Nevada Regulators Throw Black Book at $1.2 Million Bellagio Craps Cheaters

Nevada Regulators Throw Black Book at $1.2 Million Bellagio Craps Cheaters.

Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

Two members of a Bellagio craps cheating ring will join the list of those barred from entering Nevada casinos as they take their place in the Gaming Control Board’s (NGCB) legendary “.”

Bellagio craps cheatersAnthony Granito (left) and James Cooper were one half of a Bellagio craps scam that was surprisingly simple yet oddly effective, conning the casino out of an estimated $1.2 million over two years. (Image: Associated Press)

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, on Thursday Anthony Grant Granito and former Bellagio dealer James Russell Cooper became the 33rd and 34th entries on the list of persona non grata. They were part of a four-man team that cheated the Strip casino for an estimated $1.2 million.

The ringleader, Mark Branco also a former dealer remains incarcerated, but Granito, Cooper, and the fourth member of the team, Jeffrey Martin, have just received parole. Martin has agreed to attend a hearing with the Nevada Gaming Commission, but Granito and Cooper have not.

Thus their names will join those of a long line of mobsters, scam artists, robbers, and fraudsters who have fallen foul of casino regulators over the years. Once listed, those caught entering a restricted gaming establishment face a gross misdemeanor charge. The only way to be delisted is through death.

Bogus Bets

The four men were in 2016 after each pleading guilty to one count each of theft and fraud in relation to the scheme, which ran from 2012 to 2014.

With the two dealers operating as inside men, Martin and Granito would often place valid bets on the craps tables to distract attention, while interspersing them with illegitimate ones.

This involved one of the men mumbling something incomprehensible as the dealer tossed the die. These interjections were designed to sound like hop bets a wager that a specific number would come up next and Martin and Granito were paid by the dealers as though they had correctly predicted the outcome.

Painstaking Investigation

It sounds simple, but it was surprisingly effective until a suspicious dealer reported his colleagues to security.

Even so, the mix of valid and bogus bets made life difficult for the Bellagio’s security personnel, who sifted through hours of video as they painstakingly tried to piece together losses and wins and decipher genuine bets from fraudulent ones.

On one day in July 2014, for example, Granito lost $64,000 on valid bets, but won almost $150,000 in illegal bets for a net win $85,000.

But they weren’t as careful as they should have been. According to investigators one series of winning bets defied odds of 452 billion to one.

Article Sources
Russia’s Primorye Casino Zone Auction Gets No Bids, Is North Korea Crisis to Blame? editorial policy.
  1. Pennsylvania Sands Bethlehem Has New Investment Suitor, Bid Expected Within 30 Days

Compare Accounts
×
Las Vegas Shooting Victim Sues MGM, Gunman’s Estate, and Bump Stock Manufacturer in First Post-Tragedy Lawsuit
Provider
Name
Description
Rankled Lawmakers Launch Ethics Investigation into Maine Casino Initiative  Ohio Casinos Join Maryland in Posting Record Revenue, March Win Totals $215M  Puerto Rico Casino Resorts Provide Relief, as President Trump Threatens to Cut Off Aid  South Carolina Casino Legalization Supported by Residents, Georgia Folds on Efforts  Ponca Tribe Gets Go-Ahead to Build Carter Lake Casino  Las Vegas Casino Security a Tricky Conundrum in Wake of Mass Shooting Outside of Mandalay Bay  Bally’s Gets on the Strip with Tropicana Las Vegas Deal  Pennsylvania Budget Crisis Keeps Online Gambling Hopes Alive, Michigan Introduces Bill  Puerto Rico Casino Resorts Provide Relief, as President Trump Threatens to Cut Off Aid  Top Gaming Industry Salaries of 2017: Which Casino Barons Brought Home the Most Bacon