Part II: Table Game Cheating · Roulette Cheating Methods

Scam #32: Losing Bet Pinching (a.k.a. The Pinch)

How it works

The opposite of chip capping — instead of adding chips to a winning bet, the cheater REMOVES chips from a LOSING bet before the dealer collects it. This reduces the player’s loss on unfavorable outcomes. The technique requires the same sleight-of-hand skill as capping: the cheater palms high-value chips from the bottom of a losing stack while a partner creates a distraction. The remaining low-value chips are left for the dealer to collect. If the dealer notices the discrepancy and questions it, the cheater plays innocent — “Oh, I was just rearranging my chips” — or launches into a pre-rehearsed drunk act. Richard Marcus famously used this technique as part of his Savannah move, combining it with chip capping on wins to create a system where he cheated when he lost but not when he won — making surveillance review of winning bets appear completely legitimate.

Where it appears

All roulette variants

On the record

Pinching is considered more difficult to detect than capping because it happens during the chaos of chip collection, when multiple losing bets are being swept simultaneously. The dealer’s attention is divided across the entire layout, creating natural blind spots.

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.