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Nevada Casinos Watching for iPhone-Toting Card Counters

DuckSoup

DuckSoup

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 7, 2008
589
5
Upstate Central NY
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/02/16/nevada-casinos-watching-for-iphone-toting-card-counters/
Woot? Who really uses a card counting devices in the casino? For god sake the app is designed to buff up your card counting skill and not to do the on the spot calculation for you.
 
skye12 said:
you might consider it fair, but if you're caught using an external device its prison time!
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It isn't illegal they will just ban you from the casino and take your device (I think that is all they will do)
 
plumbingandtech said:
Right. They force their players to turn over their wallets at gun point...
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
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I'm not on some moral crusade against casinos, don't get me wrong. But living in Nevada for a little while has shown how many addicts there are in those places - they cash their paychecks in there and blow most of it. So much the worse for them I suppose, but by the same token I couldn't care less about people "defrauding" casinos by beating them at their own game of fleecing idiots out of their money.
 
Nevada Casinos Watching for iPhone-Toting Card Counters



The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Nevada Gaming Control Board has alerted the state's casinos to the existence of card-counting programs for the iPhone and iPod touch. Card counting is a strategy for card games mostly commonly applied to blackjack in which a player tracks the values of cards being played to determine when the cards remaining to be dealt are more likely to be in the player's favor, and adjusts his or her betting accordingly.
Card counting is not illegal in Nevada casinos. However, using a device to aid in the counting of cards is considered a felony under Nevada laws governing cheating, control board member Randy Sayre said.

Gamblers using the iPhone card-counting program can be detained by casino operators and arrested by state gaming agents.
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While the specific application described in the alert was not identified in the news article, the description of the application suggests that it may be A Blackjack Card Counter [App Store]:
The program uses four different strategies for card counting. It also operates in the "stealth mode," in which the phone's screen is shut off. The program can be run effortlessly without detection as long as the user knows where the keys are.
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The Nevada gaming commission was tipped off to the existence of card-counting iPhone applications by the California Bureau of Gambling Control, and although the Nevada board has not received any reports from casinos about players using the applications, they decided to alert the state's casinos in order to raise awareness of the issue.

Article Link: Nevada Casinos Watching for iPhone-Toting Card Counters
 
Haha, the iPhone Apps really can be used for anything... and now its causing trouble.

iVoid said:
Most casinos won't let you use a cell phone at a table anyway.
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I couldn't imagine what it would be like if they did. You could have someone texting you what other people's cards were.
 
I was in Vegas at a table game where there was a gentleman who was talking on his cell phone. The dealer asked him if he was in. He nodded that he was in but continued his conversation. The dealer pushed his bet off the center and dealt him out.

The man hung up and was upset that he was dealt out. The dealer kindly said that cell phone use was not allowed. He apologized for interrupting the game but still insisted that he should have been allowed in the hand. After one additional hand was dealt, he started texting. The dealer stopped the game and asked him to finish his text. The other player and I waited a short time for him to finish.

About five minutes later, he was back to texting. The other player yelled at him to play or leave. The player became upset and left to another table.

The dealer was completely professional and courteous at all this. The pit boss came by for a report. I watched him go to the phone and place a call, I guess to security.

They are dead serious about cell phone usage. I wouldn't risk it.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Casinos are legalized theft, so trying to beat them at their own game is only fair.
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That's insane: "Legalized theft." They never TAKE the money from you. If you sit down to play, you're the fool. It's legalized donation from dimwits to wealthy hucksters, actually. The government is more like legalized theft than casinos--you can walk around a casino, but you can't walk around the government.
 
Lesser Evets said:
That's insane: "Legalized theft." They never TAKE the money from you. If you sit down to play, you're the fool. It's legalized donation from dimwits to wealthy hucksters, actually. The government is more like legalized theft than casinos--you can walk around a casino, but you can't walk around the government.
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I hope you're not suggesting making taxation optional - and for me at least, I don't feel like the government is stealing from me. I pay taxes so that I have police, running water, electricity, functioning sewers, roads etc. Casinos are just for-profit private businesses.
 
alexbates said:
I couldn't imagine what it would be like if they did. You could have someone texting you what other people's cards were.
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For a game like poker, yes, but there is no value in keeping your cards secret in blackjack. Indeed, training/casual tables are often played with all player cards face up, and it doesn't change the odds at all.

I imagine banning cellphones at tables is mostly a blanket rule, so the pit staff don't have to use extra determination of whether it would be easy for the player to cheat.
 
fo0bar said:
For a game like poker, yes, but there is no value in keeping your cards secret in blackjack. Indeed, training/casual tables are often played with all player cards face up, and it doesn't change the odds at all.

I imagine banning cellphones at tables is mostly a blanket rule, so the pit staff don't have to use extra determination of whether it would be easy for the player to cheat.
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cheating with a cell phone is a concern. however, cell phones at the tables are also a detraction from the game and are often a nuisance to others at the table. the house wants you playing the game, not talking on the phone.

communication devices are not the most affective cheating tools at house-vs.-player games unless you are communicating with the dealer or other house employee. i am not aware of any table games where other players are not allowed to see your cards. the dealer even steps in to help in most cases. a small advantage can be had in poker-like games where the players can conclude what the dealer doesn't have by looking at the cards already dealt to the players. however, i have not come across any place locally that enforces a rule along these lines.

what is confusing is when in the poker room where you are put up against other players and not the house, cell phones are allowed, at least in some places.

Doctor Q said:
A felony for using an iPhone app? Ulp!

I thought they just ask you to leave.
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in this case, the phone acts as a device that can give the player an elevated advantage. if you are just talking on the phone, they just ask you to step away from the table till you finish. if you are using it to cheat, then you are arrested.
 
speedbumpnv said:
in this case, the phone acts as a device that can give the player an elevated advantage. if you are just talking on the phone, they just ask you to step away from the table till you finish. if you are using it to cheat, then you are arrested.
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I guess I'll just bring my brother Rain Man along.
 
iVoid said:
Most casinos won't let you use a cell phone at a table anyway.
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True, but they are pretty lax. I've used my phone to text while playing blackjack, I just can't put the phone on the table at all. They are also more lax about it in the poker rooms. People call/text constantly. Unless someone speaks up, they usually don't say anything.
 
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