It's hard to name the period in the history of humanity and the corner of the world where the first casino games have seen the light. But it is safe to say that cheaters appeared when people began to play for money or wager valuable things.
Gambling attracts fraudsters through the active turnover of cash and passionate players, who inevitably lose vigilance and become easy prey for scammers.
You can become a victim of the sharper not only at the underground casinos,
resort restaurants or long-distance trains.
Crooks are ready to trick you even in the big gambling houses, which have CCTV cameras all around and where security monitors every customer's step.
However, dealers become the primary target of fraud at the casino more often than customers. Scammers mark cards, steal chips, increase winning bets, change the deck, hack pokie machines, interfere with the roulette wheel operation, and do many other tricks that allow them to win dishonestly.
Scammers' tricks are described in articles in this section of Casinoz – the best online gambling guide.
Types of Casino Cheats
A variety of fraudulent tricks in the world of gambling strikes the imagination. In the 21st century, scammers keep using techniques invented hundreds of years ago and apply the latest achievements of science and technology.
Classifying the swindlers working in the gambling industry is difficult for some objective reasons. However, we would like to warn our readers about the main "styles" of modern casino criminals:
- Classic cheaters follow the old methods: marked cards, "charged" dice, shuffling decks, exchanging cards between boxes, spying on the dealer's secured card, and other traditional methods known since time immemorial.
- Chip fraudsters like to bet the chip on the winning number, increase or decrease the amount at stake after closing bets, and manipulate casino chips in other illegal ways.
- Fans of data sharing use a variety of tricks and devices to transmit information to each other. Morse, the system of gestures, mini cameras, and sound signals, has many tricks.
- Followers of the scientific approach call physics and mathematics for help. Using specialized gear, they calculate the trajectory of the ball on the roulette, determine the angle of the dice rebound in craps, and so on.
- Counterfeiters make fake casino chips, use different objects instead of tokens on pokies, etc.
- Insiders are among the most vulnerable aspects of casino croupiers, pit bosses, and management. They collude with scammers and help them beat the casino. Deception options vary widely: charged decks, inflated payments, card demonstrations, and so on.
- Hackers are the most advanced fraudsters who hack jackpot systems, calculate algorithms for pseudo-random number generators, access pokie machine "brains," and deceive casinos in other ways.
Many talented cheats advocate an integrated approach. Their scams can consist of several stages involving specialists in different fields. The most striking fraud cases are described in the thematic articles at Casinoz.
On the Very Brink
We should add that some visitors do not break the law but use methods that are not welcome at the casinos. We are talking about card counters, bonus hunters, dealers, provocateurs, fans of free services, and others who visit gambling houses only for their benefit.
They cannot be prosecuted because they do not violate the formal rules of the casino or do it so skillfully that their guilt is impossible to prove.
Such customers' activities can significantly harm the house, so gambling operators create unacceptable conditions or kick them out of the casino. For example, dealers blindly demolish a few cards to drive away card counters and make them ineffective.
We do not consider players who win at the casino due to their skills to be cheaters. That's why articles about them are not included in the scams section.
Roulette Scams
Roulette fraudsters appeared as soon as casinos began offering this. Some of them went down in gambling history.
One of them is Pierre Dugal, the nineteenth-century carpenter who sneaked into the gambling houses at night and ground the roulette wheel. Also, we can't leave without attention to the legendary Charles Wells, who broke the bank on roulette in Monte-Carlo multiple times. Special mention should be made of Joseph Jagger, who terrorized a casino with an imperfect roulette.
Modern rogues also love to cheat the roulette.
- Some act the old-fashioned way: stealing chips from the dealer and daydreaming customers, increasing winning bets, secretly removing the losing chips from the field, and so on.
- Others use more complex methods, such as finding roulette defects or calculating the ball's trajectory using special devices.
Physicists from the Eudaemons team invented a device that allowed them to beat the casino at roulette. Luckily, gambling operators considered this a scientific experiment, not a means of enrichment.
Our articles at Casinoz discuss the most exciting roulette cheating cases in different years.
Card Games Cheaters
Poker, blackjack, and other card games have become a gold mine for all kinds of cheaters long before the active development of casinos. Swindlers who skillfully "bred the suckers" existed in countries where people played cards for money long ago.
Rigged deck, marked cards, aces hidden in the sleeves – these well-known techniques are only the tip of the iceberg. The arsenal of card sharers includes many tricks, and experienced cheaters continue to develop new methods and improve the old ones.
Casino security services worldwide are fighting with swindlers who work at the tables for card games, but they are far from beating the sharpers. You will see this when you read our articles about them.
Scammers on Pokies
Pokies are the most popular type of casino game. The largest casinos have hundreds of video pokies. Their vast number complicates the process of visitors' control. An absence of direct supervision pushes many customers to cheat pokies.
Of course, homegrown scammers almost always get caught, but professional fraudsters often escape punishment. In the era of mechanical pokie machines, crooks used primitive tools to get inside the devices and affect their operation. When casinos started to use electronic pokies, sharers learned to affect the sensors using miniature lanterns.
Cheaters meet every technological innovation of the developers with new techniques that allow them to hack pokie machines.
Hackers VS. Casinos in 2025
The integration of digital technologies in the gambling industry hasn't solved the problem of casino scams. Hackers came to replace traditional cheaters.
They do not allow the owners of offline casinos or operators of gambling sites to relax. They attack online casinos, decrypt algorithms of pseudo-random number generators, steal money from user accounts, interfere with the operation of systems of progressive jackpots, and so on.
In recent years, hackers have become the main characters of news about fraud in the gambling business.
100 Best Gambling Scams on Casinoz
Articles about casino fraudsters are not classified on the site. There is no need for thematic sub-sections. All the publications deserve the attention of our readers who are interested in this issue in the gambling business because they are dedicated to the most resonant incidents.
You will learn about the legendary card sharers of the past, the founders of roulette fraud, developers of unique technological devices for cheating casinos, and other scams.
The section is periodically updated with stories from the past and present. Watch for updates.
Tips for Gamblers in 2025
How to avoid becoming a victim of a scammer in 2025? Here are some practical tips from casino staff and experienced players.
- Avoid illegal gambling. Give up a visit to the dogfish, the underground pokie halls, and other questionable places.
- Always give preference to a reliable casino with a good reputation. There are cases when dealers beat the clients using cheating techniques and tricks with the approval of the management.
- Don't gamble with strangers. You can meet them on a beach, train, resort cafe, city market, amusement park, or apartment of random friends. No matter where you are offered to dispel boredom by playing cards, dice, or gambling. Permanently abandon such proposals.
- Cash poker can be dangerous even if you play in clubs. Often, regular players collude and cheat the beginners. The managers may not be aware of what is happening or do not bother finding out the details.
- Be aware of thieves and other scams when playing in a land-based casino or poker room. In the throes of passion, players forget to keep an eye on their chips, mobile phones, bags, car keys, and purses. Do not rely on the security service or video surveillance employees. They are more concerned about other problems.
- Once and for all, give up online casinos that work without licenses or use fake software. They may offer very favorable terms and generous bonuses. Moreover, they can pay. But sooner or later, you will face deception on their part, and you will not achieve justice.
In general, all the recommendations on how to avoid becoming a victim of gambling fraud come to single advice:
Play only in reliable and proven offline and
online casinos, poker rooms and bookmakers.
This is the best way to avoid cheaters. Expert reviews at Casinoz will help you to choose an honest online casino.
Summary
The history of fraud in the gambling world is full of fascinating stories. It is full of legendary scammers specializing in different types of scams. One can only guess how many talented swindlers have never been caught and left unknown to the general public. However, many famous adventurers also escaped punishment for quitting the dangerous craft on time.
Articles about casino cheaters at Casinoz will introduce you to some of the most exciting incidents.
