Part II: Table Game Cheating · Dice & Craps Cheating Methods

Mumbled Hop Bet Collusion

How it works

Hop bets (wagers on a specific combination of both dice on a single roll) are often made verbally because many tables do not have designated spots for them. The player mumbles or speaks unclearly when calling a hop bet. The complicit dealer then “interprets” the mumbled bet after seeing the dice result, paying out as if the player had correctly called the winning hop bet combination. Since hop bets pay up to 15:1 or 30:1 depending on whether the combination is hard or easy, a single successful collusion can be very profitable. Security cameras typically do not record audio, making this scam extremely difficult to prove.

Where it appears

Casino Craps

On the record

Three men took the Bellagio for $1 million from 2012-2014 using this exact technique. One player would mumble something that the dealer would then “interpret” and pay out as a correct hop bet. The odds of their win streak occurring legitimately were calculated at 452 billion-to-one. All three received prison sentences.

Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction — the method is described so it can be recognised.