While the World Series of Poker Europe continues in its city, details are emerging as to a card marking scandal that has occurred in a Cannes casino.
Fox News and Expatica.com are reporting about the scandal, which involved the usage of infrared ink marked cards that were allegedly used at the Les Princes Casino in Cannes, France. In these reports, three Italians have been detained for marking the cards – which couldn’t be seen by the naked eye but could be seen by wearing special glasses or contact lenses – and two casino employees, one a dealer, who also were involved in the plot. A judicial source not named by Fox News commented, “In a way, these players saw through the cards,” because of the special markings.
The possibility of shenanigans first arose in August, according to the Fox News report. The three Italians accused in the case reportedly won over $60,000 in one evening, but the authorities and the casino couldn’t confirm any wrongdoing. A sting operation was set up to catch the perpetrators on their next visit, which occurred Tuesday.
The Expatica.com report says the three players showed up at the Les Princes Casino on Tuesday and, after playing, began to walk off with their approximately $41,000 in winnings. It was at this time the three Italians were detained and a French dealer, whom allegedly the cards had been given to, was also arrested for his part in the scam. Another casino employee in Nice was also arrested as a part of the operation.
Although no names have been released, the Italians at the heart of the case have some serious allegations as to their character. Newspapers in France are stating that they trio are linked to organized crime, while gaming investigators are looking at the possibility that the triumvirate ran the same scam across Europe. The investigators have forwarded information regarding the operation and the perpetrators involved to other casino operations to perhaps learn more about their modus operandi and if it has occurred elsewhere.
The method that the conspirators allegedly used is not unfamiliar to many involved in the game of poker. A quick search of YouTube brings up a slew of demonstrations of such marking of cards and how they could be potentially used in a poker game. What does make the plot interesting is how the players were able to convince casino employees to participate in the ring.
In a U. S. casino, such violations of law by casino employees would – beyond garnering a serious prison sentence – result in said employee’s name being entered into a “black book” of persons who are persona non grata for future employment in a gaming operation or partaking in the offerings of a U. S. casino. What laws regarding such conduct are on the books for France is unknown.
This is the latest scandal that has come out regarding the European poker world. In 2010, German poker professional Ali Tekintamgac was disqualified from a stop in Cannes on the French-run Partouche Poker Tour after it was learned that he was allegedly using co-conspirators as faux “tournament reporters” who would use hand signals to pass information to him regarding his opponents’ hands while “reporting” on the tournament.
This disqualification came after Tekintamgac had won the World Poker Tour stop in Barcelona a few months earlier (to qualify to play at the WPT Championships in 2011) and had cashed at a European Poker Tour Championship Event in Tallinn, where suspicions about Tekintamgac first began to arise. (An interesting side note to the Tekintamgac case; since that disqualification on the Partouche Poker Tour, he has not cashed in a poker tournament.)
