Technology has come a long way in its ability to identify card counters.
Years ago, casinos were limited to watching erratic bet spreads and any small tip-off that would lead to suspicion. Now they have access to some state-of-the-art technology to do the job. Armed with such tools, some casinos have the ability to identify a skilled player from the eye in the sky in a very short time. Impressive as some of this equipment may be, it’s only as good as the individual operating it. When you consider the number of tables in respect to the number of surveillance operators, it’s easy to see how certain events can go by unnoticed. Besides, not all casinos have sophisticated technology, so the card-counting tactics still have some use.
In the past, decisions to track a player were initiated from the casino floor. Nowadays, many surveillance departments take a more proactive approach and make decisions to track players, at times, without the knowledge of pit personnel.
Exchange of Information Among Casinos
If you’re barred from a casino that has sister properties, chances are that your photograph will be circulated. If you’ve been formally barred from a casino, chances are they have your photograph. Whether they retain this photograph and other information for their own records or share such things with other casinos is another story. Many casinos retain the services of companies that specialize in gaming protection.
Griffin Investigations
Griffin has been in the business of providing surveillance for its clients (casinos) for more than 30 years. They serve the casino industry by identifying and keeping records on cheats, thieves, card counters, and
players employing any type of advantage technique. They maintain a book (now in four volumes with thousands of entries) that contains names, photographs, and descriptions of identified players. Part of their service is supplying this book to clients and keeping it updated, by adding new entries.
Griffin also has agents who observe any suspected player from the casino floor and gather as much information on that person as possible.
Griffin agents are known to follow players from casino to casino, record license plates, debrief taxi drivers, even personally follow players to their hotels, in an attempt to get their true identity.
One of their products, the Griffin 2000 System, enables a casino to utilize a remote hookup, giving the central headquarters of Griffin Investigations the ability to observe the activity of any player(s) or tables(s) via live video.
The Griffin GOLD product offers an automated database of all the entries compiled from the four-volume book. This database enables a surveillance operator to run a search based on gender, age, race, height, weight, date of birth, address, etc., or any combination of these variables. This is much more effective than flipping through four volumes of mug shots. This product can interface with the FaceIT facial recognition system, manufactured by Visionics, Inc.
Biometrica
In 1999, a lead agent of Griffin left the organization and joined forces with Biometrica, Inc., offering the same services, including a similar database to that of Griffin GOLD. The database of information comes from Casino Visual Identification (CVI), which was developed by the former Griffin agent. As a companion to the CVI database, Biometrica offers a facial recognition module manufactured by Viisage, Inc.
Blackjack Survey Voice (BJSV)
This product, sold by Casino Software & Services, Inc., enables a casino surveillance agent to view a table and, via the use of a speech-recognition feature, recite the values of cards played, bets made, and other pertinent information into a computer, which then analyzes the player’s skill level.
I’m told that the product has been marketed with claims that card counters
can be identified after roughly 100 hands of play in a 6-deck game. After reviewing the results of hands played, it’s first established whether the player is playing at an advantage. If so, BJSV then attempts to determine why. After calculating the player’s average bet, hands dealt per hour, and percent advantage, BJSV calculates a dollar figure indicating the player’s potential “win per hour.” Let’s break it down further.
In terms of betting, BJSV, using a card-counting system, summarizes the player’s activity and establishes that the player’s bet movements correlate with that of the count. Even the use of well-known “bet-camouflage”
techniques doesn’t, it’s believed, prevent BJSV from identifying a card counter. In its evaluation of the player’s betting pattern, BJSV indicates the percent advantage that was gained, as opposed to if the player was betting the same amount on each hand dealt (flat betting).
In terms of the play of hands, it’s easy enough for any tracking software to determine whether a player is using basic strategy in playing decisions.
When a non-basic-strategy play is made, BJSV identifies this, then determines whether such deviation provides an advantage to the player based on the count. In its evaluation of the play decisions, BJSV indicates the percent advantage that was gained, as opposed to if the player was applying strict basic strategy decisions.
BJSV classifies players as:
Good Card Counter: Player’s betting pattern and deviations from basic strategy show a consistent pattern resembling a highly skilled card counter.
Card Counter: Player’s betting pattern occasionally correlates to the count. However, the consistency is not enough to play at a strong enough advantage over the house.
Hole-Card Player: A high percentage of the player’s deviations from basic strategy are not consistent with the count, but would be the correct play with knowledge of the dealer’s hole card.
Shuffle Tracker: Player’s betting pattern reveals consistency of large bets as slugs of high cards appear.
Basic Strategy Player: Player plays basic strategy with no deviations
and no bet movements correlating to the count.
Random Bettor: Player’s betting pattern has no correlation whatsoever to the count.
Overall, BJSV is a slick product. As with any automated product, there are inadequacies, and a clever player can beat the system. While I can’t point out the specific ways that BJSV can be thwarted, the following information should steer you in the right direction.
When running a “skills check” on BJSV, most places use a random sampling of three contiguous shoes of play. Here are a few circumstances that may prompt a skills check:
A player betting more than $XXX per hand.
A player who buys in for more than $XXXXX.
A player who increases a bet by more than X times previous bet.
A player makes a questionable play decision (e.g.; insurance, splitting tens).
A player who is winning more than $XXXX during current session.
A player who won more than $XXXX on a prior visit.
A player whose year-to-date win record is in excess of $XXXXX.
A player whose lifetime win record is in excess of $XXXXX.
Believe me, the above information can provide you with more than enough insight on how to develop methods to foil BJSV. Find them, learn how to work them to your advantage, and keep your lips sealed.
Facial-Recognition Software
Use of this application is growing at a rapid pace. State governments are becoming major users of this product, where they can create a database resulting from photographs taken by Department of Motor Vehicles when people apply for their driver’s licenses. The majority of these products are based (in one way or another) on the Eigen Face method of deconstructing and reconstructing a facial map in digital form. A hundred key points are mapped and the system, apparently, can create a match once 14 of the 100 features are captured. In all of these systems, the mapping process starts
with the eyes. It’s necessary for both eyes to be visible for the product to work. Let’s walk through the process on how the systems operate.
First, a casino possesses a database of faces from which the product seeks matches. This database is continually updated with new and better-quality photos. The photos in this database are referred to as “enrollment photos.”
If you’re playing blackjack and a casino employee gets suspicious, the surveillance room takes your picture. This is referred to as a “probe photo.”
When your photo is scanned into the computer, a search is conducted using the existing database.
The first point of the search is the eyes. The system focuses on the distance between the eyes and captures the first group of possible matches from the database. Since this key point is only one of many, the results of this search are numerous. However, the system doesn’t rely solely on this one key point and continues to search additional key points in a defined sequence until the most perfect match is realized. This search occurs in a couple of seconds! Note that regardless of whether a match is realized, the probe photo is then entered into the database and becomes a new enrollment photo.
It’s possible, though not practical, to have a system set up to scan every person entering a building. There could be a “hot list” where, if an entrant matches a face on it, an alert is sent to a surveillance operator for review.
To realize the highest accuracy level, a front-face image must be captured, as profiles don’t work. In addition to the distance between eyes, other key points used for recognition are:
Given the above information, you can figure out subtle methods to beat the system. Here’s a hint on one weakness of the system. If it can’t capture an accurate read on both eyes, it can’t run an accurate match. Another
important factor is that poor lighting, glare, and reflections can prevent the
Blend in with the crowd and do everything possible not to fit the
“typical-card-counter” profile.
Play stakes acceptable to the casino in which you are playing.
Get rated using a false name.
Keep alert as to pit activity.
Limit your sessions to one hour. Based on the textbook procedures most casinos follow, it will take them this long to get a handle on your play. The goal, of course, is to avoid detection, but if they do happen to detect your play, the goal then is to get out of the casino before being asked to leave.
Be aware that just because you had a successful session, won some money, and walked out of the club without incident, does not mean the casino isn’t on to you. Many casinos have a policy in which they review the films of all black-chip players at the end of each day/shift. This is done for several purposes. One is to determine the level of comps to extend such players. Upon review of such tapes, if they note that you’re a solid basic strategy player, your comps won’t be as good as those extended to an unskilled player. If it’s noted that you’re a card counter, you may no longer be welcome to play 21. If this happens, you won’t know it until you enter the casino again (if you use the same name). The floorperson, upon entering the name into the pit computer, will be alerted. Surprise!
A more recent approach is for the identification of card counters to be performed strictly by surveillance. The philosophy of many of the casino corporations calls for their front-line staff (to be more customer-service oriented to keep the clients happy and coming back. Hence, the pit may not be responsible for identifying card counters. However, they’re responsible
for ensuring that proper actions are taken against any such player previously identified by surveillance or other sources.
What does this mean? If you step into a casino for the first time and count cards for three hours, there’s a chance you may play without incident.
After you leave, based on review of the surveillance videos, you may be identified as a counter. If you return the next day or shortly thereafter, chances are they’ll back you off very quickly. In this new method of surveillance, you won’t see the phone calls from the pit to surveillance mentioned earlier in the chapter.
In the past, the pit would pay attention to big winners. Nowadays, the smarter ones watch anyone winning consistently over a period of time.
Think you’re safe playing low stakes? Not necessarily. If you’re at a table playing low stakes along with one or more players betting high stakes, the tape is reviewed, solely due to the heavy action, and the play of the entire table may be analyzed. You can be caught that way.
In summary, it’s getting tougher to win money from the casinos by counting cards. Surveillance has gotten very sophisticated and, as a player, you must keep abreast of the various techniques used by casinos. In the past a good act would be able to fool them, but nowadays it won’t always work.
The computers see just the numbers and not the act.
To Minimize Detection
• Avoid playing a same club/shift more than once every few months.
• When playing the same club during a different shift, use a different name under which you get rated.
• Be aware of which casinos may share information.
• If playing low stakes, avoid playing at tables with high rollers.
• Avoid playing at a table where the chip tray is low on chips and in need of a fill. This would halt the action and bring attention to the table.
• Consider employing team play techniques (see Chapter 27).
• Consider playing with the use of disguises.
• Develop skills in methods not detectable by surveillance.