Game protection expert Sal Piacente has spent a lifetime in casinos and talks to InterGaming about how to spot the cheaters.
InterGaming: What is your professional background, and how did you become interested in casino game cheating?
SP: I developed an interest in cheating and scams when I was 12 years old; my father revealed the 3 Card Monte scam to me. Being a Brooklyn, New York native, my father did not want to see me get bilked out of my money. Then I saw a movie called “The Sting,” with Robert Redford and Paul Newman. I saw John Scarne’s hands work miracles in this flick. Then for my birthday and Christmas presents, all I wanted were books about card manipulation and cheating. When I was honourably discharged from the United States Marine Corps, my neighbour, who was working at a casino in Atlantic City, brought me my first gaming application. I was still living in Brooklyn at the time. In 1985, I turned 21 in blackjack school in Atlantic City, became a dealer there and worked in the casino industry ever since then.
Read the full article in the July issue of InterGaming
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