Editor
British police in Birmingham, England, have shut down several illegal gambling dens, some of which they say used infrared cameras to track marked cards during poker games and cheat players.
The scammers specifically targeted international university students. They used illegal gambling to influence them, “which leads them being coerced into other criminal activities,” the police said. They didn’t specify what sorts of illegal activities might follow from the poker games.
Since the start of the year, police say they shut down four illegal gambling dens. Officers even seized large amounts of cash, class A and B drugs, weapons, and gaming machines at one location.
Infrared Cameras Used to Cheat International Students at Poker
British police raided one illegal gambling location and released images of the technology used to scam overseas students.
The nefarious poker games used hidden cameras with infrared sensors. Cameras read marks on the back of the cards, indicating the values of the cards. Those with access to the feed could relay these values to players in the game.
In the image released by police, the cameras plainly indicate the values in large font which isn’t visible to those at the table. Unsuspecting players would have no clue they were playing poker with their hole cards essentially flipped face-up.
The police released a statement following one raid:
We’re issuing a warning about illegal gambling dens in Birmingham, as we continue our work to dismantle them.
Officers from the Birmingham Serious Organised Crime and Exploitation Team (SOCEX) and Operation Fearless are working hard to deal with the dens, which are unregulated and often linked to wider criminal activity – potentially posing serious risk to anyone visiting them.
Poker Cheating is Increasingly High-Tech
The use of the infrared camera and special dyes is a step up from traditional card-marking techniques. Because the dyes are invisible to the naked eye, it’s much harder to detect than the usual bent corner or thumbnail mark. It’s one example of how poker cheats are increasingly reliant on modern technology.
Perhaps the highest-profile cheating scandal in recent memory was that of Mike Postle at Stones Poker Room in California. Although never officially confirmed, it’s widely suspected that Postle received information via his phone from an accomplice with access to the livestreaming booth, where every player’s cards were visible using RFID technology.
The presence of cheating potentially elevates the crime of illegal gambling to one of fraud. In the cases above, it results in many vulnerable international students being scammed out of student loans and potentially becoming involved in more criminal activity.
While Birmingham police already shut down four gambling dens, the quotes from the story indicates they suspect many more exist.
