Hole-carder got arrested

It seems too easy for a casino to accuse a hole-carder for cheating. Here were their "evidence of cheating":

1) ...[the accused] made about $1,000 during two nights of gambling earlier this month.

2) ... [the accused] allegedly was seen cheating [hole-carding?]on May 5 and May 6 by pit bosses and security officers who watched him on surveillance cameras

3) ... The dealer was exposing his hole card to him and paying even when Zermeno had a losing hand... [It seems the casino treats the dealer's sloppiness & paying-error as cheating by the hole-carder!]

The moral for any hole-carder: be clean just like James Grojeans, & you will win $4,000,000 in lawsuit against a screwed up casino.

Here is the news:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/24/state/n032006D20.DTL&sn=042&sc=858

Torrance policeman accused of cheating at Las Vegas casino

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

(05-24) 03:20 PDT Torrance, Calif. (AP) --

A police officer was arrested for allegedly cheating at blackjack with the help of a dealer at the Stratosphere casino in Las Vegas, authorities said.

Edgar Zermeno, 33, made about $1,000 during two nights of gambling earlier this month, said Keith Copher, chief of enforcement for the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The officer allegedly was seen cheating on May 5 and May 6 by pit bosses and security officers who watched him on surveillance cameras, Copher said.

"The dealer was exposing his hole card to him" and paying even when Zermeno had a losing hand, Copher alleged.

Attempts to contact Zermeno and Lovinaria were unsuccessful, the Daily Breeze of Torrance reported Tuesday.

Zermeno and the dealer, Edgar Lovinaria, 52, of Henderson, Nev., were arrested and charged by Clark County prosecutors with two felony counts each of conspiracy and two counts each of cheating.

Each count carries a sentence of up to six years in prison. Their arraignment was scheduled for June 6, Deputy District Attorney Brian Rutledge said.

Torrance police have placed Zermeno on paid administrative leave and have begun an internal investigation, Lt. Brad Wilson said.

Zermeno, who was hired by the force in May 2003, would lose his job if he is convicted of a felony, Wilson said.

however, I have come around to the school of thought that the cop was in on it.

If I was a competant 'hole carder' and found an easy mark, I would not let him pay me off on my losers, as I would want to be as inconspicuous as possible. Hole carding itself gives enough advantage to not need cheating to back it up.

I would imagine any half decent private eye will find the link betwen the dealer and the cop, however if there is no link ebtween them, the cop could easily argue his case as an honest hole carder who did not realise his losing bets were being paid. Perhaps even citing the Grosjean case in his defence ??

I would like to hear the opinon of the more legally mnded amongst us.

An ocassional error by a dealer (paying a loser) is acceptable, however, dumping the rack on a game by paying every losing hand is not. Dealers are human and make mistakes. They do not make the "mistake" of paying every losing hand.

At this point it is not "hole carding." It is dealer-agent collusion, it is illegal, and it is certainly an arrestable offense. The dealer should also be hauled in.

An ocassional error by a dealer (paying a loser) is acceptable, however, dumping the rack on a game by paying every losing hand is not. Dealers are human and make mistakes. They do not make the "mistake" of paying every losing hand.

At this point it is not "hole carding." It is dealer-agent collusion, it is illegal, and it is certainly an arrestable offense. The dealer should also be hauled in. by Naessi

Please provide some authoritive quotes for your highlighted statements. Don't forget: A casino could not arrest James Grosjeans for hole-carding, so it had James jailed falsely for 4 days for "card-bending." Similarily in Zermeno's case, a casino could not arrest him on hole-carding, so it had him arrested---based on these 3 evidence of cheating:

1) ...[the accused] made about $1,000 during two nights of gambling earlier this month.

2) ... [the accused] allegedly was seen cheating [hole-carding?]on May 5 and May 6 by pit bosses and security officers who watched him on surveillance cameras

3) ... The dealer was exposing his hole card to him and paying even when Zermeno had a losing hand... [It seems the casino treats the dealer's sloppiness & paying-error as cheating by the hole-carder!]

Source:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/24/state/n032006D20.DTL&sn=042&sc=858

A LVRJ article was posted on this at advantageplayer.com three days ago. The article states both the player and dealer were arrested. Think about it. Casinos do not have their dealers arrested when a player hole-cards. If this was in fact collusion, applaud the casino�s efforts. This is the most common form of cheating and should be the focus of surveillance departments instead of counters. Realize when this type of cheating takes place, the dealer must make up the hold somehow. He usually does this by cheating other players.

... however, I have come around to the school of thought that the cop was in on it.

The officer and the dealer are entitled to the presumption of innocence like anyone else. Nevada Gaming Control Board agents making a bogus arrest of a winning player at the behest of a casino would not be anything new or unusual.

We would like to think that Gaming Control Board agents know the law and would accurately apply it. Hole carding, in the absence of collusion with the dealer, is of course a perfectly legal method of skilled play (Nevada Supreme Court case 15797, Sheriff of Clark County v. Einbender and Dalben, 12/18/1984). But from the Grosjean case, we know that at least some Gaming agents don't know the law, or are so corrupt that they don't care what the law says.

Ignorant or corrupt government officials are always a concern. I think one thing that may have put this one over the top is that the dealer was also allegedly paying even when Mr. Zermeno had a losing hand. However, a sloppy dealer who accidentally exposes his hole card may also be sloppy on payoffs. The news reports do not mention HOW MANY wrongful payouts were allegedly made. If just a few, it isn't evidence of any collusion. Dealer payoff errors are common.

What strikes me as odd about this story is that the player "won" only about a thousand dollars. If there was collusion, and if he was getting paid on losing hands, how could he "win" so little? I suspect there is more to this story than we will ever find out, unless the case actually goes to court. The Nevada Gaming Control Board is able to operate in secret, and hide behind state statutes permitting such secrecy.

The alleged cheating occurred earlier in the month. The casino and the cops have been busy establishing a case for the conspiracy charges. None of those details involving evidence of conspiracy have been mentioned in the article.

We already know what evidence the casino can exhibit for the cheating, but nowadays even they realize that they need more than just the video. The evidence of hole-carding is not enough, because it doesn't prove intent. The images of improper payoffs aren't enough, either. Every dealer makes mistakes. Every player has missed an improper payoff. The casino knew they needed more evidence. They waited 'til they got it.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are wiretaps, possibly even casino audio. They probably have phone records confirming contact between the two men. I'm guessing they also waited for the cop to make another run on the casino, then nabbed both suspects. No extradition hassles there. You just knew he'd try again, right?

The whole planet is well aware of surveillance video at casinos. There's no reason why the cops or the casino would also divulge to the media all the different ways two co-conspirators can implicate themselves. No sense in making it any easier for the next guys who try this.

Expect a plea-bargain from both. Then all the juicy details of the conspiracy investigation just might not ever be revealed. The casino wins. Twice.

Alright� let�s start here:

NRS 465.070 Fraudulent acts. It is unlawful for any person:
3. �.to claim, collect or take an amount greater than the amount won.

So if a dealer pays a losing wager, it is, on the part of the player, illegal to collect or take an amount greater than the amount won. If you won nothing and you take even money on your bet, that qualifies. Moving on:

NRS 465.083 Cheating. It is unlawful for any person, whether he is an owner or employee of or a player in an establishment, to cheat at any gambling game.

Any person. It is unlawful for the player to cheat, and it is unlawful for the house to cheat. In case we�re not clear on �cheat,�

NRS 465.015 Definitions. As used in this chapter:

1. �Cheat� means to alter the elements of chance, method of selection or criteria which determine:

(a) The result of a game;

(b) The amount or frequency of payment in a game;

(c) The value of a wagering instrument; or

(d) The value of a wagering credit.

So if you pay a loser, you have altered the criteria which determine a, the result of a game. I�m sure there are plenty of generalized Nevada statutes which deal with two people acting in concert, or in collusion, or conspiring to break ANY law. This is not necessarily a gaming-specific issue.

Now, let�s talk hypothetically about the history of the dealer in question. Does he/she always pay losers? Every hand, every time? Lose, lose, pay, pay? Unless the dealer has a history of blithely dumping the rack to every patron on every game, they haven�t got a prayer of claiming human error.

And what about this cheating player? We�ve established that by taking losing wagers he was, in fact, cheating. This could also be written off as human error � once or twice. But since he�s been called hole-carder, I�m assuming this is a double-deck, hand-held game. When his special friendly dealer goes on break, does he continue to tuck his 22s and expect to be paid? Doubtful.

Let�s also not forget that the casino, once the discovery of the cheating has been made, is obligated to inform GCB. GCB will then choose to ignore or act upon the complaint. It is likely that they will arrive at the property, view surveillance video, and if possible, view the cheating in action before detaining the individual themselves. If the individual has already been detained, the GCB agent will review available evidence and then make a decision as to how to deal with the individual.

If, after all this, people want to say �it was all a big mistake, the dealer didn�t mean to consistently pay and the player didn�t meant to take his losing bets,� then I�d have to say you�re a bit of a sucker.

source: www.gaming.nv.gov

I haven't watched TV regularly in years. Probably less than 6 total hours since 1996. I didn't even own a TV on Sep 11, 2001, but I became frstrated with trying to keep up with events via the 'net so I went out and bought one that night. I watched the news for a couple of hours the next day. The thing has been gathering dust ever since.

But I get your drift. ;)

Why would the casino wait until the second night to nab them? Well, possibly they were waiting for the GCB to actually witness the incident in person, or this guy may have been causing some sort of disruption other than just taking their money. I agree with LVBear that $1K isn't enough for them to become suspicious, nor is it enough to even be worth cheating over.

The whole paying the losing hand topic is essentially a moot point because we have no idea how many losing hands he was paid or if those were larger bets conveniently paid. Also, newspapers throw things out of proportion and pitbosses/security love to gloat about their doings, especially to the press, so they feel good about themselves (I don't intend to be mean to the pitbosses because they do good other than catch counters).

This will be interesting if the case pans out, but I'm assuming the details won't be that exciting.

The fact is we don't actually know. It is conceivable that someone flashing cards was so unfocued they were making incorrect payoffs.

"What strikes me as odd about this story is that the player "won" only about a thousand dollars. If there was collusion, and if he was getting paid on losing hands, how could he "win" so little?" - LVBear

Look at it this way - if you're going to get together with a dealer and decide to dump a game, are you going to choose the $100 minimum table? $25, even? Nah. You're going to go for the grind games that no one pays attention to, where the floor supervisors are yawning their heads off and the eye is passing them over in favor of more exciting action.

If this was a simple case of hole-carding, with or without the dealer's cooperation, the fix would be easy. Remove the dealer from the game. Make them go deal pai gow poker, roulette, something else. Or take them aside and tell them to quit exposing the $()@#*)$ hole card, and see if that has an effect. I've seen it happen many times. The only time it would be let go is when it's possible there is a bigger issue at hand - not dealer error or laziness but a plan to steal.

District Court case number 06-C-222960-C:

STATE'S MOTION FOR REQUEST TO USE DEMONSTRATIVE EVIDENCE IN OPENINGS

STATEMENT...CALENDAR CALL

Counsel advised the matter is resolved as to both Defendants.

AS TO DEFT LOVINARIA: There being no objection, Amended Information and

Guilty Plea Agreement FILED IN OPEN COURT. NEGOTIATIONS: Both parties

agree to a $500 fine. Mr. Quam concurred. DEFENDANT WITHDREW NOT GUILTY

PLEAS AND PLED GUILTY to CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT THEFT (GM). Court ACCEPTED

plea; referred matter to the Division of Parole and Probation (P&P) for a

Pre-sentence Investigation Report and ORDERED, trial date VACATED and set

for sentencing. Defendant was directed to report to P&P today before he

leaves the State.

AS TO DEFT ZERMENO: There being no objection, Amended Information FILED IN

OPEN COURT. NEGOTIATIONS: Defendant to plead Nolo Contendre and matter

continued for 90 days, wherein if Defendant has stayed out of trouble, this

case will be dismissed. At request of counsel, this Court to SIT AS A

MAGISTRATE. DEFENDANT WITHDREW NOT GUILTY PLEA AND PLED NOLO CONTENDRE to

DISORDERLY CONDUCT (M) and ADJUDGED GUILTY THEREOF. There being nothing to

add, COURT ORDERED, DEFENDANT SENTENCED to the Clark County Detention Center

for NINETY (90) DAYS; SUSPENDED. CONDITIONS:

1. Defendant to stay out of trouble.