How exactly were they cheating? I don’t know enough about gambling to instinctively understand how a camera and earpieces could give a player an advantage. Or how using those two things inside a casino might possibly be illegal.
defrost•2mo ago
Several ways spring to mind:
* Computer assisted card counting giving running "actual odds" for betting at Blackjack and other games. One person spots and tracks, feeding info to player.
* Wheel physics in roulette .. there's enough infomation in the wheel speed and ball speed prior to close of betting to predict the final octant (eight of a wheel) to a high degree of confidence (eg: if practiced, will improve long term odds to better than expected loss).
Could computer vision give you those metrics though? How would you do it?
defrost•2mo ago
> Could computer vision give you those metrics though?
Yes.
> How would you do it?
Similar to how I once estimated rock size and soil grades on high speed conveyor belts in real time, borrowing ideas from a few decades of satellite / airborne image processing, signal processing in geophysics, industrial computer vision applications, etc.
You'd start with recognising cards, or locking in on a roulette wheel ..
To be honest, computer vision isn't strictly needed here - old school casino crews would "fast enter" cards by hand using a chording hand piece or similar, the eudeamonic pie crew used custom single board computers in the shoes for both entering wheel and ball speed and for transmitting recieving the guesstimate to the table person placing bets.
Kirby64•2mo ago
Depending on how the camera is positioned, you could potentially be sneaking information off a “weak” dealer. That would give a massive advantage at blackjack.
If you’re not aware, a weak dealer would be someone not handling cards properly and perhaps showing the face down card during dealing. They may even only be showing the face down card from certain angles that a player may not be able to see, so having a second person behind the table or something would be required.
silexia•2mo ago
Casinos rob regular people all day every day, it should be legal for regular people to try the same back to them.
ungreased0675•2mo ago
defrost•2mo ago
* Computer assisted card counting giving running "actual odds" for betting at Blackjack and other games. One person spots and tracks, feeding info to player.
* Wheel physics in roulette .. there's enough infomation in the wheel speed and ball speed prior to close of betting to predict the final octant (eight of a wheel) to a high degree of confidence (eg: if practiced, will improve long term odds to better than expected loss).
~ See, eg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eudaemonic_Pie
bn-l•2mo ago
defrost•2mo ago
Yes.
> How would you do it?
Similar to how I once estimated rock size and soil grades on high speed conveyor belts in real time, borrowing ideas from a few decades of satellite / airborne image processing, signal processing in geophysics, industrial computer vision applications, etc.
You'd start with recognising cards, or locking in on a roulette wheel ..
To be honest, computer vision isn't strictly needed here - old school casino crews would "fast enter" cards by hand using a chording hand piece or similar, the eudeamonic pie crew used custom single board computers in the shoes for both entering wheel and ball speed and for transmitting recieving the guesstimate to the table person placing bets.
Kirby64•2mo ago
If you’re not aware, a weak dealer would be someone not handling cards properly and perhaps showing the face down card during dealing. They may even only be showing the face down card from certain angles that a player may not be able to see, so having a second person behind the table or something would be required.