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 The head of the Tran Organization, an international ring of casino scammers is facing up to 20 years of prison time. California resident Van Thu Tran plead guilty to scamming millions of dollars from Casino Rama and 28 other gaming resorts across Canada and the US.
US police say the organization was "a very sophisticated international cheat team." The group incorporated three generations of family members, and usually had about two or three teams of cheats on the road scamming casinos on both sides of the border. After checking for holes in security at casinos they would send in a team which would take the casinos for all they could. Tran's role in the group was to seduce and bribe male dealers and over the course of five years the FBI estimates that the group stole about $7 million, but casino officials say it's closer to $20 million,
The group is said to have used specialized hi-tech gear like microphones, transmitters and computer software to get one up on casinos. The group was so successful that they would often be forced to purposely lose in order to avoid suspicion.
One of their most successful scams was the "false shuffle." A block of about 80 cards would appear to be shuffled properly but all of the cards would actually remain in the same order they were dealt in the previous game. A Tran player would track the order of the cards dealt in a game and signal a bribed dealer to perform the shuffle. A designated "tracker" would then use a miniature microphone to tell players when they would win a hand at which point the player would dramatically increase their bet.
OPP Staff-Sgt. Paul Thompson, of the casino unit, said it took a lot of work by police to nab Tran players. "They were very good at what they did," he said. "They would usually get a couple dealers on-side and fix the card games."
Bribed casino dealers and supervisors were paid as much as $10,000 a week to perform the "false shuffle." The group spent hours inside hotel rooms teaching newly-recruited dealers how to fake shuffling the cards. Ultimately it was these dealers however who turned the Tran group in co-operating with police in return for immunity.
Tran and her family will now be on the mercy of the courts but it's not likely they will go easy on them.
As always, stay tuned to Casinofan for more news and updates.
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