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Marking Cards: Card Games Other Than Twenty-One By Bill Zender (Originally published in Casino Enterprise Management Magazine July 2007) (Note: This article is a continuation of May 2007 article regarding marked card play in the game of twenty-one) Baccarat No other game in the casino is more susceptible to attack from cheaters than the game of baccarat. The size and shape of the table, as well as the way the game is played, allows the cheater a number of different avenues for assaulting the casino's bankroll. Follow are a list of factors that contribute to Baccarat being so vulnerable:
Card marking in Baccarat is extremely attractive. Once specific cards are marked the information can provide the cheater with an extremely profitable and very hard to detect cheating scam. Since Baccarat lacks player hand strategy options, and because the players are allowed to bet on both sides of the wagering decision, first or "top card" information can be exploited while detection in a timely manner is highly unlikely. By marking the 9, 8, and 7 value cards, the cheater can obtain vital "top card" information that will result in a theoretical edge of about 15% whenever one of these marked cards sits in the window of the baccarat dealing shoe prior to the next hand. When the cheater spies a marked card, he will bet on the "Player" wager since the first card dealt from the shoe is always given to the "Player's" hand. With all the 9's, 8's, and 7's marked the cheaters anticipate the frequency of spying a marked top card about once out of every four to five hands (96 out of 416 cards, or 23% of the time in an eight deck shoe). In some situations where marking the cards takes some deception to accomplish, the cheats may mark only the 9's and 8's. In Baccarat the cards are usually marked in one of two ways. The first method requires the cheater to place a slight diagonal or lengthwise "bend" into the card that alters the reflective light that shines across the marked card when positioned in the dealing shoe window. The second method requires the use of a foreign substance known as "daub". The daub is located on the cheater's finger tip and lightly applied across the center width of the card. When a daubed card is located in the window of the shoe, it appears to have a slight smear or discoloration in the center of the card back. When daub is applied correctly, it is very difficult to detect with the untrained eye. Since only three card values need to be identified, the cheaters use a "one way design" marking pattern. In many other card games, the cheaters may be required to use multiple marking patterns in order to gain the desired information. In many situations, several members of the cheating team occupy seats at the Baccarat game and will wager with the cheater reading the markings. If a non-marked card rests in the shoe window, the cheaters may offset their betting (bet against each other) to help disguise their relationship on the table. Even though the cheaters will wager on the player hand when a marked card is visible, enough offsetting situations occur to camouflage the betting patterns and render the scam close to impossible to detect at first observation. Since Baccarat cards are only touched during play in the big table or Midi games, it's always been accepted that these games are the only form of Baccarat that can be marked by the players on the table. In most casinos worldwide, Baccarat games where the cards are handled or squeezed, the cards are dealt through only once with immediate replacement of the decks before the next shuffle. This procedure generally resulted from many high limit players "mutilating" or severely bending the cards while peeking the hands, rendering the cards unusable. At one time it was the left to the shift manager's discretion whether or not the cards should be changed prior to the next shuffle. Today, the procedure usually dictates that the cards used in the previous shoe must be changed regardless of their visual condition and appearance, primarily for game protection reasons. Remember, touched cards can always be marked. When given the option to remove touched cards from play it's always wise to do so unless extremely cost prohibited. Even though the players never touch the cards in Mini Baccarat, don't rule out the possibility of marked cards. Mini Baccarat games have been attacked in the past by marking the top card that lies on top of the discard holder. Information about the value of the top card of the discard holder is gained while the played hand is still exposed on the table. The furthest card on the dealer's right, the last card delivered to the "player" hand, will be the first to be scooped up, and will end up as the top card when the cards are placed in the discard holder. The cheat will wait until he see a 7, 8, or 9 exposed on the table as the last "player" card, and then after the cards are picked up by the dealer and placed in the discard holder, will mark that key card. The marking is accomplished by positioning a cheating player in the last table position to the dealer right, adjacent to the discard holder. When the dealer's attention is distracted by another player sitting in the first or second table position, the player closest to the discard holder simply reaches in with his finger and "daubs" the top card. This is usually done under the cover of Baccarat tracking card that is used to shield the overt move from direct observation from the casino's surveillance cameras. Many casinos were attacked by this card marking scam in the 1990's. So many casinos suffered from this form of card marking that they purchased plastic covers for their Mini Baccarat discard holders. This game protection device allows the dealer to insert used cards into the holder through a narrow slot at the top of the cover.
Table 1 - Marking Top Card in Baccarat
Pai Gow Poker Poker based games are different from games like Blackjack and Baccarat. For example, the game of Baccarat is a sum of card value game; the value of the hand depends on the sum of all card values and its relationship to the sum of values in the other competitive hand. Poker based games deduce its hand value from a previously established ranking order; i.e., Ace high, then King, then Queen, etc. in descending order. The casino game of Pai Gow Poker is one of these type games. Pai Gow Poker (PGP) is like most other poker based games where the player's hands are pitted against the house or bank hand. In PGP the player receives seven cards and then is required to construct two hands from these cards without a draw; one two card hand and a higher ranked five card hand. The player must then best both the house/bank's two and five card hands to win. If the player only bests one hand the round is considered a tie and if the house/bank bests him on both hands, he loses. Marking cards in PGP can be done to accomplish two different goals. The first goal is to gain card information for use in determining hand setting strategy. Usually, the Aces and the Joker (PGP uses 52 card deck plus a Joker that is wild with straights and flush, or by itself is considered another Ace) are marked with a slight corner crimp or an end-to-end bend. This allows the cheat to read the cards while either in a seven card stack, or stacked in the two-card or five-card arrangement. Unfortunately, this information is virtually worthless using casino style PGP procedures since the house acting as the bank or player set their hand after all players have set theirs. The second option for using marked cards in PGP is done so the cheater who takes the bank can locate stacked seven card hands waiting to be delivered with the largest number of Ace/Jokers. Again, there is a problem with using this technique under casino procedures. For the marked card information to be effective, the cheater first needs to locate a game which does not employ a shuffling machine that drops seven-card hands. Next, the cheat will have to find a way to avoid either the dice or the random generated LED numbers that are used to determine seven-hand delivery order. The bottom-line; don't worry too much about marked cards in casino dealt PGP. House qualifier games Three Card Poker & Caribbean Stud Poker Some poker based games utilize a dealer qualifier hand as an important factor in determining the outcome of the game. Caribbean Stud Poker (CSP) is a perfect example of this procedure. Before the players can match their hand against the dealer's, the dealer must possess a five-card hand of at least Ace-King or better. If the dealer does not qualify with an Ace-King, the dealer pays the player's ante only, regardless what the play holds in their five-card hand. Of course, the decision strategy players use when playing CSP is, prior to the dealer hand being exposed, whether or not to toss in their hand and lose their ante bet, or place a call bet and stay in the game. Subsequently, any player armed with information assisting in this critical decision has some negative effect in the CSP game's house advantage. Unfortunately, information whether the dealer holds an Ace and King does very little. Since the dealer receives five cards to his or her hand, there are many more possibilities to qualify with hands consisting of one pair then Ace-King. Since pairs occur so frequently, more card information would need to be obtained. This is not practical for the cheater when marking cards on the table because of the need to use a multiple way design pattern. Marking qualifier cards in Three Card Poker (TCP) is more advantageous for the card marking cheater. Because the dealer receives only three cards in the game of TCP, the chance for the dealer to obtain a pair or higher is greatly reduced. In this situation marking all Aces, Kings, and Queens are optimal since the dealer needs a Queen high hand or better to qualify. If the cheater possesses a three-card hand that normally wouldn't be considered a keeper by the average player, he would reconsider giving up his cards and ante if the dealer does not hold a marked Ace through Queen in his or her hand. By using this information and qualifier strategy, the cheater can gain an edge over the house of approximately 20-25%. [Note: Correct playing strategy in TCP without any additional information is to stay in with hands of Queen-6-4 or higher.] There also exists a problem in detecting marked card play in TCP. If the marked cards are not reasonably easy to see from the pit, it's difficult to discover the scam based on visual strategy play alone. Since the dealer normally doesn't expose the player's hand value when the dealer can't qualify (they pay the remaining ante wagers and pick up the cards face down), the hand strategy is unintentionally concealed from view. The floor supervisor and surveillance operator need to watch for player's staying with hands of Jack high or lower when the dealer does qualify with pairs or higher. These unusual strategy plays may be an indication of either the use of marked cards, or an advantage player legally obtaining hole-card information from a sloppy dealer. [Note: Please ignore all hands which are played by the customer "in-the-blind". Some players prefer to make both the ante and call wagers before the cards are dealt, and eliminate the need to make a strategy decision.] Other Casino versions of live poker games Casino live games that are poker based are very difficult to defeat using basic methods of marking cards from the outside (while on the table). Because these games are based on a poker ranking system without a need to qualify, more card information is needed before a reasonable advantage can be gained by the cheater. In most games, the highest hand is decided on ranking combinations which include pairs or more of like cards, runs of suited cards, or runs of cards in a specific order. In an attempt to gain as much information about the cards as possible, the cheater will be required to use a multiple design marking system, not a simple marking method as described in the previous game examples. Even though a four-way design marking technique could be applied from the table by a talented card bender or dauber, it would take some time to mark almost every card in the deck while the likelihood it would be discovered during the marking process is much higher than it would be when the cheater is employing a simple system. Beware though, never totally rule out the use of marked cards on any game type, especially if the marked cards can be used effectively with higher limit games. It's also important to keep in mind that most cheater who employs different marking techniques ply their trade in a manner where the marks are hard to detect. The best way to detect marked cards is to watch for variations in the playing or wagering strategy which can be correlated to top card, hole-card, or hand value knowledge. |