100 percent conviction
that the casinos are in no way out to cheat you.
There are two key reasons why casinos don’t
play the game of deception. First, most casinos
are publicly traded companies on the NYSE not interested
in exposing their gaming license to loss with any
inkling of cheating going on. Also, here in Nevada,
you won’t find a more regulated industry chock-full
of rules that would close a casino down for defrauding
the public.
A second, if not even more significant reason, is
the way casinos reap their profits—paying players
less than the true odds. Meaning, every game offered
to the player is mathematically in the casino’s
favor. Example: When you flip a coin there is a
50/50 chance of your winning. But instead of getting
even money for every dollar you wager, you are paid
99¢, or 83¢ or maybe even 75¢. This
in a nutshell is how casinos operate their license
to print money, paying you less than even money
on every bet you make.
Now, if every single wager placed in the casino
is based on that principle, why, Ron, would they
ever want to swindle you? That’s not to say
that a rogue employee on his own never tries to
manipulate the cards in the casino’s favor.
That is why the casino manager watches the shift
manager, who watches the pit bosses, who watches
the floorman, who watches the dealers—with
the eye in the sky (camera in the ceiling) watching
everybody. It doesn’t take long for a dishonest
employee to be weeded out.
I would also note that in 17 years of casino employment,
working in seven different casinos, I have never
been asked to do even the slightest thing that borders
on fraud. I have been asked to speed up my hands
per hour dealing blackjack or pick up the pace on
a crap game, but that’s to get the math to
work in the casino’s favor—never to cheat.
So, Ron, I would be more suspicious of the wagers
you make, not the casino. Let me ask you this: Are
you getting back 75¢ (keno) for every dollar
bet, or 99¢, (perfect basic strategy in blackjack)?
Follow up: This past
week I was deluged with calls and e-mail about an
investigative report by ABC-TV’s PrimeTime
regarding slot machines in Nevada that are preprogrammed
for “near-miss” read-outs, which entice
gamblers to play longer. The theme of the discourse
was “I knew all along they were cheating us.”
PrimeTime’s main source; a former Nevada Gaming
Control Board computer whiz and convicted felon
named Ron Harris, who prior to sentencing found
religion.
Sorry, but I’ll stick with my biased conviction
that because casinos have the percentages working
for them on each and every slot, there is little
chance they would conspire, in this case with a
slot manufacturer, to cheat a patron. All pulls
of the slot handle produce random results—albeit
results that, based on the slot pay table, generally
create losers. Besides, near-miss technology is
not only illegal in Nevada, but tampering with a
computer chip can easily be detected with the right
equipment, even by a low-level computer nerd like
me. Chips are not only tested before leaving the
factory but randomly checked for integrity on the
casino floor.
Coincidentally, another
TV news magazine program, to which I promised confidentiality
for both the show’s name and content, wanted
my opinion about an upcoming investigative report
they were doing regarding a highly sensitive casino
issue. Because my take on the subject matter wasn’t
the sensationalist spin that would improve their
ratings, my viewpoint will find it’s way to
the cutting room’s floor. Why should they use
me? In the gambling industry they can easily find
someone with limited credentials willing to say
off camera or in silhouette, “Yeah, that’s
the norm, happens all the time.” Sounds very
similar to the PrimeTime investigative piece above.
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