In previous articles on Casinoz dedicated to cheating in casinos, we discussed the technique of replacing winning bets with higher-denomination chips.
This method is also known as past posting or pastposting.
This article will focus on the scammer who first thought of deceiving gambling houses in this way.
The Author of the Past Posting Cheat
A person considered the founder of the bet replacement systems was known as Mumbles. He received this nickname after undergoing an operation. The surgeon removed a cancerous tumor from his throat and inserted an artificial larynx. After that, Mumbles spoke only when necessary, only replying "yes" and "no."
His real name is unidentified. We only know that he was born in 1897 in New York.
He accidentally invented the technique of pastposting when he corrected his shaky health in the early fifties in Puerto Rico after surgery. He chose the warm climate of this country; besides, his sister worked there as a nurse and could take care of him and provide professional help.
By then, Mumbles was an incorrigible player constantly hanging out at the casinos and racetracks. Of course, he soon became a regular in San Juan casinos.
The Beginning
A dealer's mistake at a local casino, Americana, helped invent this cheating. Mumbles bet five-dollar red chips on the pass line next to another player's chips, who raised his previous bet of two red chips from five dollars to thirty dollars. The bet consisted of a single green chip of twenty-five dollars and one five-dollar red chip. The shooter got the winning combination of dice, and the dealer paid bets on the pass line.
And then a very significant event happened. The dealer underpaid Mumbles's neighbor, giving him only ten dollars. He did not notice the green chips covered with red chips and decided they were only two red chips for five dollars. Of course, the player began to resent and scream about cheating. The dealer opened the bet and saw green chips. After that, he politely apologized and paid for the correct bet.
Murmur curiously watched the scene and came to the conclusion that all this can be used for his own purposes.
He was not used to delaying the implementation of his plans, and the next day, he was in the same casino with a plan. He bet ten dollars on the Pass Line. When the bet was won, he quickly replaced the two five-dollar chips on the table with twenty-five dollars, put a five-dollar chip on top of it, and drew attention to the alleged wrong payout. The dealer corrected his "error."
Successful Practice
Since then, Murmur has set to work. Every day, he visits casinos in San Juan, where he perfects this trick. At that time, the security system in Puerto Rico's casinos was practically nonexistent, and he got away with it. The lack of CCTV did not allow him to present any claim, even if there was a suspicion of the casino, but no one caught him in the act.
Later, he became interested in roulette, thinking it was also possible to change the winning bets. In this game, dealers worked automatically without paying attention to individual players in a large crowd of visitors. They often made small mistakes with payments, so claims of Murmur did not cause suspicion.
In roulette, he acted as follows.
- Selecting a busy table, he first stole a chip from the neighbors at the table.
- Then, he waited until that player won the bet in a clean room and added a five-dollar chip to the stolen chip.
- The dealer paid him one hundred seventy-five dollars (35:1), thinking he had not noticed the Murmur's chip before.
This simple trick was the basis of a wide variety of cheating.
-
+11 -
+9 -
+9 -
+11 -
+6 -
+8 -
+11 -
+8 -
+8 -
+9
New Inventions
The cheater gradually developed his art, inventing new ways of substituting bets and improving his trick technique. Then, he concluded that he needed an assistant. For this role, he chose his comrade from the World War.
He was nicknamed Wheels because he was crippled by shrapnel and could only move in a wheelchair. Thus, they formed the first known history of a team of cheaters engaged in substitution bets. A partner in a wheelchair rolled up to the table and carried out the technical side of the deal, and Murmur filed a claim on his promiscuous language.
The End of Mumbles
However, they did not work together for long. In 1954, Wheels died in a Binion's Horseshoe hotel room in Las Vegas. Murmur taught Henry Classon his secrets and continued collaborating with him, but he was destined to die in the same year and in the same hotel.
