Three gamblers were arrested after having won nearly 2 million pounds betting on roulette. They won 300,000 pounds one night, came back the next night, and walked out with 1.2 million pounds. They are suspected of using a device that enabled them to calculate the speed of the ball as it traveled around the roulette wheel. A laser measure the time it takes the ball to pass through the same point twice, from which a computer calculates the "decaying orbit" of the ball. This allows the better to determine the slot - within a given range - in which the ball will land. It cannot determine the exact stopping point, it moves the probabilities closer to the better. They've been able to do this, evidentally, in laboratory settings, but this would be the first time it was done successfully in an actual casino. You can read about it here, but below, I'll post the article's simple breakdown of how the scam works.
How the plan might work
1 A laser scanner hidden in a mobile phone which measures velocity is aimed at a roulette wheel as it is spun by the croupier.
2 The laser measures the speed of the ball as it is released and as it passes a second point. The ball's "decaying orbit" can be calculated.
3 The two figures are relayed to a computer, which works out where the ball is likely to come to rest. It would almost certainly not be able to predict the slot but may have been able to work out the sector, improving the odds for the gambler.
4 The computer's prediction is relayed back to the mobile phone. The bet or bets are placed before the cut-off point of three turns of the roulette wheel. The whole operation takes two or three seconds.
That's amazing.
Posted by: ron at March 25, 2004 10:05 AM