Monday, June 09, 2008

High-tech Poker Scam Caught Red-Handed

New Jersey police have taken down a hi-tech scam at the Borgata hotel. The hustlers were apprehended on June 7 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a private room playing in a high stakes game, cheating with high tech equipment that included miniature video cameras, undetectable radio receivers and laptops.

One of the four conspirators would whisper what the players were holding to his accomplice at the table wearing a tiny earpiece, while another ran the odds on each deal of the cards on a laptop behind the scenes. Additionally, some of the cards were marked to identify them from the rest of the pack.

"It was a high-tech cheating scheme. They were basically using spy equipment," said Peter Aseltine, spokesman for the New Jersey attorney general's office.

Steve Forte, 51, of Las Vegas, one of those charged, is a consultant offering products and services through his company, International Gaming Specialists, including a four-part video series which is "designed to help protect all those that play in private games from card and dice cheaters." He was charged with using a computer and cheating devices to commit theft, attempted theft by deception and conspiracy. His clients include a number of the major Las Vegas Strip casinos, gaming halls from Aruba to Macau, several law enforcement agencies and TV shows. He is also the author of "Casino Games Protection” and "Poker Protection - Cheating and the World of Poker," which was published this year. He also acted as a gaming adviser for “Dateline NBC,” the Discovery Channel and several movies, including “Rounders,” a movie for poker aficionados.

George Joseph of Worldwide Casino Consulting, author of "Why Shouldn't A Woman Wear Red in a Casino?" believes the public should not rush judgment on this issue. He said, "I've been doing this 33 years and over the years, you could have caught me at places I shouldn't have been if I heard about a new cheating method. If the cops broke down the door, it would have looked bad, but I wasn't there to steal anything."

The other three charged with conspiracy and use of cheating devices in a theft were Stephen Phillips, 52, of Las Vegas; James Calvin Harrison, 41, of Duluth, Minn., and high-stakes poker player Joseph Ingargiola, 50, of Playa del Rey, Calif. They were all released on bail.

"They utilized the spying equipment to target high-stakes private poker games," said Aseltine. "They also used computer programs so they could enter information on the hands and determine what course of action to take so as to increase their odds of winning."

The high stakes victims, who were in town for the $1.7 million tournament being held at the Borgata, were lured to the luxurious hotel room under the guise of a private game. Both the hotel and police officials have announced that only private games had been targeted and that the Borgata’s tournament had not been compromised in any way.

Dave Coskey, Borgata's vice president of marketing, said, "To the best of my knowledge, they weren't targeting our tournament. It was off the gaming floor. It wasn't affecting our gaming at all."

He also said that there were no hole-card cameras and no television coverage of the event, so the tournament could not have been compromised.

“There was no concern of a hole camera being tapped,” said Coskey. “There couldn’t be, because we didn’t have a camera. There was no television.”

It is an unfortunate turn of events for the Borgata Hotel and Casino, which was in the news two years ago when one of their Mini-Baccarat dealers developed a false shuffle cheating scam with five accomplices, which cost the casino $61,000.

With the concern about cheating looming large, Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP Commissioner, is quick to point out that cheating would be very difficult at the high stakes tournament.

"I can't reveal our specific security measures, otherwise they wouldn't be very secure. But needless to say, Harrah's has the ultimate commitment to both responsible gaming and security, and we have a state of the art surveillance system in place at all times here," he said.

Aseltine declined to comment on how the scam was discovered while it was in action since the investigation is still ongoing. Further details are expected to be released over the coming months. No mention has been made of how many players have been scammed or how much money was stolen. The gaming community will be looking on with great interest to hear Steve Forte’s explanation for his participation in the scam. It is alleged that he has told friends in Las Vegas that he was solely an observer and not an active participant in the scam. The online poker community has reacted with a mixture of shock, confusion and disgust. At the present time, Forte is maintaining his poker face and cannot be reached for comment.