I’ve had three separate emails from readers asking questions about the film Inception.
Without spoiling too much of the plot for the four people who have not seen it, Inception swaps back and forth between reality and the dreamworld, leaving the viewer and the characters unsure as to whether they are trapped in the real world or a dream of someone else’s construction.
One of characters, Arthur - played by Joseph Gordon Lovett, carries a loaded casino dice as his totem.
Since only he knows the unique weight and feel of the dice, he simply needs to handle the dice to know whether he is in a world of someone else’s creation.
The question I’ve been asked repeatedly is, can you load a casino dice?
For many people, the answer to this questions has serious philosophical and extensional ramifications for the nature of the film.
These people also have serious opinions on Stargate and Rubik’s Cubes.
Worst. Blog. Ever.
According to Scarne on Dice, the bible for all things bones, a loaded dice is any dice with a weight in it.
Since casino dice tend to be constructed from a clear celluloid, one would assume it would be impossible to load a professional, Vegas style dice.
It’s an idea that has continue to this day, with many people, even casino professionals, assuming it is impossible to mess with a clear dice.
However, this fallacy is based on the assumption that casino dice are completely clear.
Few people notice that the spots on a dice are made by counter sinking small holes in the dice and then filling them with the solid white.
Within months of the introduction of the new, supposedly foolproof dice, a clever scam artist figured out he need simply drill out the spots on one side of the dice and fill them with thin, yet heavy, metal plates.
The metal is then painted and the dice looks 100% real yet will weighted so that the opposite side of the slugs wins.
Obviously, different metals can be used, but popular choices include gold, aluminum and platinum. To give you an idea of the work involved, a set of two dice will set you back around $200.
If the dice maker wishes the dice to roll the chosen number more often, he simply drills a deeper whole and puts in more metal. He may also drill deeper holes on the other sides and fill them with matching paint.
If you use a magnetic metal, you can also juice your dice. These dice would feel and roll normally until a strong magnet is placed under the table.
Clear dice can also be bevelled, rounding the corners or edges to make one side roll more often.
Or they might be shaved, with one side sanded down and respotted.
An expert could tell the difference between them, but only just.
I could on and we could talk about baking dice, suctions, raised edges and slick dice but who knows how far down the Inception rabbit hole that might send you….
A new study has shown that one in four Australian pokers players admits to having cheated while playing in private games, tournaments and casinos.
The study was conducted by Nicholas Johnson, an Australian entertainer and researcher into scams and fraud. The study, based on results given anonymously by 300 Australian card players, focused on the techniques and methods used in the popular game, Texas Hold‘em.
“60% of players are aware that cheats do operate in poker games,” said Johnson. “They are just not always aware of what the techniques are and how to spot them. Many players assume that cheats are using sleight of hand or marked cards to win.”
In reality, the most popular method of cheating is ‘collusion’ with almost half of card cheats using the technique. “Collusion involves two or more players working together to secretly gain an advantage over another player.” Johnson explained. “For example, a player with a strong hand may drop out in order to allow his partner to win. Collusion is particularly popular in internet poker where players can freely communicate with their confederates.”
However, Australian card cheats also rely on more skilful techniques to defraud their opponents. “We found in the study that 8% of card cheats are mechanics, relying on dexterity and skill to win. They will deal cards from bottom of the deck, swap their cards for better cards after the deal or even stack the deck while shuffling to guarantee themselves a winning hand.”
For more information on card cheating in Australia and Nicholas J. Johnson, please call 0409461776 or email sleightofhand@conman.com.au .
Techniques used by Australian card cheats
Where Australia’s witness and/or suspect card cheating
Football salary cap cheats the Melbourne Storm may have found the perfect new sponsor in the form of cash grabbing Crown Casino.
- Both are own by Australia’s richest men (Packer and Melbourne)
- Neither know how to play fair (Crown recently changed blackjack from 6-4 to 6-5)
- Both are one of kind (Crown is Victoria’s only casino, Storm our only football team)
With my good friends Tom, Yao, David and Vin, we have created an interactive experience that allows you to play Three Disk Monte exactly as it is played on the streets.
Even if you manage to beat the game, can you beat the grifters?
A Norwich woman has been accused of cheating when it was revealed she won an undisclosed sum of money from a MGM slot machine without paying a cent.
Using the original slot machines it was possible to time your pulling of the handle to increase the odds of winning.
This became impossible when the machines went digital. So the scammers started using kickstands (devices that trigger the coin release) and lightwands (lasers that trigger the light sensitive coin releases) to get free cash.
Both of these now rarely work as the machine manufacturers cottoned on and solved the problems.
Now days, the only way to make money is to reprogram the machine. A Nevada gaming offical was charged with programming machines that pay off when a certain combo of buttons is pressed.
The Norwich woman, Rosario Guzman, obtain a copy of the technician key card and was able to use it to pay for free.
