Five poker players thought they could get away with swapping cards at one of the largest casinos in the UK.
A Turkish gang raked in £33,600 (€44,663) by cheating at three-card poker between April and May 2014 at London’s Grosvenor Victoria Casino.
The trick worked with two players switching cards to make up a winning hand while the third schemer acted as a distraction and the fourth as a lookout.
Ring members Ergun Yasar and Tarik Nergiz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat on the first day of their trial at Old Bailey, while co-defendants Murat Kolcak, Ozgur Aytekin and Ali Kuyar admitted the charges.
Judge Charles Wide delayed sentencing all five members until February 9, warning that he was not ruling out a jail sentence.
Yasar and Nergiz remain on bail.
Earlier this month, a casino dealer was arrested after stealing thousands of pounds’ worth of gaming chips at the Cromwell Mint.
The scam, which had been going on for several months, involved the dealer dropping the chips into a false pocket in his trousers, which was connected to his socks via a tube. The employee then passed the chips to a female accomplice during his cigarette breaks. A casino source told the Daily Mail that “he was sacked on the spot, but was extremely lucky to get away without being charged.”
The same scam occurred six years ago at Grosvenor Victoria when one of its dealers Wayne Wagner was caught stuffing chips into his sock.
Wagner’s luck ran after six years when he was found to have been pocketing up to £1,000 a month. He was jailed for 15 months after he admitted stealing £69,000. The judge at Southwark Crown Court ordered him to repay £36,000 but Grosvenor Casino claimed in High Court that the dealer stole between £250,000 and £300,000.
