillance, how to protect themselves from fraud. Starting in 2022, I'll be hosting a large annual conference with 50 speakers. That's what I'm
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