by Amy Calistri
This week the New Jersey Attorney
General's office released details
on the arrests of four individuals
involved in a poker-related cheating
scam at the Borgata Hotel Casino
& Spa in Atlantic City on June 7.
A noted casino-industry cheating
expert, Steve Forte, along with
Joseph T. Ingargiola, Stephen
Phillips, and James C. Harrison,
have been charged with using a
computer and cheating devices
to commit theft, attempted theft
by deception and conspiracy.
All defendants are currently
free on bail.
The four men allegedly were involved
in a scheme that involved luring
high-stakes poker players to a
Borgata hotel room which was fitted
with hidden cameras. The cameras
were placed in a manner such that
players' hole cards were visible.
There were also instances where marked
decks of cards were employed.
The NJ Attorney General's Office
also alleged that the men were
using computer simulation programs
to calculate their odds in any given
hand.
According to his website,
defendant Steve Forte is president
of his own consulting company,
International Gaming Protection,
and lists many of the nation's
largest casinos as his clients.
Forte has a book out entitled
"Poker Protection – Cheating…and
the World of Poker" that specifically
addresses how to detect cheating
in a private game and details the
use of marked cards and cheating crews.
Early news reports implied that the
cheating scam was concurrent and
somehow associated with the Borgata's
Summer Open Championship Event.
The arrests, however, were made
almost one week prior to the start
of the tournament's preliminary events.
According to both the Borgata and the
New Jersey Attorney Generals Office,
the cheating scam was conducted off
the gaming floor and was never
intended to target the Borgata's
poker or tournament rooms.
While high technology was employed
in this cheating scam, the scenario
represented nothing new. The cheaters
thought they were too smart to get
caught and the cheated probably
should have known better – well,
they might have known better if
they had read Steve Forte's book.
7/27/2007
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