Learning Game Protection from the King of Past Posters
By Bill Zender
(This is an article that was printed in the Willy Allison’s Catwalk e-zine in association with the 2006 World Game Protection Conference)
This past fall I had the opportunity to meet with the author of American Roulette (2003) and former past posting “king”, Richard Marcus. Marcus directed teams have stolen millions of dollars over the past twenty years from casino all over the world through the use of past posting moves performed on a multitude of casino games. Unlike some past post cheating teams who specialize in only one or two game types, Marcus et al over the years have successfully performed thousands past post moves at twenty one, craps, baccarat, craps, and several of the peripheral games. During that twenty year period not one time was Marcus arrested for cheating or was any member of his team incarcerated for a casino crime. For a cheater to be able to lurk under the radar that long and be that successful is something I find both amazing and unbelievable.
His book American Roulette is probably the most enlightening and honestly depicted “novel” I have ever read written from someone who has made a living cheating casino games. I’ve read several other books penned by alleged gaming cheaters, and they’re mostly embellished rambling of individuals wrapped up in their own ego. Not American Roulette. I have recommended it to numerous other gaming experts and executives, and all have come away with a much better understanding of the importance and mechanics professional past posters use to baffle and humiliate casino game protection. So I jumped at a chance to meet him when the opportunity arose several months ago. After reading his eye opening book, I couldn’t wait to meet with him and discover more about how the casino’s defenses could be bypassed so easily for so long.
As I had suspected Richard Marcus is one person who is not driven by an over active ego. Although Marcus does not try to sugar coat what he has “allegedly” been doing over the past years, claiming he retired four or five years ago, he admits what he did was both “ballsy” and ruthless, has no regrets, and doesn’t think for one instant regulatory officials and casino personnel will ever agree to “live and let live”. Marcus exclaimed that he wrote his story because he thought it needed to be told. Every cheating move he described in the book is depicted exactly as it was performed, and although many of the stories have been altered slightly so not to offend certain individuals, they are told with as much accuracy as possible under the circumstances.
For example; after reading about a roulette move he and an another team member named “Savannah”, I realized that Marcus’s team had cheated me in roulette at the Aladdin Hotel/casino in 1996. I remember receiving a phone call from surveillance informing me that a “questionable” $500 wager was made on one of the columns, however after reviewing the tape surveillance substantiated the fact the $500 wager ($502 actually) had been legitimately been placed well before the ball had fallen, it had to be paid. It wasn’t until I read Marcus’s book years later that I realized the Aladdin had been nailed by a $500 past posting move. The “Savannah” move was designed to get past the surveillance cameras. How is this done might one ask? The brilliance of the move comes from the positioning of two roulette checks placed on top of the $500 chip which conceal the bottom chip from the roulette dealer. Their positioning makes the dealer think the wager consists of three chips, all $1 roulette check. If the wager loses the cheater picks up chips before the dealer collects the losers. In most case the disappearing checks are not noticed, but if they are the cheater apologizes for his improprieties and hands in to the dealer three roulette $1 checks. If the wager wins the checks and chip remain on the layout for the dealer to pay. Because the $500 chip has gone unnoticed up to the point of payoff the dealer thinks it might have come down late and informs the floor supervisor, who follows up on the dealer’s suspicion by having surveillance review the video tape. Surveillance’s conformation seals the deal and the cheater gets paid by the same system that is supposed to prevent this specific occurrence.
Marcus stated that the team had unbelievable success cheating at all games, not just roulette. He stressed the fact that an unbelievable majority of their past post moves were never even question by the casino’s floor staff even though their primary past post move in twenty one consisted of late wagers of $1,000 and higher. He contends that his team usually claimed one hundred past post move with maybe one late wager being questioned. Marcus’s primary twenty one past post move was made by switching the original wager for a much higher bet after it had been paid by the dealer; a move that lead the dealer to believe he had misread the amount of the player’s wager and paid it incorrectly. To my surprise and chagrin Marcus recalled that he made approximately 200-300 past post moves in twenty one at the Aladdin between early 1992 and late 1993, a portion of that time when the Aladdin live games were under my tutelage. He stated that his team used the Aladdin for training since our limits were $2,000 and considered “too small” for conducting serious past post wagers. Even with the low limits Marcus explained that the team made a series of $110 and $210 past post claims without one failed attempt. They were able to make many of these moves under the very eyes of what I considered a very well trained floor staff, ouch!
In the name of game protection I asked Marcus what a casino should do to help prevent future past post team from successfully extracting money from the casino, and what the industry needs to watch for on a day to day basis. Marcus outline what he perceived as being best conditions for past posting and what the cheater does to improve his or her chances for a successful claim. Some of these points are;
• Past posters like to make higher denomination moves during busy times. This allows for them to blend in easier and gives the floor staff less time to closely examine questionable wagering situations.
• The cheater will adjust the amount past posted based on casino’s wager limit and action tolerance.
• Blackjack moves were normally conducted from the last few positions on the table, although any position is vulnerable if the dealer and floor staff are not alert.
• After a past post move was made the dealer would be physically touched and the “alleged mistake” brought to their attention. The physical contact has a “stunning” effect on the dealer causing them to more likely think they made a payoff mistake.
• The dealer and floor supervisor were given a reason why high denomination chips were part of the wager by the appearance of the same denomination chips in the cheaters hand or on the table in front of him.
• Steps were taken to make the past post claim appear as an “honest dealer mistake” so surveillance wasn’t brought into the equation. Many times the team’s psychological tactics got the dealer believing he or she had made the mistake, and would side with the cheaters when explaining the situation to floor staff.
• Since camera coverage has greatly increased over the last ten years past post moves will be more likely detected if casino supervisory staff follow procedures and check questionable wagers or incidents.
• Moves similar to “Savannah” will become more common in years to come because of the increased surveillance coverage.
I really hate putting more money in Richard Marcus’s pocket since he already has me in the hole for thousands of dollars; I still highly recommend his book American Roulette which is a must read for all supervisory and surveillance personnel. After almost thirty years in the business myself, I found the information Marcus shares about his team and their past posting techniques as quite valuable, and I think everyone in the casino industry will find the information in it’s text extremely eye opening.
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