The sting: did gang really use a laser/phone/computer to take the Ritz for

[emad]

£1.3 million?


Steven Morris
Tuesday March 23, 2004
The Guardian

<snip>
Detectives are investigating claims that a gang used a laser scanner hidden in a mobile phone and linked to a computer to help beat the roulette wheel. Two men and a woman were able, it is claimed, to place their bets in the area the computer had pinpointed as the ball's most likely resting place. Scotland Yard sources yesterday described the case as "extremely complex". Specialised detectives from the Met's serious and organised crime group are working hard to puzzle out how the alleged scam might have worked. It is a sign of how untested this area of gambling is that no one can say whether an offence has been committed. The laws which cover gaming date back to the mid 19th century - when the possibility of such sophisticated scams were undreamed of.

It is understood that the three suspects, two Serbian men aged 38 and 33, and a 32-year-old Hungarian woman, made two visits to the casino earlier this month. On the first night they walked out with £100,000. They returned on a subsequent evening and appeared to disprove Albert Einstein's conclusion - that the only way to win on roulette was to pocket the money when the dealer was not looking - by walking out with £1.2m. The casino is believed to have paid them £300,000 in cash and written out a cheque for the balance. But, as is routine when such big wins occur, the casino reviewed its security tapes and called in the police. Scotland Yard confirmed that when police arrested the three at a hotel they seized a "significant quantity of cash". Officers are also thought to have confiscated a number of mobile phones. The three were bailed until the end of the month.

It is thought the gang's success may have been based on a theory known as "sector targeting". The theory is relatively simple. A player determines the point at which the ball is released and the point it passes after one or two spins. He or she can use these figures to calculate the ball's "decaying orbit" and so anticipate the area of the wheel - or sector - the ball is likely to come to rest in. The system cannot reliably predict the slot the ball is likely to fall in but by determining the sector greatly sways the odds in the favour of the punter. The problem is that it is almost impossible to do such a calculation using mental arithmetic.
<snip>

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,2763,1175810,00.html

[ewagner]

1. Hahahaha

This was tried a long time ago with much less sophicated equipment. There was a guy by the name of Doan Farmer who tried it with a group of"Explorer Scouts" from Silver City, Nevada. He wrote a book about it called The Eudemonic Pie.

btw Farmer became a PHD and worked in the early development of Chaos Theory.

[klook]

2. "Mark Griffiths, Europe's only professor of gambling...."

Nice work if you can get it.

Seems like this system should be outlawed, but whether that's covered by existing laws is another question. Could be like the digital stopwatch ruling--casinos can ban future use, but may not be able to negate this win.

[Tiberius]

4. this is illegal in the U.S.

Use of outside technological devices is not allowed in U.S. casinos.

Blackjack card counting, the only way to beat the house with a real mathematical edge, was ruled legal by the courts. However, if they catch you doing it they have the right to eject you.

[Florida_Geek]

7. Ya that is the problem it is only illegal if you get caught

and while this one group did get caught because they WERE greedy, that does not mean that other people have not done this an got away with it. For two players to each walk out with $25,000 each in one night from one casino would IMHO not be noticed. If you hit three casinos a night in Vegas your team could walk away with $150,000 and I am sure somebody has done this already. The technology has been around for a couple years now.

[Florida_Geek]

3. It was only a matter of time

as an software engineer who have worked on embedded processors, I thought of this 10 years ago.

The problem with people are they are greedy. And the article proved that. After the first night, they should have flown to Vegas and hit every casino for 100,000 and they take a month off an do it again.

[lazarus]

5. Bingo

Has nobody heard of the goose that laid the golden egg?

[htuttle]

6. So when does the movie come out?

Don't tell me someone isn't already working on it.