Posted on 03/14/2005 10:49:30 PM PST by nickcarraway
A BATTERED shoe worn by a Hungarian tourist in Sydney has sparked an investigation into a syndicate cheating top casinos across Europe.
Two Belgian police officers will fly to Sydney later this month to study the shoe design which they suspect could be behind the multi-million dollar European fraud. Four years ago, Sydney detectives arrested Hungarian tourist Laszlo Sendor Kovacs after he won large bets at a Star City casino roulette wheel.
Casino security personnel became suspicious of the then 59-year-old gambler constantly tapping his right foot under a roulette table.
Police found a Maxwell Smart-style microcomputer hidden in the heel and sole of his scuffed elevated dress shoe.
With a tap of a toe, a microcomputer in the shoe transmitted a voice-synthesised message to a wireless micro-earpiece telling the user of roulette wheel's speed. This could help calculate the next number that would appear.
Police found $74,184 in cash and chips on Kovacs' body including $10,000 in his underpants.
The Daily Telegraph has learned Belgian and Sydney police are assisting a royal commission-style inquiry, known as the European Union Court of First Instance, into large scale casino frauds which they suspect involves shoes allegedly designed by Kovacs.
The Sydney shoe is the only one of its kind found so far.
Kovacs, a professional gambler, was deported from Australia in 2001 before he could be sentenced over "using a device" to defraud the Star City Casino. A warrant for his arrest is now in place should he return to Australia.
European police believe he is the gadgets man and may have assisted a well-known European criminal gang perfect the microprocessor shoe technology. He has been questioned by police in Europe, including in London.
A Star City spokesman yesterday confirmed Belgian police will visit the casino.
Kovacs, who visited every casino along the east coast, had won more than $120,000 at Star City before his arrest, although police suspect he won twice that amount. Evidence show he used the Pyrmont Post Office to wire a large amount of money in $10,000 lots, to an overseas account.
NSW Police yesterday declined to comment on the case "on advice from Belgian authorities".
I'm sorry, but I just don't see how this could work. I hope someone can explain it to me, because right now it sounds like BS.
Can I pick those up at Payless Shoes???
"With a tap of a toe, a microcomputer in the shoe transmitted a voice-synthesised message to a wireless micro-earpiece telling the user of roulette wheel's speed. This could help calculate the next number that would appear."
How would knowing the speed of the wheel help a person know what number might come up next?
It also seems to me that unless shoe power was actually changing the results or manipulating the outcomes, that it shouldn't be against the law. What am I missing?
I remember reading about a group of scientists who did something like this back in the 80s.
Casinos don't permit calculating devices.
That guy was brilliant. Amazing story.
Its easy for them to find cheaters.. look for anyone coming out ahead.
"Congratulations, Mr. Babbitt. You successfully counted into a six-deck shoe."
the speed of the wheel combined with seeing the release point of the ball could allow a section of the wheel to have a higher chance of hitting. imagine playing roulette and your odds of hitting are twice anybody elses.
But with the bouncing, I'm surprised it would make a substantial difference. Yet obviously it did. I'd just like to see the numbers.
Color me insensitive, but I have a very difficult time sympathizing with the gambling industry when it thinks it's getting ripped off.
I can't see how the calculations of the spinning wheel vs. the rolling marble taken into consideration with the dealer point-of-release can be calculated fast enough to have any demonstrable impact on the game.
~ Blue Jays ~
I would expect that the usefulness of knowing the wheel/ball speeds would depend in some measure aout the design of the table and how long they allow people to wait before betting. Even a fairly sloppy estimate of where the ball would end up could put the odds in a player's favor, especially if the casino was using Monte Carlo rules (Las Vegas charges a 5.3% vig on almost all roulette bets; Monte Carlo charges a 1.38% vig on even-money bets and a 2.7% vig on others).
"the speed of the wheel combined with seeing the release point of the ball could allow a section of the wheel to have a higher chance of hitting. imagine playing roulette and your odds of hitting are twice anybody elses."
It's been decades since I played roulette. Don't all bets have to be placed before the ball is released?
Right you are; actually, it was in the 70s.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0595142362/qid=1110870656/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0875430-6918221
I've read this book, oh, maybe a dozen times.
the speed of the wheel combined with seeing the release point of the ball could allow a section of the wheel to have a higher chance of hitting. imagine playing roulette and your odds of hitting are twice anybody elses."
His odds were probably near 3-4 times as good as everybody else if he could determine the quadrant or third in which the ball would fall. The key is that you can place bets while the ball is bouncing and the wheel is spinning.
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