Richard Marcus is notorious for defrauding Las Vegas over a long period of time and getting away with it. Marcus and his group were successful in defrauding the casinos in Las Vegas out of thousands of dollars by using a technique known as “past posting.”

Marcus and his crew were able to con the casinos out of even more money with the creation of the “Roulette Mix-Up” and “The Savannah” techniques, but they didn’t have to risk much of their own money since the casinos were so easily duped. He tricked dealers all over the world into believing he was not the mastermind behind this ongoing multimillion-dollar crime that had been going on for twenty-five years.

In the Beginning

It was clear that Marcus had a natural talent for gambling even while he was still very young. When he was younger, while traveling in the vehicle with his parents, he would place bets on the color of automobile he thought would be the next to round the bend.

Richard Marcus and his classmates used to play a game called “flip,” in which they would take turns turning over a single baseball card, and whomever had the card with the higher ranking player would win both cards. He realized that he had been the target of a cheating scheme when he realized that his opponents had been able to see the cards in his deck and choose their own cards based on what they saw. Marcus had his whole collection of baseball cards stolen from him, but the manner in which he had been tricked continued to fascinate him.

In later years of his life, Marcus found that he loved spending his weekends at the racecourse, where he would place bets on the horses. After winning $30,000 in a single day, he decided to go to Las Vegas to see if he could replicate his success there. Baccarat was at the time his go-to choice for entertainment, therefore he made the decision to begin with that game.

Marcus was unlucky in this regard since the odds were most certainly not in his favor. In the space of a single evening, he was unable to defend any of his prior victories at the racecourse, and as a result, he returned home destitute and disheartened.

Marcus, who was dead set on besting the casino at its own game, accepted a job offer in a Four Queens Casino so that he could hone his talents and compete with the establishment. He eventually worked as a dealer for both blackjack and baccarat. In addition to this, he paid particular attention to certain tendencies that other dealers had and how he might perhaps benefit from such patterns as a player.

How He Became a Con Artist in Las Vegas

A player by the name of Joe Classon made his way to the baccarat table hosted by Marcus. Classon pleaded with him to become his accomplice in a baccarat fraud that would take place at the Four Queens casino. He urged him to meet with him after his shift one night to discuss the matter. If he agreed to engage with him on this scheme, he assured him that he would get a significant portion of the earnings.

Marcus was the one who, in all honesty, was the one who came up with the concept for how they would carry out their plan. Richard figured out a means to feign shuffling in such a manner that his relief dealer would really deal the preset hands without being aware that the cards were arranged in such a way that they would give Classon and his teammates an advantage in the game. Using this tactic, they were successful to the tune of nearly $21,000.

After joining Classon’s late-betting (past-posting) approach squad, Marcus began to experience his true potential for success. Their plan consisted of placing a bet after the official betting period had ended and no further bets could be accepted. They wouldn’t really make a wager until either the result of the event had already been determined or it was clear what the result would be.

His most important contribution to the group was the development of the “mix-up” roulette method, in which he would sneak in a few more high-value chips after it had been shown beyond a reasonable doubt that his wager had been successful. Other members of the team would wait nearby and think of methods to temporarily divert attention away from the dealer so that he wouldn’t be discovered.