High-tech poker scam busted

2007-07-27 14:29:32

Steve Forte, a consultant who advises clients on how to avoid cheating in gambling, was himself charged with the offence in Atlantic City this week.

Although his business was in helping others to avoid being hit by scams in America's gambling hot spots, Mr Forte used his knowledge to rig poker games together with three other accomplices, according to the state attorney general's office.

The scam was a high-tech set up that involved using cameras, earpiece radio receivers and laptop computers to keep track of the hands the other players were playing with.

Specific cards were also marked so that they could be identified, a more traditional trick.

A hotel room at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa was chosen by the gang as their place of operations, where everything was prepared so that they could peer into other player's cards.

The Borgata itself was not involved and has not been charged by the authorities, the games involved individuals and were described as "high stakes".

Mr Forte's International Gaming Specialists, based in Las Vegas, runs a website and consulting service that is meant to protect gamblers from cheaters in games of cards and dice.

He had also produced a documentary called Gambling's Invisible Thieves.