A “retired” profesional casino cheater is giving his 2 cents on the use of technology to mitigate the casino losses due to him and his likes (like putting RFID tags in all chips.) It’s insightful. In line with my fascination with unintended consequences, this rings very true:
Marcus argued that technology is still only as good as the casino’s workers, who he fooled for years. If cheaters don’t draw too much attention to themselves, quickly getting onto and then away from the table, it’s unlikely their records will be checked. “And even if they do check, I’d be long gone,” Marcus said. In fact, having technology to fall back on is actually making pit bosses and dealers less attuned to what might be happening right under their noses, he argued. “These people rely upon their technology too much,” he said. “There is no room for maneuver in their thinking. I don’t have to fool the camera or the technology, I only have to fool the dealer or his pit boss. If I fool them, the technology doesn’t come into play.”
(emphasis mine)
As with other examples such as this one, the eventual outcome will be more loss due to cheating not less. Casinos will stop training their pit bosses to spot cheating until they’ll notice the reverse trend. Meanwhile, creative cheaters will enjoy more earnings.