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Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

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Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#181

Post by rideontime »

everdrive wrote: post #75

This is probably a very HN comment, but I cannot imagine why people actually like gambling and poker: - high likelihood you lose money - the point of the game is to lie to friends and strangers - you're stuck sitting at a table and following rules for hours - the only victory condition is that you take money from other people

"the only victory condition is that you take money from other people" is also why I cannot be interested in day trading or cryptocurrency speculation, and will likely die penniless.

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#182

Post by Forgeties79 »

kasey_junk wrote: post #158
evan_ wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$5M is a lot unless you have a crippling gambling addiction.

It’s not so much the absolute amount as the comparative one. Just extorting Chauncey Billips seems like a better ROI than the whole caper if you’ve got some hold on him.

Extortion risks exposing you in a way that quietly taking their money through cheating at cards does not. It’s also strikes me as a far more serious crime but I could be wrong.

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#183

Post by [deleted] »

everdrive wrote: post #75

This is probably a very HN comment, but I cannot imagine why people actually like gambling and poker: - high likelihood you lose money - the point of the game is to lie to friends and strangers - you're stuck sitting at a table and following rules for hours - the only victory condition is that you take money from other people

[deleted]

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#184

Post by untilted »

jimbokun wrote: post #144
otherme123 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some professional poker player told me this anecdote: he was playing at a table with a celebrity. He quickly noticed he has a tell (he did something with his chips when he had a powerful hand or was bluffing, don't remember), and half the table also noticed the same or similar tells. They proceeded to clean his stash. At the table statistics matter between pros, but if you are not aware of your flaws, you might as we…

This sounds similar to an article I read about major league pitchers, who must learn to avoid "tells" for the pitch they are about to throw, while opposing teams pour over video of their previous outings looking for those tells. Some pitchers even said they would deliberately perform a "tell" that opponents had identified then throw a different pitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcoB3G2Gj7w

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#185

Post by Nifty3929 »

bobafett-9902 wrote: post #140

All this potential jail time and reputation lost for $7 mil stolen over multiple years total??? And how many criminals split those winnings?? So the take home pay for an NBA HOF was like under $1 mil? Billups just signed an extension as an NBA head coach making well over that amount EVERY YEAR. Just sad imo

I think what happens is that many of these professional athletes grow up in communities and circumstances where it's just normal and expected to be "hustling," getting away with things, and avoiding the law. Wrong, but maybe understandable under those circumstances (poverty primarily).

But then you take that person out of the "hood," and give him a $1M/yr sports contract, and the mentality doesn't necessarily go away. It's still about the hustle. They might not stop to consider that they don't NEED to hustle anymore. And they're probably also surrounded now by grifters/"friends"/family who do still need/want to hustle, and essentially using these guys.

It is sad.

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#186

Post by dec0dedab0de »

cattown wrote: post #37

Doesn’t sound that profitable to me. $7m is a lot of money. But not that much after building all of that custom tech, setting up a dedicated space, training and paying a whole bunch of people to run these games. Then whatever’s left over gets split between multiple crime families? Seems like a lot of work.

That was my first thought, especially because they could get similar results with a marked deck. To me, this leads more credibility to it being part of a bigger operation.

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#187

Post by [deleted] »

everdrive wrote: post #75

This is probably a very HN comment, but I cannot imagine why people actually like gambling and poker: - high likelihood you lose money - the point of the game is to lie to friends and strangers - you're stuck sitting at a table and following rules for hours - the only victory condition is that you take money from other people

[deleted]

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#189

Post by Nicook »

metabagel wrote: post #165
simonsarris wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, one could write something like "I cannot imagine why people actually like ski resorts" - 100% likelihood you lose money - the point of the game is fly down a mountain and not hit any trees (about 45 more deaths per year than poker in the US) - you're stuck sitting in a lift or a line and following rules for hours - there are no victory conditions

> 100% likelihood you lose money Paying money for a service and losing money gambling are two different things. > the point of the game is fly down a mountain and not hit any trees (about 45 more deaths per year than poker in the US) It's not a game. It's an activity. > you're stuck sitting in a lift or a line and following rules for hours Not the whole time. > there are no victory conditions Right, because it's not…

paying money for a service and gambling are not totally different, especially if you more or less know your odds before entering. ./when I play blackjack (rarely) I understand I am more or less paying to play a game for enjoyment.

Re: Poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

#190

Post by asdfasvea »

jimbokun wrote: post #147
darepublic wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the "need" for cheating but it does seem like overkill the way they cheated, at least as described. They've already got colluders, and then the auto shuffler reads the cards, and then they've ALSO got the contact lenses? Just some marked cards would have been sufficient. And then the rare time the fish catches up after being behind is your "let them win a hand and get traction". It just seems like they r…

What's the increased risk of cheating more? Once you're cheating and colluding you are in danger of going to jail, and it's not clear that more cheating makes it more likely to be caught.

How could more cheating avenues not equal a more likelihood of being caught?

Car analogy--I never had to take my 1976 Olds Cutlass in because the key fob got out of sync or because the touchscreen got fried or the electronic power steering module shorted or... or .. or

More points of failure = more failure.

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