Lesson of the nonexistent 'hot machine' still rings true

Lesson of the nonexistent 'hot machine' still rings true

By Mark Gruetze Administrative Editor


Published: Sunday, July 20, 2014

The young woman working the entrance of the Downtown Las Vegas slots parlor beckoned earnestly.

My wife and I, on one of our early trips to Sin City, were there with a coupon for a free souvenir, but the woman said we could do better. She had noticed a particularly hot machine and guided us to it. After her tales of big payouts, which her supervisor backed up, we bought silver dollars and played them through. Nothing. So much for that vow of riches.

We learned a valuable lesson those many years ago, back when slot players had to pull the handle and machines didn't accept bills: You shouldn't believe everything you hear in a casino.

That maxim came to mind recently when the state accused a former roulette dealer at Meadows Casino in Washington County of conspiracy and other offenses. Court documents say an agent with the Gaming Unit of the Attorney General's Office and a member of the State Police Gaming Enforcement Office at the Meadows got a tip from a confidential informant that Robert “Rudy” Valle, 56, of Wintersville, Ohio, was telling customers he could help them win at roulette. Court documents give this account:

Valle told a player he knew how to guide the roulette ball toward a section of the wheel, and gamblers could win by betting on one of the numbers in that section. The player turned out to be a confidential informant who has provided state and local police with information that led to the arrests of about 50 people. Valle's “specific detailed description” of the scheme included instructions to bet on 4 plus its roulette wheel neighbors, 16, 23, 33, 35, 14 and 21, to increase the chances of winning.

Defense attorney Christopher Blackwell says Valle was just being friendly and explaining roulette to a novice. Steering the roulette ball to a specific section of the wheel is “absolutely impossible” because of variables such as humidity in the air, a rule that dealers cannot look at the wheel when spinning the ball and the use of balls that differ in size and weight, Blackwell says.

The state does not allege that Valle did anything more than talk about the numbers.

A roulette wheel is built to deter cheating. It has 38 numbered slots — one to 36, zero and double zero — that follow a pattern of two even numbers and two odd numbers, with red and black squares alternating. The green zero and double zero are opposite each other on the wheel; so are consecutive numbers, such as 1 and 2.

While the numbered wheel rotates one direction, the dealer spins the hard plastic ball in the opposite direction. Pennsylvania says the ball must make at least four trips around the wheel, but in practice it's usually more. After the ball falls from the ledge, it bounces around numerous decorative “canoes” before landing in a numbered slot — sometimes jumping out of other slots.

Valle's instructions cover seven of the 38 possible results on the wheel. So, over the long run, the ball would land in one of those numbers once in about every five spins no matter what.

The idea of dealers being able to steer a roulette ball is an enduring myth along the lines of belief that a blackjack dealer will fail to bust unless someone at the table takes a hit, that a craps dealer will lose on the roll after a die goes off the table or that a lucky dance will make a slot machine pay off.

Some scientists say chaos theory can give roulette players an edge, although that involves calculating the speed of the ball, then using a formula to determine which half of the wheel the ball is likely to fall into and spreading the bets before the dealer closes the action.

With any beat-the-house gimmick, I ask myself: Why would a lovely young woman point out the hot slot machine to two fresh-faced young tourists instead of saving it for herself or her friends?

Then, I remember why you shouldn't believe everything you hear in a casino.

Mark Gruetze is administrative editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7838 or players@tribweb.com.

Money trail

Table-game players lost $57.8 million in Pennsylvania casinos during June, the Gaming Control Board says. While that was down from June 2013, casinos' table-game win for the fiscal year ending June 30 was up 2.63 percent from 2012-13.

Table-game revenue for the year was $731.9 million. Combined with $2.3 billion in slot revenue, the casinos' win for the year was $3.05 billion, down 2.87 percent from the 2012-13 total of $3.1 billion. It was first year-over-year decline in total gambling revenue in the eight years the state has had legal gambling. Pennsylvania still ranks No. 2 in gambling revenue, behind Nevada and ahead of New Jersey.

Table game revenue in 2013-14 for Western Pennsylvania casinos:

Rivers: $68.43 million, down 1.23 percent from $69.28 million in 2012-13

Meadows: $29.96 million, down 16.75 percent from $35.98 million

Presque Isle: $12.46 million, down 16.68 percent from $14.96 million

Lady Luck Nemacolin: $4.83 million; open only for two test nights in 2012-13

Source: Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

3 FROM AREA CASH IN AT MAIN EVENT

Jack Schanbacher of Reserve placed 131st in the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. The $52,141 payout was his fourth cash of this year's WSOP, giving him a total of $61,086 in the seven-week event. The $10,000-per-seat No Limit Hold 'Em tournament had 6,683 entrants. the fifth largest field in its 45-year history. Two other Western Pennsylvania players finished in the money at the Main Event:

• David Tannenholz of Pittsburgh, $22,678 for placing 530th

• Richard Tatalovich of Pittsburgh, $20,228 for placing 617th

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