Top hatting
Top hatting scams
The English Gambling Act 1845 was employed for the first time in Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court in a case involving some men who were found guilty for cheating at casino gambling. It took some years for the men to be discovered even though they were forbidden from casino all over the country.
They were able to escape being detected by forging their identities. The men were using top hatting scams. Top hatting is a term used to describe a casino scam where the chips are placed on the roulette77 table after the ball might have rested.
This method employed by these fraudsters was exposed by the Scotland Yard. Using the graphic artists in its studio, Scotland Yard developed a life film that showed how the scam was perpetrated.
Description
In the scam, one of the men will be distracting the dealer while the other will act as the beneficiary. Just as the roulette was about to rest the distracter would come up with a cash note in order to draw the attention of the dealer away from the table. Having discovered the winning number he would drop the chips of his partner in crime at the number. The chips were perfectly hidden in such a way that the dealer would not be able to see them when he came up.
According to Detective Constable John, the scam was based on the perfect timing and the capacity of the fraudster to observe the ball. For the fraudsters to succeed, the dealers, casino and other players must be distracted.
The perpetrator of the scam who were identified as Hong Kong-born Kwong Lee, Martin Fitz and Shuhal Miah accepted being guilty of the scam.
The invisible woman
According to the police the crime was committed with the help of at least one woman. The woman in question has not been identified. It was in the year 2003 and 2004 that the crime for which the men were found guilt of was committed at the Barracuda located in Baker Street and the Gala located in Russell Square.
Besides the top hatting there are other tricks which you have to be aware of. Such tricks include:
- Cheat mark the card
- Card marking
- Scanners
- Crimpers
- Hidden cameras
