The South African Casino Scam
A historic marked-cards scam was uncovered at the Caesar's Palace Casino, in South Africa, in May 1999.
For security reasons casinos use cards with customized backs. Such decks are made-to-order and it would be logical to assume that the manufacturers guarantee some kind of security over the entire order.
In the South African Casino Scam some clever cheats managed to have casino cards marked at the actual manufacturing plant, Protea Playing Cards, by altering the actual printing plates. These ready-marked decks were later delivered to the casino (under rigorous security, no doubt). Once the cards hit the casino floor the cheats were able to read cards before each card was dealt out of the shoe.infrared marked cards
Only the aces and 10-values cards were marked, so that blackjack cheats were able to identify the top card in the dealing shoe and make hit or stand decisions accordingly. This scam made the casino's blackjack take drop down to 11%, from its usual 14%. Investigators believe that the operators of the scam sold the information to gamblers for a flat fee.
On one of my trips to Las Vegas, in February 2001, I had the privilege to examine a few of those actual cards, after they were confiscated and some samples sent to the US. The person who showed these cards to me was Bruce Gates, who recently retired from a high-ranking position with the Gaming Control Board, and currently runs his own gaming consulting business.
I was already familiar with this scam because I had read the story in an article several years ago, however, I had not seen any pictures of the cards until then. Although the alterations were very minute the marks could easily be seen at a distance. infrared contact lenses
The South African cards had an all-over Gemback™ design and the work had been put-in in the corners. Typically the "gems" from Gemback™ cards have a larger blank area in the center. That blank area nests a small printed design made out of four small lines aligned around in a circle. (Those represent the pointed part of a precious stone that can be seen through the top of the gem). On the marked cards, one of the small lines has been removed, so that the inside designed now formed a half moon instead of a full moon. In effect, the work replicated cut-out work. The work could easily be seen from a distance because the blank area had been enlarged. The cards could be read through the open area where the cards come out of the shoe, because the top car always protrudes a bit over the lip of the shoe, before the dealer pulls it out.
Some of you may notice that those cards have the popular Gemback™ design pattern, which is the trademark back-design of Gemaco Playing Cards, from Blue Springs, Missouri, USA. However, those cards were made by Protea Playing Cards, in South Africa. I had not yet been able to find out if Protea had been licensed to use Gemaco's trademark pattern.
