Ed Tice: Trip Report: Prague Airport (agh)

[Ed Tice]

I have a long delay in Prague and I had not read the posts here about casino cheating so I decide to play. I notice that the casino downstairs (I dont know the name) next to the internet cafe would put the cards in an order (good thing I decided to use the internet) between players, A-King. But they would mix up the suits, so it was *not* a card control procedure. I had heard rumors of cheating in Prague so I avoided this. Plus it was $5 minimum and you coudln't play in the local currency. I had no US Dollars so I wasn't inclined to play.

Went to the casino upstairs and it was dead empty. Said I'd like to play BJ. Asked if I could play one box. No, sorry. Asked if they'd call my mobile # if anybody else came to play. They said they would. I left it. No call. But I went by later (it was a long layover) and others were playing. Decided to Wong the game. Played a few hands and lost. Said I'd like to wait a bit. Wonged aggressively. Lost 50 units. Everybody else got wiped out too. I suspected cheating. My theory was tapered cards that put long sequences of large/small cards together. Tried to observe the table. This seemed to be what was happening. Whenever I had a good had the dealer had 20 or BJ. (Okay but it was high counts). Whenever the dealer had a small card, he drew to 21 with 4 or 5 cards. (Okay but those were in low counts).

I don't think I ever doubled and drew a 10.

The rules were good 6D DA2 DAS ENHC ES10 with 5.5/6 decks dealt (for real the cut card was 0.5 decks from the end).

It was not just my imagination the there were small and large cards in groups. The count would fluctuate between RC of -8- +8 multiple times per shoe. Just didn't seem right.

After geting back I searched through this board and it seems that the consenus is casino cheating. Has anybody
won at this casino?

I also noticed that the shuffle procedure was strange. I dont remember the breakdown, but I did see in reading old posts that somebody described it. Here is what I did notice.

The deck is broken down and picks are made. Two picks are shuffled together and then the slug is broken in half again and shuffled. Repeat 3 times. So they are taking single picks and shuffling them many times. But there is no mixing of picks and the pack is only broken down once. This would seem to be in line with a card tapering theory.

Near the end, I played heads up but would get up from the table in low counts. They would go ahead and shuffle for me. This was PS in *my favor*. And I still lost. Its unbelievable.

In any event, it wiped out my sensational wins in Latvia and really ruined my trip. If I can provide any more information let me know. But I think if there was any doubt before, my $150 confirms that this casino is cheating.

Ed

[ilya2121]

Yes, you are right. Big slug of Aces and 2-6 in one hand and 7-10 in other hand with fake shuffle makes BJ disaster for player. To avoid it, ask for shuffle all cards face down on the table. If they disagree, go out...
Not all casinos in Prague cheat, however!
I play in one honest casino (not in Prague) with simple shuffle. If I notice Aces and small cards together, I don't play for a while...
I was cheated in Prague 1.5 years ago and lost a lot of money...At least 4 my friends too.
Some casinos cheat by doing seconds etc.

[chance king]

> Yes, you are right. Big slug of Aces and 2-6
> in one hand and 7-10 in other hand with fake
> shuffle makes BJ disaster for player. To
> avoid it, ask for shuffle all cards face
> down on the table. If they disagree, go
> out...
> Not all casinos in Prague cheat, however!
> I play in one honest casino (not in Prague)
> with simple shuffle. If I notice Aces and
> small cards together, I don't play for a
> while...
> I was cheated in Prague 1.5 years ago and
> lost a lot of money...At least 4 my friends
> too.
> Some casinos cheat by doing seconds etc.

i only concentrated on the largest casino there called ADMIRAL .. i dont see it mentioned anywhere.. is that closed now ?? no cheating there ..i won conclusively in one month of play ..