It is well known that many casino games are seen to be “rigged” or biased in favour of the house. This article discusses the legitimacy of this claim, how some people overcome this unfair bias and whether or not it is morally or legally wrong to do so.

When deciding whether casino games are in fact rigged it is important to consider whether the money coming into the casino is equal to the money going out. Statistically, if the games were fair they would be equal, however it is clearly evident that they are not. But is it so wrong that a casino should be run like a business that is able to take money from willing customers in exchange for services?

The first and most commonly cheated game is blackjack. Card counting is the most famous method of “cheating” in a casino and has received a lot of attention from the media as well as several films including “Rain Man” (1988). However despite all the negative attention, card counting and other such “advantage play” is not actually considered cheating as long as it is not done with outside or other technological assistance. Card counting is only made possible by the fact that during a game of blackjack the deck is not shuffled, therefore meaning that it is possible to keep a running tally of all of the cards that have been used and will not appear again.

The most common and the easiest method of card counting involves using a numerical count to keep track of the number of high and low cards remaining in the deck, for instance in the “Hi-Lo system”: numbers 2 through to 6 will add 1 to the count as they benefit the dealer and not the player whilst 10, Ace and picture cards will subtract 1 from the count, and 7, 8 and 9 will not change the count. In this way, a player will bet high on a high count and low on a low or negative count and the odds should be significantly more in their favour.

Back-counting (also known as “Wonging,” (for its creator Stanford Wong) involves staying out of the game, just outside of the table and counting with the Hi-Lo or another similar system until the game is in the player’s favour, at which point the game will be joined. This technique is generally more common with games involving 6-8 decks rather than 1-2 as the count is more stable in larger games.

One of the primary techniques that is considered cheating and not “advantage play” is referred to as past-posting. This was a very common cheating technique before cameras and additional staff became so commonplace in casinos. It was generally used for roulette, although it has also been seen in blackjack and several other games. The idea behind past-posting is to wait until the outcome is already decided before placing or increasing a winning bet. It was considered good practice to have placed one or several bets on a round that you are attempting to past post as the casino staff will be far more likely to spot you if you suddenly win having apparently placed no bets.

There were also several other requirements, not least of which is good sleight of hand and an unfocused croupier. When attempting to past-post in blackjack, the player would place down at least three low value chips, the bottom of which was a high value chip that could not be identified from the dealers point of view. If the hand was lost, the high value chip would be switched for a low value counter-part. If the hand was won, the pot would be made on the high value. However, as was previously mentioned, with updated security and strict requirements for staff this technique is no longer considered to be viable.

Lastly, physical cheating of casino slot machines. There are several methods to do this, the oldest of which is referred to as a “monkey wire”. It involves inserting a piece of rigid wire into the machine via the coin hopper. This blocks the counting mechanism for the outgoing coins. Whilst this device does not increase the likelihood of the machine paying out, it does increase the number of coins dropped by the machine.

Next is a “light-wand” which follows the same principle as the monkey wire in that it prevents coins from being properly counted. This is a device with a battery, wire and a small light bulb that is inserted via the hopper to fool the more modern optical coin sensors. The bulb provides a second light source that fools the reader into believing that no coins are falling (as the light is not being blocked by the falling coins).

Finally there are EMP devices. These use high current batteries through a thick wire to create an electromagnetic pulse. This does not work in the Hollywood sense as it does not adversely effect the workings of the machine. When placed near to the coin slot, these devices can be used to create current through the switch and therefore trick the machine into thinking that coins have been inserted when they have not. From that point the odds are that of any slot machine.

Overall, it can be seen that whilst casino cheating was and is still rife and fairly lucrative, advances in modern technology are making it more and more difficult to do. Those who wish to persist either have to use “advantage play” or get very creative with their cheating methods, and continue to invent new ones as soon as they are discovered.