From this week's Casinomeister News:
SCREWING THE RITZ
Laser cell phones - whatever next?
Making the headlines all over the world this week was a story from London, where a high tech gang tried to take one of Britain's most exclusive casinos for 1.3million in an amazing sting.
Two Serbian men and a "beautiful" Hungarian woman are alleged to have used a laser scanner to predict the spin of a roulette wheel at the Ritz casino in London last week.
It is claimed the device, hidden in a mobile phone, was linked to a micro-computer which calculated where the ball would drop. As the ball was spun, the information was delivered back to the gamblers by pushing a button on the phone and bets were placed before the third spin of the wheel, which is allowed.
Police arrested the trio at a nearby West End hotel for "obtaining their winnings by deception" after the casino became suspicious.
On their first visit, the three won 100,000, but they scooped 1,200,000 the following night. When the group left the club, they were given 300,000 in cash and a cheque for 900,000.
But after reviewing tapes from surveillance cameras, the club, which is underneath the Ritz Hotel, called in police. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Clubs and Vice Unit, which investigates casino con tricks, seized the cash and several mobiles.
They are being examined and now Scotland Yard's Serious and Organised Crime Squad has taken over the investigation. The device can't predict the exact number, but it does reduce odds from 37-1 to possibly 6-1.
The suspects have been released on police bail until the end of the month.
There is no offence of "cheating" at a casino, but, under a Gambling Bill to go before Parliament next year, any attempt to use outside influences would be an offence.