There was a time when if you wanted to gamble in the US, without going to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, you got clued in to some underground joint and took your chances. It was the kind of a place where the only the players got in trouble for cheating. The house, however, got away with what they could.
But now, legit casinos are almost as easy to find as Burger King (okay, not really, but you know what I mean) and in a lot of places you can just gamble on your phone if you feel like it.
But for reasons that are beyond me, some people insist on going the shady route.
I don’t know what they’re thinking. Especially if they are rich and famous and savvy enough to know better (plus, let’s face it, not exactly desperate to bet on the roll of a couple dice).
The latest to be unnecessarily fleeced? A posse of NBA players are alleged to have gotten themselves scammed by the boxing champ Adrien Broner. Call them the victims of a knockout punch that went straight to the wallet.
If the allegations are true (and they might not be), this is the sort of thing in which nobody looks good. Why is a champion boxer putting on a crooked dice game with so-called “teased” dice – “loaded” is the more commonly used jargon – and what brings him to take advantage of NBA stars? They are said to have dropped upwards of $6.5 million.
I’ve got three letters for that one: WTF?
Unless you’re the wild gambler Mikki Mase – I’m doing a story on him that you’ll be able to read soon – who claims to have devised a way for beating baccarat by figuring out how the Vegas casinos are cheating at it, you can feel comfortable gambling in a legal and licensed casino.
My opinion: They are likely not cheating. Pricy casino licenses are on the line and you can have reasonable faith that the only hustle is the game’s odds hopelessly stacked against you.
At the dicey joints, that is not necessarily the case. And in Florida, where legal casinos are in short supply, with only 15 up and running, the illegitimate spots thrive. The SunSentinel maintains that hundreds of them are in operation. They come with unwelcome features: rigged slot machines, owners wanting to pay off jackpots on installment plans, and, worst of all, gaming bosses who refuse to pay via any arrangement.
I remember wandering into one such place in downtown Manhattan. It seemed like a sweet spot, with blackjack and slots and a fairly well-known movie star who brushed past me with a bong in hand. (Strange but true!) Just one problem, though. The blackjack decks seemed light on aces and face cards.
I lost my fair share and figured it was better not to make a fuss about the apparent unfairness of it all. The roving pit-boss, whose neck and chin appeared to be of a single piece, did not seem to be the conversational type.
Though they lost a hell of a lot more than I did, the NBA guys – as well as other assorted rubes for a night – maybe shouldn’t feel too bad about getting cheated. It happens to the best of us. Over the weekend, a friend told me about a reasonably esteemed pro gambler who dropped six figures against an inferior poker player who benefited from a card mechanic making it impossible for the gambler to win a series of heads-up poker freeze-outs.
Told that I’m surprised to hear about such guy allowing himself to be gotten over on, my friend (who’s pretty smart in his own right), replied, “Sharp gamblers are perfectly susceptible when they think they have the best of it. Who can resist? And once it happens, there’s not much you can do. What can you really prove? It’s usually smart to fade the loss.”
At least in a legit casino, if you feel wronged, you can plead your case to the gaming commission. It might not do anything for you, but you’ll end the conversation with your knees remaining intact. And, right there, I’ll chalk that up as a win.
Michael Kaplan is a journalist based in New York City. He is the author of five books (“The Advantage Players” out soon) and has worked for publications that include Wired, GQ and the New York Post. He has written extensively on technology, gambling, and business — with a particular interest in spots where all three intersect. His article on Kelly “Baccarat Machine” Sun and Phil Ivey is currently in development as a feature film.
*Image – Shutterstock
