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Poker Millionaire player caught cheating
LUCKY? Professional poker player Archie Karas faces up to three years' jail for his crimes.
A WORLD-renowned professional poker player who had reputedly built a beginning stake of US$50 into a US$40 million fortune has been arrested for marking cards.
Archie Karas was seen marking cards at a California blackjack table.
The 62-year-old had amassed his fortune during a record three-year winning streak.
He was taken into custody last Tuesday at his Las Vegas home, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said last Friday.
He will be extradited to San Diego to face a criminal complaint filed last week, charging him with burglary, winning by fraudulent means and cheating, the prosecutor's office said.
If convicted, Karas, whose real name is Anargyros Karabourniotis, faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
"This defendant's luck ran out thanks to extraordinary cooperation between several different law enforcement agencies who worked together to investigate and prosecute this case," said county District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
Tiny smudges
According to prosecutors, Karas was spotted by surveillance cameras marking cards - using tiny smudges of dye secretly wiped onto the backs of jacks, queens, kings and aces - while playing blackjack in July at the native Indian-owned Barona Resort and Casino in Lakeside, California.
The marks gave him an unfair advantage by helping him identify the value of cards before they were dealt as he chose whether to take another card, or hold, in an effort to reach the winning value of 21 without going over, prosecutors said.
The scheme worked so well that he managed to cheat the casino out of more than US$8,000 before he was caught, district attorney's office spokesman Steve Walker said.
California Justice Department spokesman Michelle Gregory said Karas was doing the marking with dye inserted into a hollowed-out gambling chip that he would inconspicuously swipe over the cards while playing through a deck.
A search warrant executed on Karas's home turned up hollowed-out chips from other casinos, but so far no other gambling establishments have lodged complaints against him, Ms Gregory said.
But authorities said Karas had been accused of cheating before.
"The Nevada Gaming Control Board has investigated Karas on multiple occasions resulting in four arrests," said Mr Kar Bennison, the agency's enforcement chief.
"Karas has been a threat to the gaming industry in many jurisdictions." - Reuters.
LUCKY? Professional poker player Archie Karas faces up to three years' jail for his crimes.
A WORLD-renowned professional poker player who had reputedly built a beginning stake of US$50 into a US$40 million fortune has been arrested for marking cards.
Archie Karas was seen marking cards at a California blackjack table.
The 62-year-old had amassed his fortune during a record three-year winning streak.
He was taken into custody last Tuesday at his Las Vegas home, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said last Friday.
He will be extradited to San Diego to face a criminal complaint filed last week, charging him with burglary, winning by fraudulent means and cheating, the prosecutor's office said.
If convicted, Karas, whose real name is Anargyros Karabourniotis, faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
"This defendant's luck ran out thanks to extraordinary cooperation between several different law enforcement agencies who worked together to investigate and prosecute this case," said county District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
Tiny smudges
According to prosecutors, Karas was spotted by surveillance cameras marking cards - using tiny smudges of dye secretly wiped onto the backs of jacks, queens, kings and aces - while playing blackjack in July at the native Indian-owned Barona Resort and Casino in Lakeside, California.
The marks gave him an unfair advantage by helping him identify the value of cards before they were dealt as he chose whether to take another card, or hold, in an effort to reach the winning value of 21 without going over, prosecutors said.
The scheme worked so well that he managed to cheat the casino out of more than US$8,000 before he was caught, district attorney's office spokesman Steve Walker said.
California Justice Department spokesman Michelle Gregory said Karas was doing the marking with dye inserted into a hollowed-out gambling chip that he would inconspicuously swipe over the cards while playing through a deck.
A search warrant executed on Karas's home turned up hollowed-out chips from other casinos, but so far no other gambling establishments have lodged complaints against him, Ms Gregory said.
But authorities said Karas had been accused of cheating before.
"The Nevada Gaming Control Board has investigated Karas on multiple occasions resulting in four arrests," said Mr Kar Bennison, the agency's enforcement chief.
"Karas has been a threat to the gaming industry in many jurisdictions." - Reuters.
