Customer Caught Stealing Chips at Marina Bay Sands
Punter caught swiping chips from dealer and other customers in a theft spree spanning over 34 occasions at the casino. The player would attend a variety of gaming tables at the casino in Singapore and steal chips under the nose of the dealer – or lie and make it seem like the winning chips were in fact his own. Quite how this scheme was able to go on for so long, and not ending immediately on the first attempt with him being caught is unclear.
The Marina Bay Sands hotel has had to deal with a crime in its venue, as a player was caught defrauding the dealer, and gathering chips from the table that did not belong to him. ©cegoh/Pixabay
The arrested man, who is known to be 26 years old, has been sentenced to five weeks in jail on Friday 11 November before the Singaporean judicial system. Recognizing his mistakes very early on during the trial, the suspect pleaded guilty to each count – stealing chips and obtaining chips in a fraudulent fashion. Stealing chips from the table is an act that would involve using some sleight of hand, and then taking the chips away from the cloth whilst no-one was looking. The second count, obtaining chips fraudulently would pertain to an act when the man would have lied to the dealer, and convinced the dealer that the winning chips are owed to himself.
The construction worker is known to have engaged in a spree of thefts from the casino throughout July 2022. His first crime would have been the fraudulent obtaining of chips. Stealing $175 in a scheme where he tricked the dealer in a game of Sic-Bo. The dealer was led to believe that the thief was in fact the winner of the chips, and duly allowed him to remove the chips from the table whilst the other customer was somehow distracted.
The sheer brazen nature by which the player was able to obtain chips fraudulently has left security teams at the casino somewhat shocked. The player would even move chips of the other players whilst he was playing the game. Of the crime regarding straight up stolen chips, the player is known to have taken over $800 – this spree of thefts was happening over 34 separate visits to the casino.
Security Systems at Casinos
The security employed by casinos is known to be some of the strongest in the world, with advanced camera systems, highly trained staff, and teams of analysts watching player gambling patterns for irregularities – it has become almost impossible to pull off a casino heist in the last few decades. This has been a long-term trend of tightening up the shop, following years of scandals and breaches of security, the time has come for casino bosses to use all the technical power at their disposal in order to protect the casinos assets.
Official security protocols at casinos are quite black box like processes. The protection that a security team enforces on the floor is often deployed in highly subtle ways. There are very few visible securities staff, and they rely entirely on the network of cameras covering every single square meter of the floor. If action is required, then the staff will surgically deal with the situation – rather than just showing a heavy presence across the whole venue.
Counting cards is one of the most infamous methods that thieves have deployed in the past to extract more value from the casinos. The act of card counting has been a timeless strategy that high-IQ individuals have been able to leverage to their benefit. Whilst it is officially banned, there is very little that can be done to prove that is exactly what is happening behind each win.
Deterrents for stealing from casinos are high, and the punishments have made it incredibly costly for would-be thieves to engage in the act. Fines and lengthy prison sentences have been the main deterrent employed across the world – which is why punditry talking about this incident in Marina Bay Sands during July 2022 has caused some surprise about how lenient it appears to be.
