the man who beat vegas - Richard Marcus

Getty Images, LFITHE DOWN AND OUTEarlier in the day, we met Richard inthe lobby of the MGM Grand and tooka walk down Las Vegas’ famous Strip,a vast, six-lane highway dominated byenormous themed hotels on each side.This is the first time Richard has beenback in Vegas since he retired fromcasino cheating on New Year’s Eve1999 to write his memoirs, the resultof which is The Great Casino Heist,which we speed-read, mesmerised,on the flight over here. “I’ve alwaysloved Vegas,” sighs Richard, drinkingin the familiar sights and sounds. “Howcould I not? It’s been so good to me.”But that wasn’t always the case. Aswe head towards New York, New York– a hotel built to resemble Manhattan’sskyline – Richard points out a flyover infront of us. “See that bridge? That’s theone I had to sleep under when I firstcame out here.”Way back in the long, hotsummer of 1976, a 20-year-oldlad from New York who lovedgambling pulled into Vegas’Riviera Hotel in a MustangConvertible and booked intoan $800-a-night suite. Burninga hole in the boot of his carwas $20,000 he’d won ina lucky bet at the Saratogaracetrack in New York. Thatafternoon, he wasted no timein taking it straight to thebaccarat tables where his luckcontinued. “I was on a roll –I turned that 20 into 50, then80, then $100,000. The casinopaid for my suite and filled upmy champagne glass at itsbest parties.” Richard’schampagne bubble, however,was about to burst.On the night of his 21st birthday, inone nightmarish baccarat session, helost the whole $100,000. The next dayhe sold the Mustang and blew thatcash, too. Thrown out of his suite, hewent from the lap of luxury to sleepingalongside tramps under the very bridgewe’re now gazing at. “I had to use myduffel bag as a pillow,” he winces.Later that evening we take a taxito downtown Vegas where the neonburns just as bright as the Strip, but theAway from thesecurity cameras,Richard showsus his movescasinos and people are several shadesshabbier. It’s here where gamblers whohave lost everything – even the moneyto get home – stay, often for the rest oftheir lives, in a haze of booze andsquandered social security cheques.This is the dark underbelly of what,for the last three decades, has been thefastest growing city in the States, a townthat can mercilesslydazzle and destroythe unwary, greedyor plain unlucky.EASY COME, EASY GOVegas: the stuff of legends. And idiots…TRAMPOVERDOES ITIn the spring of 1996 atTreasure Island Casino, ahomeless man cashed hissocial security cheque of$400 and started playing$5 blackjack. His strategywas so erratic thatexperts were called in ashe kept on winning, anda week later was up over$2.5m. Two days later hewas back down to$50,000. He blew the restdowntown and soon diedof a heart attack.OZ GETS LUCKYThe biggest single winfor one stay at a casinois attributed to Aussiebillionaire Kerry Packer,who won $22 million atthe MGM Grand. Packergave back about a third ofVegas winnerKerry Packer(above) and loserJay Sarno (right).his winningsto the MGM’semployees as tips.CHIEF LOSES BIGJay Sarno, who foundedthe Circus Circus andCaesars Palace, was oneof Vegas’s biggest highT H E M A N W H O B EAT V EGA SFor 20 years,Richard rippedoff Vegas’biggest casinosALL IN THE HANDS!“Right here is where I got a job andpulled myself out of the shit,” explainsRichard as we walk through the doorsof The Four Queens casino. Havingshoplifted some clothes and blagged hisway into a dealing school, it was herethat he became a baccaratdealer and met the man whowould change his life.rollers throughoutthe Sixties and Seventies.He lost between 50 and60 million dollars in hisgambling career.LAS VEGASCAN DESTROYTHE GREEDYAND UNLUCKYLUCKY JOE“Wow,” Richard says, witha nostalgic glint in his eye.“This is the very table I usedto deal at. It was right here,late one night in June 1977, thatI dealt to a guy called Joe Classon.”As Richard talks, we wander acrossthe street to the most famous casino inthe world – Binion’s Horseshoe – theonly casino to accept any bet, whateverthe size. We have a drink at the barwhere, after his shift, Richard met upwith Classon, a well-dressed man inhis 40s who introduced himself as acasino cheat and made him an offer hecouldn’t refuse: “Come up with a scamto rip off the Four Queens and you canjoin my team and live the life of Reilly.”After racking his brain for a week,Richard came up with a scam thatinvolved shuffling the cards at the endof his shift in such a way that anyoneplaying against the dealer who tookover from him would win the nextfive hands in a row. It worked likea dream, netting Joe, his two partnersand the new boy $21,000 betweenthem. Richard immediately jacked inhis job and joined the team full time.He swiftly learned that the key to Joeand his team’s success lay in the art of“pastposting”, the subtle skill of replacinga pile of small denomination chips inroulette, blackjack, craps or baccarat sFHM 101