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Cheating at the Alea in Glasgow.
rabdeniro
Member Posts: 4,486
in Poker Chat
In the Daily Record today.
Raging poker players flush out conman 'Billy the Egyptian' as mastermind of attempted Glasgow casino heist
We revealed yesterday how police were called to the Alea in Glasgow, because a croupier was in cahoots with a card shark.
A mystery gambler known as Billy the Egyptian stands accused of being the mastermind of an attempted casino heist.
Several angry poker players have contacted the Record complaining they have been fleeced by the hi-tech card cheat.
We revealed yesterday how police were called to the Alea in Glasgow, because a croupier was in cahoots with a card shark.
While working on the story, we were contacted by a number of gamblers who claimed an individual going by the nicknames “Billy the Egyptian” or “Egyptian Billy” was behind the scam.
Angry casino-goers have named 'Billy the Egyptian' as the attempted casino heist mastermind (Image: Getty/UGC)
Read More
Furious patrons subsequently published an online image of the player in a bid to warn other casinos and fellow gamblers not to allow him anywhere near a poker table.
They said Egyptian Billy claimed to be a businessman who operates between London and Glasgow.
He was said to be well-known at casinos in both cities.
The Facebook post carries a photo with the heading: “Poker Cheat”, accompanied by footage claiming to show the alleged con in operation.
The Record is not publishing the individual’s surname, which appears on the Facebook post.
It goes on: ”Known as Billy ******* or Egyptian Billy but likely to have other aliases.
“Apparently recently found to be using an electronic device and colluding with others to cheat in live cash games in Glasgow.
The posting tied in with information already brought to our attention by several gamblers.
Alea bosses confirmed to the Record that the croupier – who we are not naming – was “in collusion” with the player when police were called to the Springfield Quay casino on Thursday night.
One angry patron of the casino said: “This is being circulated to casinos across the UK and beyond.
“The issue here is that players that go to Alea, expecting everything to be above board and fair, have been robbed by this guy and a member of Alea’s staff who was involved. We suspect this has been going on for months, and players are entitled to expect that even basic security measures put in place by the casino would have detected this.
“Egyptian Billy always sits at a particular seat in relation to the croupier, which in itself should have rung some kind of alarm bells.
“Patrons of this casino have been losing money.”
It's thought a card dealer and player colluded in the scam (Image: PA)
Read More
Another regular player said: ”I have seen this guy in action. At first I thought he was a really poor player because he was backing really outside chances.Then it dawned on me that he was a really lucky player, because despite the bad decision-making, he kept on winning.
“And I’m not talking about the night the police were called. I’m talking about weeks before.
“This guy has been playing in the Glasgow Cash Game for about five years.
“Now we need to know how long he has been cheating with the help of one of Alea’s employees.
“The one thing we do know is that Egyptian Billy has been on a huge winning streak for many months.
“There’ll be a lot of players who will be asking Alea for their money back.”
The attempted heist took place at Alea Casino in Glasgow (Image: Internet Unknown)
Another source said: “Egyptian Billy is well-known in Glasgow.
“He has always favoured the game at Alea instead of any of the other casinos and is rarely seen elsewhere.
“He appeared on the scene five or six years ago and was dubbed Egyptian Billy because he always wore Egyptian-style sandals.
“But his heritage is thought to be Lebanese.
“For this scheme to work, the croupier needs to place the deck on the table on its own for a short period of time. The fact the croupier was doing this should have alerted staff.”
The precise details of the scam are not known.
The croupier involved is thought to have been suspended by Alea
But one possibility involving collusion of the croupier and a player is a deck of electronically marked cards which send signals to a tiny mobile phone camera.
It then sends a signal to a second mobile device which feeds an earpiece.
The devices can tell which cards are at the top of a deck of cards when it is placed on the table. They can also predict which one of the players at the table will have the strongest hand based on the information transmitted.
Police have confirmed that no arrests have so far been made following the incident on Thursday when they were called to the Alea, on the banks of the Clyde.
Sources in the poker world claim Egyptian Billy is now in London. The croupier involved is thought to have been suspended by Alea.
The Method:
It is unclear what scam was actually being used at Alea when staff alerted police.
But one known cheat involves mobile phone and computer technology:
● A poker croupier and a player use the scam in collusion.
● A deck of cards is marked electronically allowing a tiny camera on a mobile phone to “read” them.
● The phone is placed in front of the player opposite the croupier.
● The phone sends a signal to another phone in the player’s pocket which is actually a mini-computer.
● It then sends a voice message to an earpiece he is wearing.
● The camera can read more than 20 cards at the top of the deck.
● The cheat gets a message of what card is at the top, and so on.
● The computer can also work out what player is likely to win the hand and will relay this to the cheat.
● The cheat can then decide how to play the hand. The croupier will then share in the profits made by the cheating player.
Raging poker players flush out conman 'Billy the Egyptian' as mastermind of attempted Glasgow casino heist
We revealed yesterday how police were called to the Alea in Glasgow, because a croupier was in cahoots with a card shark.
A mystery gambler known as Billy the Egyptian stands accused of being the mastermind of an attempted casino heist.
Several angry poker players have contacted the Record complaining they have been fleeced by the hi-tech card cheat.
We revealed yesterday how police were called to the Alea in Glasgow, because a croupier was in cahoots with a card shark.
While working on the story, we were contacted by a number of gamblers who claimed an individual going by the nicknames “Billy the Egyptian” or “Egyptian Billy” was behind the scam.
Angry casino-goers have named 'Billy the Egyptian' as the attempted casino heist mastermind (Image: Getty/UGC)
Read More
Furious patrons subsequently published an online image of the player in a bid to warn other casinos and fellow gamblers not to allow him anywhere near a poker table.
They said Egyptian Billy claimed to be a businessman who operates between London and Glasgow.
He was said to be well-known at casinos in both cities.
The Facebook post carries a photo with the heading: “Poker Cheat”, accompanied by footage claiming to show the alleged con in operation.
The Record is not publishing the individual’s surname, which appears on the Facebook post.
It goes on: ”Known as Billy ******* or Egyptian Billy but likely to have other aliases.
“Apparently recently found to be using an electronic device and colluding with others to cheat in live cash games in Glasgow.
The posting tied in with information already brought to our attention by several gamblers.
Alea bosses confirmed to the Record that the croupier – who we are not naming – was “in collusion” with the player when police were called to the Springfield Quay casino on Thursday night.
One angry patron of the casino said: “This is being circulated to casinos across the UK and beyond.
“The issue here is that players that go to Alea, expecting everything to be above board and fair, have been robbed by this guy and a member of Alea’s staff who was involved. We suspect this has been going on for months, and players are entitled to expect that even basic security measures put in place by the casino would have detected this.
“Egyptian Billy always sits at a particular seat in relation to the croupier, which in itself should have rung some kind of alarm bells.
“Patrons of this casino have been losing money.”
It's thought a card dealer and player colluded in the scam (Image: PA)
Read More
Another regular player said: ”I have seen this guy in action. At first I thought he was a really poor player because he was backing really outside chances.Then it dawned on me that he was a really lucky player, because despite the bad decision-making, he kept on winning.
“And I’m not talking about the night the police were called. I’m talking about weeks before.
“This guy has been playing in the Glasgow Cash Game for about five years.
“Now we need to know how long he has been cheating with the help of one of Alea’s employees.
“The one thing we do know is that Egyptian Billy has been on a huge winning streak for many months.
“There’ll be a lot of players who will be asking Alea for their money back.”
The attempted heist took place at Alea Casino in Glasgow (Image: Internet Unknown)
Another source said: “Egyptian Billy is well-known in Glasgow.
“He has always favoured the game at Alea instead of any of the other casinos and is rarely seen elsewhere.
“He appeared on the scene five or six years ago and was dubbed Egyptian Billy because he always wore Egyptian-style sandals.
“But his heritage is thought to be Lebanese.
“For this scheme to work, the croupier needs to place the deck on the table on its own for a short period of time. The fact the croupier was doing this should have alerted staff.”
The precise details of the scam are not known.
The croupier involved is thought to have been suspended by Alea
But one possibility involving collusion of the croupier and a player is a deck of electronically marked cards which send signals to a tiny mobile phone camera.
It then sends a signal to a second mobile device which feeds an earpiece.
The devices can tell which cards are at the top of a deck of cards when it is placed on the table. They can also predict which one of the players at the table will have the strongest hand based on the information transmitted.
Police have confirmed that no arrests have so far been made following the incident on Thursday when they were called to the Alea, on the banks of the Clyde.
Sources in the poker world claim Egyptian Billy is now in London. The croupier involved is thought to have been suspended by Alea.
The Method:
It is unclear what scam was actually being used at Alea when staff alerted police.
But one known cheat involves mobile phone and computer technology:
● A poker croupier and a player use the scam in collusion.
● A deck of cards is marked electronically allowing a tiny camera on a mobile phone to “read” them.
● The phone is placed in front of the player opposite the croupier.
● The phone sends a signal to another phone in the player’s pocket which is actually a mini-computer.
● It then sends a voice message to an earpiece he is wearing.
● The camera can read more than 20 cards at the top of the deck.
● The cheat gets a message of what card is at the top, and so on.
● The computer can also work out what player is likely to win the hand and will relay this to the cheat.
● The cheat can then decide how to play the hand. The croupier will then share in the profits made by the cheating player.
Comments
one good thing that may come out of it is they ban players from using phones/tablets or headphones at the table.something that should have been done years ago.
Also it's 'Card Sharp' not 'Card Shark.'
If people have been cheated (which looks the case) I hope they all get justice. But cheating at card games with dealers & punters running an angle has been going on since card games were invented.