MVSeahog

This article was seen in today's Hong Kong Standard, a newspaper I still subscribe to via internet. MVS Stacking the decks Friday, June 18, 2010 Gamblers who cheat at cards appear to be playing a new line in chips that's leaving casino operators in Macau down by tens of millions of dollars. Not for the latest generation of cheats the ace up the sleeve, marked cards, dealing from the bottom of a deck, reading signals from an accomplice scanning other gamblers' hands or paying off a dealer to help bamboozle the house. Some of those old-style chicaneries required sleight-of-hand skills honed by hour upon hour of practice combined with boundless patience, but there's no need for such disciplines today. For cheats have almost certainly turned to their advantage some new technology favored by Macau casinos - cards with embedded chips to confirm face values and supposedly ensure security - at the baccarat tables. They have put their money on miniature scanners that can read the electronic cards before they are dealt. The high-tech twist has left casino cheat-seekers at a loss. All they have is the belief that scanners are concealed in rings and pendants. So casino personnel have been put on high alert for flashy people on winning streaks, because operators have not found a way to counter the scanner. They have not even grabbed someone using such a gadget, and no casino appears to have made a report to police. But more than 10 Macau casinos admit privately to being hit, with losses in excess of HK$30 million. The only effective way to trump these cheats, experts reckon, is for casinos to throw up their hands and overhaul the electronic card system on which they have laid out huge sums in recent years. But leaning heavily on a bejeweled patron on the suspicion that behind their glitter is hidden a scanner could rebound on the casinos, operators fear. After all, some gamblers who provide casinos with bonus paydays are people who flaunt their wealth with costly adornments. They would not take kindly to being manhandled and checked over in VIP areas where high- tech cheating appears to be concentrated. So, for now, jewelry-flashing people are simply being watched for body language and behavior that might give the game away. "The casino where I work requires all service assistants in the VIP hall and big-bet areas to pay special attention to customers wearing big rings and report to security if anything suspicious is seen," says manager Ms Chen. She knows of two other casinos that have issued the same order after being hit. The cheating streak comes despite substantial outlays by gaming resorts and casinos on blending security systems with their luxury trimmings. Among them are metal detectors at entrances, closed-circuit television systems that can scan the floor or zoom in on someone to check every movement, and cards embedded with what are supposed to be security-smart chips. There is also the human element. Besides floor-walking cheat-seekers, dealers go through rigorous training so they can pick up on rogue gamblers. Casino operators believe they have foiled most would-be cheats - until now. Technologies and human sensors cannot blind what they say are "magic eyes" that see through electronic cards. After checking CCTV footage, experts think codes in the cards have been cracked. They are now trying to pin down exactly how crooks use this knowledge to rack up winnings. A senior executive of a group of casinos, John, recalls: "About three weeks ago there appeared to be some extremely lucky customers in the VIP hall and big-bet areas. "All of them played baccarat. They lost when the bet was small but won every time a game was heavily backed. Someone even won more than 100 games non-stop and collected a few million dollars." In baccarat, deuces to nines are worth their face value in points, 10s, jacks, queens and kings are zero, and aces one point. There are two hands on which anyone can bet - "Banker" or "Player." Each hand initially gets two cards, but there are rules that allow either hand to hit for a third. A hand's score is either the sum of its cards, or the second digit of the sum if it is more than nine. For example, a hand consisting of a deuce and a three card is worth five, a hand of six, a seven and a king come to three, and a four and a six is zero. The highest score that can be achieved is nine. The electronic cards used in Macau have codes for different face values and - with a link to a dealer's electronic shoe - every card given out is recorded. A computer calculates results instantly at the end of a game, and a dealer inputs the result at the same time. There's a warning sound if results differ. Casinos spend considerable sums to make this happen. Every deck of electronic cards is worth HK$120. The high cost is due to the anti-cheating features, which include picking up on a dealer in cahoots with a gambler. Gambling corporations have an exclusive producer of these cards, and each operator has unique codes. But as John points out, the cheats appear to have hit on a common system to get around the differences, which is where jewelry comes into the picture. "We have not found evidence of cheating," says John, "but in all games when the casino dropped big money the cards had been cut by customers with big rings or bracelets. One was holding a black cigarette case-size box when cutting the cards. "We cannot exclude the possibility there are scanners in the customers' accessories. The scanner can read the code when cards are being cut, so gamblers know the cards' order and can bet heavily on a game they are sure to win." Flaunting of jewelry Generally, customers are not allowed to cut the cards. But that rule can go by the board in VIP and big-bet areas, where gamblers have lately enjoyed suspicious success. Security personnel who have zeroed in on those areas spotted the flaunting of jewelry. Is a scanner within a bauble capable of taking a casino for millions of dollars? Certainly, says Tsang Kim-fung, a professor of electronic engineering at City University of Hong Kong. "The principle of the electronic card is the same as the Octopus card. A scanner can read the data of the chip within the card very easily." He adds: "Some advanced countries are able to produce mini scanners that can be put in a ring, but it must be expensive." A scanner's reading of the cards' codes is the start of the rip-off. Next, the cheat must turn to a computer to analyze the code to learn the order of the cards. But a pair of electronic shoes takes eight decks of cards, so the cheat has enough time to leave the table to analyze the data before going for the money. As John points out, a cheat can cut the cards and learn the code of the first few, but they will not be dealt until after several sets of games. Reputations and social standing "A cheat can bet small on the first few games and then go out to use a computer to analyze the order. After the order is memorized, they go back and bet heavily." Mike, the owner of another casino that appears to have been hit, says the reputations and social standing of some high-wagering patrons must be considered, so action like a body check is rare. "Our customers are rich," Mike says. "They wear multi-carat diamond jewelry, luxury watches." They also have whims. As Mike points out, "most are superstitious and want to cut the cards before placing a bet. We've allowed them to do so in the past, and it would be hard for us to suddenly stop them from doing so now." The answer, say industry experts, is for casinos to replace the electronic cards as soon as possible. That could mean them suspending business for a couple of days to update computer database. It remains to be seen, however, whether another generation of electronic cards can stop tech-savvy cheats. As Mike notes, his casino has not made reports to police because there is a lack of evidence about how existing systems are being exploited. So how do you bet on something new? For now, it seems, casino operators must simply rely on the human eye to spot the gaps into which cheats are moving while awaiting a return on efforts by card producers to come up with a system that prevents codes being cracked.

Max, Look at the top of this page. Click on "Baccarat", "Maverick Play", then click on the "sticky": Mark's Maverick System of Play. Go directly to Message #1. Read it again. Then reread it. Then, after your brain cools down from all of the information posted up there, cruise on up to Message #6 in that thread and do it all over again. That particular message also has a full shoe posted with play by play descriptions of why he played it that way. Once your headache subsides, you will have all of the current information for Maverick and how to play it. Then it's only a matter of getting up to speed with the record keeping in play!! Once you can get the scoresheet running in real time, you can get a dozen practice shoes in and be right up to speed with it. If you run into a spot where you don't know what to do, scan it and post up your shoe in the "shoe thread" in Maverick and we'll get it fixed on the spot. MVS

Daddy, The graphic on the right is the correct one. Notice hands 45-50 which are played correctly as is the rest of that example. Hands 56, 57, 58 meet the requirements of playing 3 times after a switch also. The graphic on the right side is correctly played all the way down. MVS (standing by for incoming corrections!!) PS Sent from a McDonald's in Naples, Florida! (What a baccarat degenerate)

Yes I do and the small difference in the profits is probably because I make some 'testing' type bets once I hit my goal and if they hit, I can continue on and if not, I'm done with the shoe. If I had just lost two wagers (1 and 2) to bring my score down to +16, I'd probably only make a single unit wager instead of a larger progression, just to protect the +15 if it loses. If it wins, I can continue on normally. It's probably more conservative than I really need to be, but that's my style of play. MVS

400, That's an easy one. If it's winning, stay on it! Once you've made the "third bet" you've satisfied the requirement of the first switch so it's back to "normal" F2 play from there. Once you've won the 3rd bet, you just stay there until something else that looks better shows up and that's usually the RD1/H play coming back in after three events without a one or a run of 4 or more on either side. Me? If F2 is winning big, I'll tend to stay with it until a solid loss of three in a row, even with the "three event lookback". Where we all ran into some confusion was when making the FIRST switch after losing two bets on one side, that first time you switch, you bet it for THREE times, even if it's losing. All other bets on that side then go back to normal F2 play. Of course if you lost PP BBB you've now lost 5 in a row and it's time to look at something else to run with, assuming you were on Maverick's play. Looks like it might be time to go back to RD1/H in that case unless there is something else really shouting to play it. If it's really ugly and you can't make up your mind, sit out the next few hands until you see what looks like a good place to re-enter the shoe. The general consensus is that you can't be losing if you're sitting on your hands waiting for the restart point! Hit a quick +6 tonight at BPH running strictly F2 right from the start. The video got weird shortly after I started and I exited after only 9 hands played. Straight F2 on Bank for the win. Hope this helps.

Max, I played that shoe just like I play all the others that I post up here, exactly as the Maverick system rules in message #1. There have been some changes along the way but I'm kind of stuck in my ways and I really hate to tweak something that is winning in real time. So, I'm pretty sure that anyone who is well versed in "Maverick" play would win on that shoe. Now this part may sound odd to a lot of people but I honestly EXPECT to pull +10 literally out of every shoe and that's the attitude that I go in with. It's not ego driven bravado, it's a straight fact. That's how I look at it going in. Mark goes in to get +20 but we wager slightly differently and have different goals but he makes his too!! MVS

Tom, That other BetPhoenixCasino site is different for sure. I accidentally signed up there several months ago with a play account thinking it was THE BetPhoenix. Haven't really been back to it since I figured out it was the wrong one. MVS

Just finished up a nightly test/practice shoe at Black Orchid (or as we like to call it "Speed Orchid") and wound up with a very nice +19 running Maverick. Bet Phoenix is still down for maintenance so I wound up over at Black Orchid. MVS Black Orchid June 9, 2010 7:20pm P121112132411 P311321171 B251111114111

Hmm, something really odd must be going on down there in Costa Rica. Still no tables available as of this posting. I may actually have to drive to the smoky casino this week!!! We'll see how it goes on Friday and then I've really got to get in gear and get this week's allotment of wins!! I may have to run over to Black Orchid and get some daily practice in. MVS

Hmm, it appears to have lasted at least another 12 hours or so, at least up to this post of mine. No doubt you were a member under another name for the last 12 months as the "goldfinger2012" member has only been here a month. It is very difficult to give up a winning system play for every other person that brings the "Holy Grail" into the fray. It's not that we're doubting you, it's just the manner in which you've presented yourself. As most of us, if not ALL of the private members here are currently playing and winning at baccarat, we do find it difficult to just run out and start playing anything not fully tested and analyzed by the group. You being in the private area for 9 months must have realized that before charging in here with stories of you closing your baccarat tables. Personally, I hope you're killing the casinos. That's what we're all here for. Had you really been a member of the private forum, you would have seen that we all actually share our finds and winning plays with everyone else and it IS DONE FREELY. An amazing concept, eh? So, you may pout and take your baseball and run away, but we'll still be here. As you were (or are) a private member, you'll always be welcome to come back and share your revelation and perhaps we may even be able to improve on it or find the fatal flaw. Although I have the "powers" to simply delete this entire thread, I feel that it does show something to the newer people that we don't automatically delete everything that isn't "Beat The Casino" ideas. So it'll probably stay up for awhile until the usefulness of it has faded. Once again, good luck with your baccarat plays. MVS

Yeah, I kind of figured that after you deleted all your previous posts. See you over on the other forums soon. Good luck. MVS

I'm vaguely curious as to why you would attempt to sell this system here, in what is basically a private membershp baccarat forum. Why not go to any of the public baccarat forums where you would get a much larger audience of basically ignorant players who would simply be thrilled to have your system? We're just having fun here now until the "Big Boss" shows up and shuts this whole thing down, but in the mean time, we can enjoy the repartee and ever increasing pricing structure. MVS

I contacted you but am still awaiting a reply. You could post up a winning shoe here and we'd all be impressed, especially flat betting for the +20 that you're obviously getting with each round. You can email me here right from this message with your proof of concept play and if it looks legit, we'll see what we can come up with. I'm not really trying to be a jerk with this but your system has gone from free, to $500 to $1500. I'm afraid if I wait any longer I won't be able to afford it! MVS

Hey guys, Well, what do you think? I see that goldfinger2012 deleted all his messages including the one where he was to give this system away for free and now were at the "I'm taking my ball and going away" stage. Should we just remove the thread as a poor example of a spammed system seller or see if goldfinger will repent and see the error of his ways. I personally would like to see a play sheet where we win 20+ units flat betting, but I don't think it will get posted up soon. So, we can leave it up here as a good example of bad salesmanship or just delete it as the typical spam attack. It was fun while it lasted. I'll leave it up to you guys. As there's no links in the messages and only his email address (which he still hasn't replied to me with) it really isn't all that ugly as your typical spam. MVS

Man, that's +43 flat betting. That'll be a tough act to follow for sure. Here's hoping it really is something substantial and not just another $500 super streaky shoe system or a flat bet on the second tie-line. MVS

Hi and welcome aboard!! As you've mentioned, reading up on everything is a very important step in getting up to speed on what there is to offer here. Anyway, in the first message in Mark's Maverick play tutorial it says.... "Once you see that RD1 is struggling, say your score is floating between -4 to +4 or say you score goes back and hits 0 a few times, and/or you hit that 1221 pattern, don't forget to ask yourself these 3 questions: 1. What is the Player/Banker Disparity? This is often the most over looked. Sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees. Many times if RD1 is struggling, staying and betting on the side that has the greater disparity is the easiest answer. Thats because usually there are sporadic 1's. So just stay on the side that has the greater disparity recently. Its simply F2. How to play F2: You simply follow under 2 in a row. You bet under the first 2 and stay on that side until the other side has a run of 2. Then you follow that 2. But once you change to a side you must stay on that side for a minimum of 3 bets. If you win that 3rd bet STAY on that side. That's it! The 3 bet rule protects you from the TT's. In our case, Simply stated you follow the side that has the greater disparity or thats stronger. For example, say thats the Player side. Stay on the Player side until you lose two in a row, or even three in a row, depending on the weak sides history. Then switch to Banker. *But once you change to a side you must stay on that side for a Min of 3 bets. And if you win that 3rd bet STAY on that side. The 3 bet rule protects you from those 22's or Terrible Two's. Basically he's saying that if RD1/H isn't working then either F2 or F3 will be working, among other things. Although Maverick is supposed to start running RD1/H, there are times when several of us have just hit the shoe running F2 until the shoe settles into something else. Sometimes it's the only starting play! Also, don't feel alone about being new, lost and looking for answers. We've ALL been there, trust me! With that said, the answers will generally show up as soon as anyone sees the questions. Maverick is one of the top system plays now and we have different people in different camps for different systems. Good luck with the ones you choose and feel free to ask up questions. MVS (Maverick player)

Still flying all four red flags as of this message. Bummer. The wife and her buddy are down at the Seminole casino cashing in a bunch of free plays and I was hoping to get a few shoes in "unmolested" by the chores that really need to be done around here! Oh well, maybe tonight. Here's the edit.... Still down at midnight!! MVS

I also emailed him but have heard nothing as of this date. MVS

Well, how's this for cutting it short! Went in for tonight's PM session and this is what I find. Very weird. MVS

Max, I'm assuming the internet casino was one with a live dealer? If so it really shouldn't be all that different from a live dealer B&M casino. Table evaluation is much better for me "online" as opposed to my local casino as my local Indian casino has no tote boards and usually only one table in play and I'm the guy playing it!! At least when I go to BetPhoenix I can see what the four tables are doing and if one of the smaller limit tables looks good, I'll jump on in. Averaging +6 a shoe is good anytime! As you have found out, having an EXIT plan can really save the day. There's no use in fighting a shoe that's giving you a beating. Take the small loss and live to play another shoe. MVS

Brian, I have to agree with you fully. Baccarat is too much of a cash cow for the casinos to think about removing all the tables. We may be taking money out of the casino but most of the other players I see are making significant deposits to the casino every day. And changing the rules at this point in time would result in a major boycott by half of Asia I would think. Other than a few gimmicky side bets, I don't think the game will be changing or going away anytime soon. MVS

goldfinger2012, Is that 1500 units, dollars, Euros, francs, pesos, zlotnicks, what? If it's 1500 units then I'm truly impressed. How much is represented by one unit? MVS

Davelevad, Yes, many of us are playing Maverick online at BetPhoenix for money (we're US players) and others are using Black Orchid, DublinBet and a few others that I'm not familiar with. These are NOT RNG baccarat games but live dealt games, which is why we play there. As it's 125 miles round trip for me to hit my local B&M casino, it makes it nice that I can play the live, online games most of the time. In the private forum under the Maverick area there are many, many posted shoes from the live play casinos from around the world. These shoes are posted generally to see if the play was correct or if they could be made better. In my case most of them are posted up to showcase some classic mistakes!! MVS

Just finished up for today and the shoe went 74 hands. MVS

All, Also, for BetPhoenix and their live games, they've been very good about responding to email inquiries at the following email address. livegames@betphoenix.com Twice I've sent questions into them at that address and both times they've responded, with the correct information, within 48 hours. I just sent in today requesting information on the current spate of short shoes in the live table games. MVS