Legendary casino cheat Richard Marcus has explained what it was like to be chased by the FBI in his own version of Catch Me If You Can – and evade ever being arrested. Marcus told Safest Casino Sites how he was chased by the law during the height of his casino cheating before switching sides to aid security and surveillance.
I lived my own ‘Catch Me If You Can’
Legendary casino cheat Richard Marcus has revealed what it was like to live his own version of Catch Me If You Can as he was watched by the FBI as he pocketed a fortune around the world.
Marcus told Safest Casino Sites: “Frank Abagnale, who was played by Leonardo DiCaprio, was basically an expert on writing phony checks and was able to understand how the bank checking system operated, then he got caught.
“In my case, I never got caught. Nobody knew, people knew what I was doing. The IRRs in the surveillance and security industry and casinos knew what I was doing, but they could never catch me. “They never really figured out what I was doing until I wrote my memoir.”
Marcus, who now works in casino protection in a change of career, is known as the greatest casino cheat of all time thanks to his greatest trick which he named the Savannah.
The trick involved hiding a high-value chip underneath a low value chip to trick the dealer or croupier, which would be removed using sleight of hand following a losing bet or cashed in if the bet turned out to be a winner – using the assistance of a friend as a distraction.
Marcus added: ”I was doing with the Savannah move and people were trying to get me arrested and put in prison.There were major investigations into this by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the FBI, everybody was trying to figure out what I was doing.
“There was a 24-hour surveillance on me for months, which I knew about, I’m smart enough to know, unless you’re following me with a helicopter.
“They knew where I lived, they followed me to the grocery store. They followed me to the barbershop to get a haircut. But when it came time to go to work and go to cheat casinos, I lost them. I knew how to lose them.”
Who is Richard Marcus?
Richard Marcus cheated casinos for 25 years all over the world, including casinos in the UK, especially in London. For the last 20 plus years since he retired from being a casino chief he has been a game protection trainer and consultant, travelling the world teaching people how to protect themselves.
