The Great Casino Gamblers part two
Following on from the first part of this series on the blackjack legend Ken Uston, I would like to talk about one of the shadiest characters in the recent history of roulette as it is played in the UK. Before I do that then it is fair to say that there needs to be some sort of indication as to what makes someone a great gambler.
Maybe these are just my opinions and other readers will have views of their own but in my mind, anyone who has set out to take on the gaming industry with carefully thought out strategic plans is no more a gambler than someone who plays poker for a living who knows that they are superior to all of the players on their table.
Suddenly you are technically no longer gambling but making money in a way that is almost akin to having a job. An Asian gentleman approached me a few years ago and despite the fact that I will not reveal his real name, I have already referred to him as “Rashid Khan” in certain literature in the past including my book Killer Roulette.
Rashid Khan wanted to know about biased wheels and how they got that way. One of the things that I liked about him was that he suspected that casinos were vulnerable in certain areas and set out to exploit those areas by acquiring knowledge from people on the inside or who had worked on the inside.
You see it does take a certain type of person to be successful as a gambler and it is not just about having knowledge of casino games but what you do with that knowledge. Knowledge can simply be bought and paid for and that was why Rashid Khan came to me. I was constantly getting approached when I worked in gaming to do all sorts of underhanded things.
I should have reported these incidents to gaming managers but I never did for the simple reason that I was unhappy in my job. But I also had a reputation as someone who was unhappy in my job as well and certain punters knew this. They also knew where we used to hang out after hours and we would often get approached at places like Snooker clubs that were open around the clock.
Rashid Khan knew that roulette was vulnerable and he knew that wheels could be biased. He also knew that I had access to information which could detect actual bias in number sequences from normal random fluctuations. This was basically what he wanted to know from me. He needed to be sure that the data that he had managed to obtain was indeed showing a bias and not something that was an illusion.
I admire anyone with the guile and determination to take on the gaming industry. So how much did Rashid Khan win on roulette? The exact figure will forever remain unknown to me but I do know one thing, it was a substantial six figure sum taken over many years from casinos all across mainland Europe. To find an edge in an area where the vast majority of people conclude that there isn’t one makes someone into a great gambler in my opinion.
This article was written by Carl “The Dean” Sampson
