This tale of poker cheats has all the signs of a Hollywood movie: high-tech contact lenses, marked playing
cards, corrupt casino employees, and the French Riviera. Back in 2011, an Italian man codenamed
"Parmesan" racked up 70,000 euros in one day of poker winnings followed up by 21,000 more in another
found a way to mark the cards with invisible ink. Parmesan, a 56-year-old man whose real name is
Stefano Ampollini, then used infrared contact lenses purchased online for 2,000 euros from a Chinese
company to read his competitors' hands.
Like many other card sharps, the men's downfall was their success. The casino's lawyer told The
Telegraph that "security found his behavior rather strange as he won very easily and, above all,
because he folded twice when he had an excellent hand, suggesting he knew the croupier's cards."
As with other schemes, it's one thing to figure out a way to beat the house. It's quite another to
replicate that success without raising alarms in casinos with complete surveillance. This week Ampollini
was handed a 100,000 euro fine and a two-year prison sentence for his crimes, while another
accomplice was fined the same amount with a three-year sentence. One last man in on the deal was
given a 30-month sentence and a 50,000 euro fine.
A world-renowned high roller who turned only $50 into a $40 million windfall has been
arrested after he was accused of cheating at blackjack.
Anargyros Karabourniotis, 62, known to those in gambling circles as Archie
Karas, was arrested Tuesday at his Las Vegas home. Authorities said that he
had been caught marking cards at an Indian casino in July
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