Regulators use mock casino to learn how to spot cheaters

Paul Sloca

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- There's a casino in the basement of Missouri Gaming Commission headquarters, but don't get the wrong idea. It's not designed to lure gamblers or make a profit.

Its purpose is to train state officials on how to catch cheaters at Missouri's 11 casinos.

In operation for about a year, the casino laboratory trains law enforcement officers and gaming commission auditors about how to catch unscrupulous gamblers and casino employees.

Students -- highway patrol troopers, gaming commission auditors, gaming commission tax officials, etc. -- attend a basic one-week course and can later return for more advanced training.

"The need for this is critical because this is a very complicated industry," Kevin Mullally, executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, says. "You're dealing with a lot of cash money, so the risks are very high."

The casino laboratory is located in an area of the commission building that appears to be nothing more than another cubicle-filled state office. But behind a locked brown door in the basement is a smaller version of a Missouri casino.

In the 20-by-30 room, there's a craps table, a roulette table and a blackjack table complete with chips, dice and cards. Along one wall, there's a row of fully functional slot machines complete with tokens. Surveillance cameras dot the ceiling. A cash box containing $50,000 in tokens sits by the door.

The only things missing are the clouds of smoke, cocktail servers and of course, eager gamblers.

The man who controls the odds in the gambling lab is Chris Baker, a retired 28-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which employs about 100 full-time officers at the casinos.

The concept is simple: "This gives students the opportunity to actually see in a controlled environment what they are going to see in the work environment," Baker said. "This is a very serious business because everywhere there is money. They are taught to be aware of what's going on in a casino all the time."

With a budget of about $100,000 annually, Baker said students spend half their time poring over Missouri's voluminous gambling statutes and regulations in a nearby classroom where the instructor's podium is a gambling table.

The rest of the time students are in the lab, where they are taught the rules of the various games by playing them. Students also become familiar with the basic technology of gambling machines and the use of surveillance equipment.

Most importantly, however, students learn how to spot illegal activity that may go unnoticed amid casino crowds, noise and lights.

There are some basic lessons of spotting suspicious activity, Baker said.

"One of the 'tells' of someone cheating at a slot machine is when people are rubbernecking," Baker said. "They are not paying attention to the machine, they are looking around to see if anyone is watching them."

Regulators also keep a close eye on casino employees, who can either alter games to help out accomplices or pour tokens into a friend's slot machine tray. There are others who simply try to take money for themselves.

Lt. Elvin Seals, who for nearly a decade served as a state agent at Missouri casinos, said in most cases illegal activity at a casino involves more than one person.

"Lots of times, slot cheats won't be by themselves," Seals said. "There's a blocker, who stands in the way of the person trying to tamper with the machine."

Seals is able to demonstrate how cheaters work. For example, Seals shows how experienced "rail thieves" can slip chips from a craps table into their pockets while an unsuspecting player is reaching for dice.

While the job is difficult and requires an immense amount of concentration, Seals said casino agents, once trained, develop keen senses over time that help them catch cheats.

"You're going to have people who are more inclined to want to do stuff like this," Seals said. "Instinct plays a big part in a job like this because you can't teach people certain things. You've got to feel it going on."