SESSION DESCRIPTION
CORE TRAINING: Investigating Gaming Losses

Duration 3 hours
Who will benefit most from this seminar? Surveillance, Table Games

Overview
In this class Bill Zender, a highly respected gaming consultant, who has investigated game losses of over $100M in his career, will reveal how he conducts a comprehensive review/evaluation in response to a large player win or a sustained game loss on blackjack, baccarat and alternative games (highlighting High Card Flush Poker). This year Bill will also include a section on the mechanics of blackjack card counting. Topics covered include: taking a systematic approach, checklist, information required from table game management, indicators something isn’t right, or everything is fair and honest, and convince senior management nothing untoward is going on.

Module 1: Examining the Alternative Game of High Card Flush
The first part of the session will explain the rules of the game and how the players will place their bets and fold/raise. The computer strategy for the game will be discussed, including the game’s true mathematical advantage. I will also discuss two other common strategies the players may use. Attendees will have a chance to “play” twenty simulated hands to help them gain an understanding of how to apply the raise/fold strategy. The second part of the session will examine and discuss how the exchange of hand information between advantage players on the table can overcome the game’s natural edge. Team play and card information strategies will be explained. During this section key indicators will be pointed out including a tip on how to deter team play. This session gives the attendees an inside understanding why hand information exchange is effective in only two Alternative games and how difficult it is to successfully coordinate and use team play structures to attack any table game.

Module 2: Investigating a Winning Player in Blackjack
The session will examine a flow chart that can be used as a “Blackjack Road Map” for analyzing winning Blackjack players. The flow chart begins with an overall review of video to establish an understanding of the suspected play. It then takes the attendees through the process of screening for evidence of card counting. If card counting is ruled out, the next step is to examine what elements go into charting the suspect person’s hand decisions on the table. Is the winning player following basic/common strategy? Or are they using additional information about the dealer’s cards or the next card from the deck or shoe? If additional information is being used, how is it being obtained. The flow chart eventually brings the investigator to the point where he or she confirms that the play is honest, or it will point the investigator toward the actual problem leading the person’s winning session(s). The purpose of charting, both to examine the possibility of card counting and suspicious hand play, is be used to deny or confirm a problem exists, but ca also used to support your conclusion that a non-gaming casino executive can understand.

Module 3: Mechanics of Counting Cards in Blackjack, Investigating a Winning Customer in Baccarat & Putting Together a Report of Your Findings
This is a bonus section that will help the attendee better understand the mechanics and theory behind counting cards on a professional level. The information in this session will explain how card counting, the tracking of cards that leave the shoe or deck, is used to mathematically estimate when the counter has an advantage over the game. This session will also examine how much the professional must bet when recognizing positive situations and what kind of bet spread is required to gain a significant monetary return. This section also discusses how a count system is used to determine when the counter needs to deviate from basic strategy based on the “true” count, and what those deviations are worth regarding the professional’s profitability. The information provided in this session will help the casino professional to better understand the actual threat of card counting and how this threat can be detected without downgrading the revenue potential of their Blackjack game.

Similar to the investigative process used to analyze the winning Blackjack player, we will examine a flow chart that can be used as a Baccarat checklist for analyzing a winning customer in Baccarat. The flow chart starts with a review of the customer’s video play to establish an overall understanding of the suspected play. Video reviews are used to identify common Baccarat cheating problems such as card switching, false shuffling, and card sequence attacks. Then the analysis uses charting to look for evidence of marked cards by comparing the winning customer’s betting pattern with the occurrence of specific value cards appearing in the window of the shoe. If marked top card information can be ruled out, the customer’s play chart is used to examine the winning customer’s wagering patterns to determine whether the customer is following the shoe results, the score board patterns or a mixed strategy of the two. The flow chart eventually brings the investigator to the point where he or she confirms that the play is honest, or it will point the investigator toward the actual problem leading the person’s winning session(s). The purpose of charting is to examine the possibility of marked cards or to determine if the customer is gaining sequential card information. This chart analysis can be used to deny or confirm a problem exists. Like the charting in Blackjack, charting a Baccarat customer can be used to support your conclusion that even the non-gaming casino executive can understand. During the Baccarat investigation segment the presenter will provide tip as to the procedures and equipment the casino should use that will eliminate almost all the advantage play and cheating attacks in this game.

Putting together a report of your findings – an examination of how the presenter structures his reports and what information needs to be included to provide the readers with a clear and accurate description of the suspected customer’s play.
(Translation Services Available)

BOLO 25 -Scams in the News
In this interactive session Willy Allison and Bill Zender discuss the cheating busts that made the news around the world. And they’ll also talk about some that didn’t make the news. Willy and Bill will breakdown and analyze how the scams work and with the help of the audience rank them in terms of impact and ingenuity. They will also examine what types of scams are trending, what the 2024 scams have in common and what casinos should do to sharpen their defenses against scammers in 2025.(Translation Services Available)