Casino scam/ progressive roulette

Do not gamble in any Dominican Republic Casino. I was conned and scammed in the Playa Chiquita Casino in Sosua. Since I returned to the U.S. I've done some investigating and heard stories of other people who were scammed in exactly the same way. The game I got scammed playing is called progressive roulette. I'm sure they change the name of the game to protect the guilty so, I'll describe it for you. It's a wooden circular device that eight little white balls are thrown into. There are many holes in the surface with different number values from 1 to 9 (I believe that was the correct range) that the balls, when thrown, fall into. This scam is very complex, keep reading. The second you walk in the door the local "host" greets you and asks you where you are from. He says they have a new game that you can play and he hands you a chip so that you can play the first hand for free.

When we arrived at the table there was an American "dealer" (i.e. the con artist running the scam) who greets you and begins explaining the rules and making you very comfortable with all of his knowledge about the U.S. He claimed to have lived in the city I was from and even knew specific names of places in the city. In retrospect, the places he knew were major landmark type places. He even told me some stories in between, distracting me from the scam that was in progress. There were some strange inconsistencies in the stories he told me (I know a lot about the town because I've lived there my entire life) and when I innocently questioned him he would change the subject. He did this so nonchalantly that I never caught on until afterwards.

Either, he studies up on landmarks from every city in the U.S. or he has the "host" look them up for him and tell him before you even arrive at the table. Anyway, the game begins with you winning. This is the crux of the scam. You can't actually walk away from the game with any money however, because it's progressive. If you reach a certain total number of points you win a decent jackpot. Each hand you risk a small amount and you rapidly approach the number you need to win. What actually happens is he quickly miscounts the total number of your rolls in your favor so that it looks like you are quickly approaching the total you need for the jackpot. This is why you don't question it at first. If you were to start out losing, you would quit before you got in trouble. There are eight balls and the numbers are difficult to see and he calculates quickly and removes the balls. You are not inclined to question good rolls.

Of course, he keeps telling you how lucky you're getting the whole time and you come painfully close to winning when suddenly your luck turns and every time you throw the balls your jackpot doubles and the amount you must risk to throw them one more time also doubles. You might be thinking that only an idiot would keep playing. This scam is extremely honed and the scam artist is a scam genius. I am a very skeptical person (I've been called cynical by friends because of my distrust of human nature). I still can't believe I fell for it. I'm the type of person who is always looking for the ulterior motive (profit motive) of people trying to make a buck. I would never have dreamed that I would be the victim of a scam like this. If I would have read about someone getting scammed like this I probably would have laughed and said that it was their own stupid fault.

You will read responses to this posting chastising me for being stupid. All of the other postings I read by others who had been scammed the exact same way had someone responding saying that the casinos are honest. I can only assume these people are connected to these casinos. The biggest reason I fell for this scam is because it occured in a casino. A big resort casino that one automatically assumes is on the "up and up." I even said to the "dealer", "this better not be a scam." Of course, he responded "how can it be, this is a legitimate casino."

I've since learned that this con artist is not employed by the casino. At least, they claim he's not employed by them. Apparently, he travels from casino to casino in the Dominican, sets up his little table for a time and then moves on to a different casino. The casino earns a portion of the profits. If the casino allows this then I'm sure the other games are rigged also. There are a lot of posting about how the casinos are legitimate. Again, do not believe them.

The "dealer", who began talking as if he were a country bumkin, eventually ends up ordering the managers, other dealers and "security" around. I ended up in his office, not knowing if they were going to break my legs or kill me. At one point I asked him if they were going to take me out back and break my legs if my debt amount was not approved by Visa. He said in a serious tone, "that only happens in the movies." I responded, "what would happen, then." He said, "we'll talk about that when the time comes."

These casinos have no cash machines. You must play with your credit card. This is how you get in over your head because you'd never have access to the amount of money you do with your credit card.

Again, you must be asking youself how I was so stupid. It happens so fast that you don't even know how much you owe until it's too late. This scam is incredibly complex and ingenious. In an American casino I would have ripped them a new a-hole on the spot. However, I was in the Dominican Republic and was frightened. I don't frighten easily. I didn't know what they might do to me. When you start catching on he uses a combination of friendliness and scare tactics by making references to the "security."

I'm the type of person who will go into the casino and not think much of losing a few hundred dollars, especially on vacation. I went from owing a few hundred to several thousand in no time. I suspect the amounts weren't even calculated accurately. I was with my girlfriend and was too scared to push it any further than I did. I thought Visa would protect me; they didn't. I have impeccable credit and they still wouldn't because I signed the receipt.

The "dealer", of course, talks about how this and that person won a bunch of money on this game just yesterday or last week. I spoke with one employee of the casino the following day who told me in strict confidence that he had never seen anyone win a dime in that game. He said, if they found out that he told me he would be in big trouble. He was a local who said he had seen countless people do exactly the same thing. This guy had incredible courage to tell me this. I bumped into him the next day on the street and I wish I could thank him.

The main reason I'm posting this is that others won't be victimized as I was. I am going to send this to many people and post it on as many sites as I can find. I am also going to spread the word about the local "laws" in the Dominican and discourage as many would be travelers as possible. I am also sending this to the Minister of Tourism. If you, or anyone you know has been scammed in the Dominican Republic, please respond to this e-mail. There is strength in numbers. I will respond to every posting or e-mail and keep you informed of my progress.

I don't get it. What makes this game a scam? In what way were you cheated?

[Robert]

Frequently Asked Questions About Gambling in Casinos in the DR

http://www.dr1.com/casinos.html

if you go into a casino to play expect to lose money,even the most honest ones are 70-30 in favor of the house,so do what i do,never have and never will walk through the door.

Good Point Jim. Anyone has the chose to walk away at any time. Just because they don't walk away and end up losing alot of money it's a scam. Do people really expect to win 'big' at a resort casino. Come on if that were the case they'd be out of business very quickly. They are there to make money!

I am sorry that this has happened to you Ed. However, it does seem like this is the result of the risk of taking advantage of something that seems too good to be true. Like they say, there really aren't any free lunches, are there? And I guess that you wish that YOU had been honest and questioned the "good rolls" that were really in the favor of the house and not yours, huh?

To all the people who got scammed with that game see the reason an american runs that game is because it is an american game and it is called a razzle i am very familiar with this game the object of this game is to get 100 poimts if you dont get 100 points on the rolls it goes back to 1 and you keep playing and by the time you realize it you spend hundreds and thousands of dollars

There is no Gaming Commission or other government body dedicated to monitoring and inspecting the casinos for fairness. Luckily, the casino managers are highly motivated to protect their image and usually resolve any complaints directly with the player, so when you lose and dont want to pay, your arguments fall on deaf ears.
Direct resolvement of your complaints could be painful "a la Sopranos"

Just like buying something "Caveat emptor"
Players should beware also.

I agree 100% Rob. Several years ago when the casino opened at Playa Chiquita I lived nearby and stopped in several nights per week to play blackjack and unwind. Last November when I returned to Sosua on vacation I was tempted to check out the casino again. After reading your post, I know for certain I will not be venturing into the place. Too bad!

You obviously have not read my posting. Also, you haven't seen this game take
place. If you were to witness the events as they unfold, I guarantee you would
change your tune. I go into great detail in my posting entitled 'casino scam/
progressive roulette.'

The day after this happened to me, I ran into an employee of the casino. At the
time of the incident he gave us a quick warning not to continue, bless his
heart. I questioned him at length and he told me that many people get very
close to winning. One needs 100 points to win the 'jackpot' at this particular
game. We got 95 points fairly quickly and then rolled an amount that doubled
the amount required to roll again, as well as doubling the jackpot. Every time
thereafter we rolled this same double, which was extremely rare in the early
going. The man we talked to said that others (gambler who played this game)
needed only one or two points (they had 98 or 99) and rolled many times always
getting the roll that doubles the bet. He said he didn't know how it worked but
it was the same outcome every time. A person fairly easily gets close to what
they need and then never gets the final few points to win the jackpot.

You might respond that we should never have been in this situation in the first
place. Obviously, after playing the game we realized that either, the dealer
misrepresented the early rolls, miscalculating them in our favor, which is
lying. Or, they have some physical device that intercedes after you've just
about achieved the total you need to get the jackpot.

An analogous situation would be one in which you were playing blackjack (a game
in which I am very familiar). Every hand you placed a large bet they dealt you
11. And then, when you double down because the dealer is showing a 6, he draws
a 5 and then proceeds to draw a ten. Only in this game, your bet increases
geometrically every time this unusual thing happens and progresses to the next
hand.

The only thing this example lacks is the fact that you know the odds of you
getting any given card ( 1 in 13). In this progressive roulette game it seems
quite easy to get a reasonable hand because you have gotten several decent hands
time after time. Even if you are astute with general statistics, which I am,
there is no way you can calculate the odds of getting a given number in this
game because it is dealing with many numbers and is very complex.

Yours Truly, Scammed big time.