R. Paul Wilson: Crazy Casino Stories and Lucky Strikes

Author: R. Paul Wilson

One of the common pitfalls in discussing the multitude of ways we can be cheated, deceived, or just plain robbed is that it’s easy to succumb to paranoia and start seeing deception in every interaction and around every corner. But I promise, that’s absolutely not our objective. Yes, the bad guys are out there, and there are rotten apples in every figurative barrel, but does that mean you should stop eating apples?

My job is to show you what scams (new and old) are out there so that when a suspicious situation arises, people can recognize the signs and make decisions accordingly. To be useful, this knowledge needs to be applied in the real world—in live games, in casinos and card rooms, in new countries and cities.

The natural benefit of this is that gambling can reward us with more than wins or losses at the tables; it can lead to memories and experiences that are impossible to find from the comfort of your couch.

My memories tend to be about exploring the darker sides of towns like Las Vegas, but they probably share similar themes of friendship, bad luck, amazing luck, terrible decisions, incredible casino experiences, and a few misadventures best forgotten. This article is a departure from our usual dive into cheating and deception as a reminder that having that knowledge allows for the highs and lows of playing for real.

Rookie Card Counter Chronicles: A Hair-Raising Misstep

For example, as a card counter, I was somewhat of a liability when working with others, as my interests lay more in the how’s and whys than in actually making a profit! The first sign I might not make it to the big leagues came during my first weekend playing in casinos around Scotland with a small team of players who were all experienced, while I was the rookie playing for the first time with a concealed computer strapped to my back and a secret keyboard taped to my leg.

After many weeks of practicing how to code cards quickly via binary to the computer and mapping the casinos’ weak shuffles, I found myself sitting at a crowded table, waiting for the computer to tell me—via a tiny earpiece—to signal our big player to step up and make bets. All the while, I was keying every single card dealt to me so my electronic pal could memorize the order and calculate the outcome.

After several hours, I was tired, anxious, and sweating when I noticed the other players on our team had either left the club or were cashing out long before our scheduled cut-off. From across the room, I spotted our big player staring at me, and once I caught his eye, he too made for the exit. Suddenly alone, I gathered my chips and cashed out as I had been instructed: “Whatever you do, never leave with a pocket full of chips if you feel the heat or walk away from your stack!” All the while, I felt certain that a giant hand was about to grab my collar and drag me into a back room to say hello to some power tools.

Like a moron, I had checked my coat, so I had to ‘act normal’ while waiting for that. It wasn’t until I was safely in the taxi that I could finally breathe properly. Once back at our hotel suite, I found the crew waiting, embarrassed that I had missed the signal to get out. That signal was simple: if we felt we were in trouble or if the staff were suspicious, we would run our fingers through our hair from front to back and then get out of Dodge. When I asked who made the signal, everyone looked at me like I was crazy until our key players said, “You did.”

It turns out that when I am anxious, tired, and concentrating too hard, I have the unfortunate habit of running my fingers through my hair from front to back! My teammates didn’t stop laughing for a week, and we immediately made up a new signal.

Royal Flushes, Strip Clubs, and Vegas Surprises

In Las Vegas, I’ve found myself in countless unexpected casino situations, from free tickets and hotel rooms to surprise wins while moving between the gaming floors of multiple brick-and-mortar casinos. After a horrible afternoon playing blackjack, I managed to break even and before returning to my hotel, stopped by the bar to chat with a friend. As was traditional, I slid some cash into the bar-top video poker machine to score a free beer or two as we chatted and while absent-mindedly hitting buttons, everything stopped once I hit a Royal Flush after accidentally increasing my bet! That win paid for the whole trip.

Vegas has other charms and vices. While I love the food scene that has evolved there, enjoy the sports, and see many of the shows, the off-strip ‘strip’ entertainments aren’t for me. However, my work has taken me to two of the biggest strip clubs on two different types of missions, neither of which required expensive drinks or a lap dance.

After working on the movie "Shade" with Sylvester Stallone and Jamie Foxx as second-unit director and cheating consultant, the director asked if I would take a package from LA to Las Vegas and deliver it to one of the extras - “Turbo” - who was a friend of his. Naturally, I double-checked that the package contained just some clothes and papers before driving it across state lines. However, when a friend and I pulled into the parking lot of the Spearmint Rhino - where Turbo worked, it was late afternoon, and the place was dead.

Our stripper friend brought us into the club and got us a table to chat and catch up after the hustle and bustle of movie production. Over the course of a few hours, before the club began to fill up, Turbo and her friends regaled us with hilarious and horrific stories about customers—from a bag filled with cash in one of the booths that was claimed by three different guys to the idiot who started a fight with one of the girls, only to get his nose broken by a flying roundhouse kick, as she also happened to be a champion kickboxer.

Generally speaking, strip clubs are designed to strip customers of their money, but my friend and I had the best time that day just hanging out and hearing stories. We still rate it among the best shows we’ve seen in Vegas.

Counting Cards and Lucky Breaks in Atlantic City

As we all know if lady luck is on our side no matter if we are playing online casino games or thrilling poker tournaments, fun moment will ensue. A friend once arrived late in Atlantic City and decided to hit the tables before bed, playing basic strategy while counting cards just to practice for the rest of his weekend. He figured that if he could get a couple of hours in and break even, the staff would take longer to realize he had an advantage over the next day or two. After counting an entire shoe, the cards were removed for shuffling, and a cut card was handed to him as the undealt cards were added to the stack.

However, before the dealer could break the decks to begin mixing, she was asked to step aside by a pit boss. After a few minutes of hushed discussion, another dealer was ordered to step in. The new dealer looked at the pile of cards and asked my friend with the cut card, “Were these shuffled?” Without hesitation, he nodded, said, “Hmm, hmm,” and the cards were presented for the cut. He placed that marker right above a slug of high-value cards, ramped up his bets, and left the table with an enormous profit!

Any casino employee will tell you that a new dealer should never assume anything and should absolutely have shuffled those decks but sometimes, we should be grateful for occasional incompetence!

These are just a couple of fun casino stories, and whether or not they relate directly to gambling, these moments are what we experience thanks to traveling, playing, and constantly discovering something new. I’ve lost money and had a great time, and I’ve won money and wished I had stayed home.

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As I often point out, being a victim of a con is evidence of good human nature, and the fact that bad guys take advantage of that is no reason to stop having fun or to lose faith in others—so long as you know how to navigate life and the digital world carefully. At speaking events, I often joke that the only sure way to avoid being scammed is to “stay home, don’t talk to anyone, and never go online!” Of course, this is not meant to be taken seriously, but it reflects a serious problem caused by the constant evolution and escalation of scams and scammers: it discourages people from living and enjoying their lives.

Places like Las Vegas or your local casino provide much more than the chance to play and I encourage everyone to get out from behind their laptop occasionally and enjoy the ride. Memories really are more valuable than money, and I guarantee that whether you won or lost on a gambling trip, you’ve had good times and collected great stories from adventures in Las Vegas, Macau, Atlantic City, Madrid, or Monte Carlo.