BACCARAT GAME PROTECTION

Presented by Ron Buono

BACCARATSome of the standard tells you might find in other gamesare sometimes not apparent in Baccarat

• It is not uncommon to sit out several hands at a time• All players betting on the same side• Drastic fluctuation in wage size• Betting at the last second• Harder to case layout wages cause they vary so much,

from sitting out hands to switching from Player/Banker.

GAME DESIGN

Even the game design can lead to aiding the cheat or scam.• Midi & Mini Baccarat layouts

– End spots stretched out closer to dealer

• Distractions on layouts– Shoe– Discard Rack– Shufflers (optional)– Display screens– Game information racks– Bank tray bigger

THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE GAME OF BACCARAT IS THE SHUFFLE• Know your house shuffle inside & out• Watch it closely• Flashing cards during the shuffle & stacking

process• Just pinpointing the exact location of two or

three cards will give the player a huge advantage over the casino

• Washing the cards can expose cards & sequences

• False Shuffles• Cooler

COMMON SCAMS• Dealer/Agent Scams• Not collecting/charging correct commission/vig• Pinching/Capping wagers• Bet switching - sides and amount• Card switching - no other player to switch with• Card mucking - much harder cause of set number of cards

and handling procedures• Past Posting• Card Flashing• Card Marking - mini bac’s only

- Use of discard rack covers- Cover plate/brush on dealing shoe

• Playing dumb and just putting out a bet after losing or after not making a wager & hoping to get paid

BACCARATCommon indicators, which would be noted if the player handling the shoewas exposing the top card.• Arm will always be resting on the shoe between rounds, shoe direction never changes• Hand will always be on the port of the shoe• Player with the shoe will usually not be paying attention to his bet as quickly as normal• Player with the shoe will usually sit on a corner chair and expose the card to the player opposite him

on the same end of the spotter while payoffs are being made• Players on the other end of the game all bet on the same side as the spotter• Player with shoe will distract attention by occasionally making smaller and opposite bets of the

others• The shoe is always passed back to the same player as often as possible• Distract dealers/floor with player tracking cards, commission, etc.

Why is it important that the “caller” does not keep his hand on the shoeport constantly between rounds?• This would be the time for the caller to expose the first card if he so chooses to

List some common indicators, which would be noted if someone wereCapping, Pinching or Switching a Bet.• Movements towards the player’s bet when the dealer is facing away• Touching the bet• Odd movements toward the bet• Hands and cheques very close to betting circle• Hands moving over bet as a distraction• General distractions occurring on the game.

TECHNICAL SCAMS• False shuffle – Tran Group• Card mucking - Arm in the sleeve

– Both hands going out at some time– Sitting very close together– Tall chairs– Blockers standing between chairs– All betting same side– Hand motions are very flat to table – Hand in sleeve from behind

• Holding out card, then inserting in on first hand dealt from shoe– Watch dealers hands on the last part of the shuffle

• Infra-red cards in London • Bar Coded Card Scam

– Chip plaque implanted with a reader-microfilm on the chip plaque– Would place the plaque on top of cards and strike it 3-4 times chanting, Good Luck! – Proper cut then performed– Plaque removed by a 3rd person and taken to another location– Card sequence analyzed for exact order of hands to play– Information relayed back to players by cell phone vibration

Common indicators, which would be noted if someone was Mucking or

Switching in cards.

• Picking up cards with one hand and replacing them with the other hand

• Hands going back and forth• Hand flat on layout, fingers on hands close together

to block view of palmed card• Unusual hand movements• Looking at hand very fast• Larger than normal wager winning after suspicious

move• Distractions on game

Mini-Bac ScamThe details of the scam and how it operates are as follows:

1. Casino employees are approached to participate in the scam. Both Dealers and Supervisors have been known to be involved. It is believed that the Scam Team has inside information as to which Dealers and Supervisors may be financially vulnerable.

2. The Dealers and Supervisors are paid by the number of shoes that are set up. The known rare is $2,000 to $5,000 for the Dealer and $5,000 to $10,000 for the Supervisor.

3. The Scam Team meets with the Dealers and Supervisor away from the casino to set up the details of the scam event

4. A player, known as a “Recorder”, sits close to the discard rack in spot 8 or 9. His/her job is to record the cards and suites played in sequences on a Mini-Bac Tracking Card in some sort of code. The code utilized by the Recorder has changed from each known scam.

5. Once the Dealer begins a desirable slug, he signals the Dealer and/or Supervisor.6. The inside Dealer or Supervisor will have “taken out” the shuffler, by disconnecting the electrical supply.7. Once the Dealer begins the manual shuffle, the cards are spread across the table. At this time, The

Recorder signals the dealer again as to the location of the slug.8. The Dealer then begins to wash the cards, but not the slug of approximately 1 to 1 ½ decks of cards,

keeping the slug of cards in order.9. The Dealer will then shuffle the rest of the cards, leaving the slug off to one side.10. The Dealer will load the ‘shuffled’ cards into the shoe.11. The Recorder will continue to play his/her minimal bet watching for the card sequence that indicates the

arrival of the ‘known slug of cards.- Players might also bet opposite of each other until the slug hits.12. Immediately after the ‘big money players’ receive the money from the Cashier, the exit the building. 13. The Recorder always throws the Mini-Bac Tracking Card in a trash receptacle as he/she leaves the area

shortly after the event.

Some precautionary procedures:1. Notify Surveillance anytime a shuffler goes down.2. Notify Surveillance of any high action or unusual play on Mini-

Baccarat3. In the event of a manual shuffle, notify Surveillance before the shuffle

begins.4. Perhaps remove the spread and wash from the Shuffle process.5. In the event of a manual shuffle, Surveillance will utilize all available

camera angles and study the shuffle very closely.6. (Or) require that a shuffler is ALWAYS used on a Mini-Bac game.7. All Mini-Bac tapes are saved.8. Surveillance scans the Mini-Bac areas at least every hour, providing

close-up shots of all players and bystanders. This information is also included in the Daily Log.

9. Keep a camera on the shuffle at all times.10. Know your players.

From a Surveillance viewpoint, here are a few red flags:

1. A manual shuffle with no call.

2. High action with no call.

3. Is the Floor Supervisor not watching the games?

4. Any usual players and/or wins?

Understanding the safety features built into the

Baccarat dealing shoe• Roller can not roll in reverse• Top cross bar- Inside• Top cross bar- Outside• Ridged and snap down cover lid• Cross bar on the back of the cover lid• Thickness of the front lip• White tip on the front edge of the cover lid

Watch what the players are writing down on their table cards

• Pay attention to the charting of individual cards as opposed to just charting winning and losing sides and totals

BACCARATCan a Baccarat shoe be counted down?• In Baccarat the shoe almost always favors the Casino, thus we use a counting system to

determine on which hand the Casino earns the smallest percentage• Counting might reduce the H/A by a small percentage versus playing straight BANKER

bets, but these favorable wagers would occur so seldom and the win would be minimal.• Using this or any kind of count method resulted in betting the “BANKER” hand

approximately 90% of the time• Mostly any style of card counting would occur very late in the shoe• The game is symmetric enough so that there are no cards that massively favor one bet

over the other, the way Aces & Tens help the player in Blackjack• Approximately 10 times the number of cards of the same type must come out in Baccarat

to have the percentage impact of one card of that type at Blackjack• Removing 2,3,4,5(plus count cards) tends to make the remaining mix of cards more

favorable to the BANKER hand• Removing 8,9,10 & paints (minus count cards) tends to make the remaining mix of cards

more favorable to the PLAYER hand• Removing 6,7 & Aces(0 count cards) have no appreciable effect one way or the other• The initial advantage is too large to overcome in Baccarat(1% vs. .25% - 75%)• Baccarat is usually dealt from and 8-deck shoe, so the volatility in the edge is low• A Baccarat count cannot be used to improve playing efficiency, because the drawing

rules are fixed. • Cards are as likely to be dealt to one side as the other• Practical card counting is easily eliminated by shuffling the shoe with 26 cards remaining

BACCARAT FIRST CARD ADVANTAGESFIRST CARD ADVANTAGE PERCENTAGE

Ten Banker 5.5%

Ace Banker 5.4%

Two Banker 4.9%

Three Banker 4.3%

Four Banker 3.2%

Five Banker 1.1%

Average Banker 4.7%

FIRST CARD ADVANTAGE PERCENTAGE

Six Player 0.7%

Seven Player 7.4%

Eight Player 17.3%

Nine Player 21.5%

Average Banker9x4.7% + 4 x 11.7% = 89.1/13= 6.8%

Overall Average

11.7%

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ROULETTE GAME PROTECTIONPRESENTED BY

RON BUONO

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ROULETTE The only way to win any money at Roulette is if “the player steals chips when the dealer isn’t looking”

– No other game like Roulette– Built in blind spots, impedes the dealer’s view– Players naturally leaning in over layout– Can block the dealer’s view and bet late – Can act like a typical tourist or novice– Natural to always be playing with your cheques– Natural to have your hands by your wager when

getting paid

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ROULETTECommon indicators, which would be noted if someone was attempting to “Past-Post” the game.

• Player attempting to past post wrong number by going over the top of the winning number – “Top Hat” move

- Dealer habit is to catch last move seen- Losing bet will usually be more cheques of less value

• Late and unusual hand movements across the layout• Late cash buy-ins• Distractions at the top of the layout• Hands and cheques very close to the outside bets and columns• The majority of the time the player will be standing, not sitting down

at the game • Player is always playing with cheques• Watch for the player at the end of the game having different color

non-value cheques in his possession – Team play• Two handed play, one hand blocking with minimum wagers the

other hand past posting

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Common indicators, which would be noted if someone wasattempting to make a “Bet Switch” on the game.

• Usually the bet is made with folded cash on an outside or column bet • Will grab up the losing wager with one hand and return the bet with

the other hand. Player will usually be at the far end of the layout• Player will usually be standing, not sitting• Constantly playing with cheques• Bet will usually come in late• Hands and cheques very close to the outside and column areas• Will draw attention to the dealer’s mistake very quickly

Why do the dealer’s clear and pay the layout from theoutside in and top to bottom?

• This helps prevent past posting and bet capping and pinching

Why is it important for the dealer to push tall stacks ofcheques to the back line on even money wagers beforepaying?

• This to will make it harder for a player to past post a bet behind the tall stacks

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“DEALERS DUMPING GAME”

• Cash outs incorrect/short stacking

• Mis-value on cheques (incorrect lammers)

• Dealer’s “Capping” winning wagers

• Not locking up losing wagers

• Paying losing wagers

• Overpaying payoffs

• Moving losing wager to a winning wager

• Stealing cheques from the game

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Dealer setting dolly correctly with one hand capping bet with other hand.• Dealer will correctly set dolly palm up• Will cap cheques(s) with other hand when verifying the number of winning

chequesBe aware of a large dolly• Large base dolly can conceal cheques easierObserve dealers going directly to winning bets after clearing the layout without clearing hands first• Concentrate on the top color of the winning number• Dealer can clear that color last before touching winning number Watch for a “Wave off” after the ball has landed• Dealer will appear to wave off properly, but the ball has already landed• Dealer will wave off game very low to the layout dropping a cheque on the

winning number• Dealer should never be allowed to wave off lower than 12” above layout• Two handed wave should always be used• The wave off is also essential for G.C.B.Sliding cheque with coat sleeve from losing to winning wager• Attempts to go to inside numbers to place bets for the next round - play dumb

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Watch the dealer when he is clearing the layout of losing cheques• Layout should be cleared from the outside in, and bottom to top• Losing cheques should be swept away from the wining number• Dealer can slide a losing cheque to the corner or split of the winning

number very easily

Watch the dealer when he is doing a color up for a player• Dealer will count down a full stack of 20 cheques and restack• Dealer will palm 2 or 3 cheques adding these to the next stack counted

and so on, the process will go until all stacks have been counted• Player will end up with 10 plus extra cheques to his overall color up• Watch the dealer when he puts the cheques back into he table bank,

he will have to make up for the short stacks somehow

Coffee cup or drink glass scam• Dealer will push cup or glass off to the patrons just as he finishes

clearing the layout• Dealer will palm cheques and deposit it in the cup or glass• Dealer will pick up cup or glass just after clearing the layout and put

behind the discard rack for the cocktail waitress

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Make the Big Bet up front then remove/switch if the wager loses.

• Small cheques on top of large cheques- Bet for dealer explains small cheques

• Large cheques in front of you, as decoy• Larger stacks to hide bet• Color from back of working stack furthest from the Dealer• Color roulette cheques that matches color of large wager• Smaller “Departing Wager” if you win• First column box being the furthest betting point on the

layout from the dealer – ideal for hiding cheques• Using prop, glasses/cases, drinks, bottles, etc. to hide view

from the dealer

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ROULETTE CHIP SCAMThe Set UpThe associate plays Roulette and buys in for a color of cheques requesting that there value be set at usually $1.00.He will play for a short period of time making minimum wagers on the game. He will remove and hide some cheques from play and put them in his pocket. Once the cheques have beenremoved from the game he will depart the immediate area andmeet up with his partner. The cheques will be exchangedand now the partner will return to the same game that theassociate just left and request the same color chequeswhen buying in, but this time he requests that the cheques bemade $25.00 in value. Then he will play minimum wagers andslowly add the cheques from his pocket to his stack andproceed to cash out all cheques for $25.00 each.

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ROULETTE CHIP SCAM Indicators Of The Scam

• Asking for a color that has cheques missing• The color may be one that is not right in front of

dealer• Minimum wagers being made combined with short

play• Hands and cheques going off the game• Player may scatter his cheques on the layout so

casino staff/surveillance can not determine how many cheques there are

• Keep one hand covering his cheques from view• Placing a bottled beverage in front of his cheques to

block the Dealer’s view

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Casino Protection Procedures• Retire any color that is missing 20 or more

cheques from play

• Requested color that is missing cheques can only be valued at $1.00

• Casino par of 280 cheques is maintained between the table bank and chipper champ – This will vary from Casino to Casino

ROULETTE CHIP SCAM

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ADVANTAGE PLAY

• Bias wheel play

• Individual number and section bias

• Visual wheel tracking

• Dealer’s signature

• Wheel signature

• Can the dealer control the ball?

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Ball Track Bias (BTB)

• A wheel showing a “Ball Track Bias” must be used. BTB is defined as a point on the ball track where the ball falls off most of the time.

• A clock-able rotor speed must exist. Slower is better but the most important element is a predictable, consistent speed from the dealer.

• The ball should bounce, consistently, forward and less than 16 pockets from its drop point.

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Casino Scam Takes On New SpinUsing a laser scanner hidden in a mobile phone and linkedto a microcomputer.“On a wheel with a definite bias and a manageable scatter, a prediction device of this nature, when operated by a ‘skilled’ roulette player,could obtain an advantage when used in a casino.”• Used a laser in a mobile phone to scan the speed of the ball as it spun

around its track along the circumference of the roulette wheel.• The information was transmitted to a microcomputer, programmed to

calculate the ‘decay’ speed of a ball dropping towards the spinning numbers.

• The microcomputer would not be able to specify precisely which slot the ball would fall into, but it would be able to calculate that quadrant of the roulette wheel in which the ball would land. This information could be transmitted to the men’s mobile phones and bets placed on numbers in the quadrant – greatly increasing the chances of big winnings.

• Regularly pointing mobile telephone at the spinning ball and two friends glancing at the screens of their cell phones before placing bets.

• Made easier by the layouts having the ovals on them, the cheats don’t have to set up so many wagers in a short period of time

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SHORT SERVICE 2 TIMES WEEKLY, MONDAY & FRIDAY

1. Clean dust & felt from wheel head (especially the ball track) & pockets.

2. Clean any foreign matter from laminate, number ring & pockets.

3. Check spin of wheel.

4. Roulette wheel ¼ turn.

5. Clean plastic shroud on table.

6. Play few games to check roulette display.

7. Level wheel

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INTERMEDIATE SERVICE1 TIME WEEKLY USUALLY WEDNESDAY1. Clean dust & felt from wheel head (especially the ball

track) & pockets.2. Clean any foreign matter from laminate, number ring &

pockets.3. Remove turret & turret base, place a few drops of oil

on pilot bearing, replace turret.4. Check canoes & frets for tightness5. Check bottom of pockets for tightness (bounce test)6. Clean plastic shroud around wheel.7. Play a few games to check roulette display.8. Level wheel.9. Rotate wheel ¼ turn

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FULL SERVICE COMPLETED AT 3 TO 4 WEEK INTERVALS, UNLESS A NEW LAYOUT WAS INSTALLED, THEN IT WILL BE SERVICED WITHIN 10 DAYS, AND AGAIN AT 20 DAYS. AFTER THE 20 DAY

SERVICE, THE SCHEDULE WILL RETURN TO NORMAL.• Clean any foreign matter from wheel head (especially the ball track) & pockets .• Clean any foreign matter from laminate, number ring & pockets.• Remove wheel cylinder from bowl.• Remove turret, turret base & ring.• Remove height adjuster from cylinder.• Clean & inspect pilot bearing (replace if necessary).• Inspect top bearing, if dirty remove & clean (replace if necessary).• Remove housing plate & inspect bottom bearing if dirty remove an clean (replace if

necessary).• Inspect bearing seats and clean.• Re-oil bottom bearing & replace• Inspect gaming seals on bottom of cylinder (verify they’re not broken).• Verify serial #’s on all parts of the wheel match.• Re-oil top bearing and re-install, install the height adjuster.• Clean bowl & liner.• Clean main spindle & inspect for wear, re-lube spindle.• Re-install wheel head & adjust the ride height.• Test spin for length of time & consistency. • Clean plastic shroud around wheel.• Play a few games to test display.• Rotate wheel ¼ turn.• Level wheel.

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Q

& A