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Once a policy has been implemented by upper management, the handling of skilled players is much clearer and the roles of different departments become evident. At this point, a great deal of teamwork is needed to ensure this policy is successfully implemented by the staff.

In the instance that management decides to bar skilled players from the blackjack or in a specific way, casino surveillance must be involved. Their role in this procedure is broken down into the following sections:

• Detection of skilled players
• Verification they are practicing the skills against policy
• Documenting the facts
• Handling the players
• Enforcing a preventative policy

The detection of potentially skilled players is usually done in teams with collaboration between surveillance and pit management. Pit managers give surveillance various reports regarding a range of bets being placed, strange hitting strategies, unusual wins or those that consistently win. Many of these aspects are also observed by surveillance.

It is quite obvious when two or three pit bosses and other managers are hovering over the same table or around a specific person. This is known in the industry as, “sweating the money.” Although they may have a good idea of what the skilled player is doing, it makes the regular players feel uncomfortable.

The verification of a player or group is left up to surveillance as they can constantly watch without interruption. They are primarily looking for strategies involving money management and betting patterns that are consistent with card-counting policies. However, only a small few are able to have enough discipline to maintain an advantage over a casino.

Documenting these facts is the responsibility of both pit management and casino surveillance. This provides a record of these skilled players and the actions they are taking. Once the player is documented, the handling procedures must be consistent with the casino policy set by upper management or else a huge liability can ensue.

Finally, there are a few things that can be completed to prevent these skilled players from taking money from the house. The most important action is to create preventative procedures and training for dealers and supervisors. These procedures make it unprofitable and risk for card counters to attempt this skill.

There are new methods of cheating that arise constantly. The utilization of technology plays a major role. As a result, casino policy is also constantly changing to keep current with the new methods.

A camouflaged hole occurs when someone is supposed to be an expert in a certain area but isn’t. They are thought to have the capability of completing the job and are being paid for it, but are not doing it. This can either be a partial or full job.

A good example is when a Surveillance Investigator is assumed to be knowledgeable of overall gaming, but is weak within a specific game. Since they continue to conceal this information from their supervisors, they are creating a camouflaged hole. The Surveillance Investigator is unable to handle the work but nobody is aware of this.

It is important for everyone be aware of this weak spot so it can be handled properly. There are several actions that can be taken once discovered including:

• Finding a partner
• Conduct coaching
• Further education

The individual can easily be partnered with a more experienced employee that knows the specific game well. Also, the supervisor can conduct coaching in which the individual will gain valuable tips and follow specific procedures. Finally by assigning the employee a tutor, they will gain the proper education needed to properly complete the job.

Since the employee’s supervisors are aware of the weakness in one area, the Pit Manager will often be pulled into the surveillance to review a tape and provide insight into speculative questions.

On the other hand, when an employee conceals this information, they will review a game they aren’t familiar with and often provide false information to upper management. This makes the whole surveillance department look bad, greatly reduces credibility and effectiveness. Even worse, it could put the whole casino at risk through false evaluation.

An even worse situation occurs when the employee believes they have extensive knowledge pertaining to a specific game but cannot identify crooked activity or bad procedure used to hide theft. The employee often has taken extensive courses but never put the ideas to practice; always finding a way to have someone else complete the task.

Another use of a camouflaged hole is to trap the unsuspecting. If the camouflaged employee is briefly covering your shift and an incident occurs they will incorrectly feed the information to the supervisor. When you return, you are responsible for that area even if another employee has covered for you.

Camouflaged holes can be considerably detrimental to co-workers as well as upper-management and even cause a liability issue for the casino. It is difficult to pinpoint these individuals as a manager. Perhaps monthly training sessions are the answer to weed these employees out.

An important motto in any industry is, “if it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist.” This is especially true in the casino surveillance business. It’s often much quicker for an individual to get into trouble through verbal communication as it can be misread as intent. At least in a formal, written document individuals are protected by fact and not hearsay.

The Advantages of a Written Report

This is the reason reports are communicated through written means and not verbally in which information can easily change as it’s passed from one person to the next. On the other hand, written reports are reviewed, scrutinized and clarified prior to reaching the proper channels. Errors can be caught and explained while missing data can be completed.

Writing isn’t limited to paper, it also includes video surveillance. Within the Surveillance room, written reports are always substantiated with video backup.  All reports utilize raw data (tape) and are forwarded with the reports. Without it written reports are almost worthless.

Writing Suggestions, Improvements and Grievances

With large organizations like casinos, there are many suggestions for improvements as well as grievances. Unfortunately these are rarely put into writing and distributed through the appropriate channels to the proper levels of change. Usually suggestions, improvements and grievances are verbally stated which brings the idea to a screeching halt. This is commonplace in all industries.

In most cases the authority figure informed on these ideas isn’t likely to remember everything that’s stated due to the demands of their day-to-day functions. As a result that verbal communication is lost. It’s of best practice to document any suggestions, ideas for improvement or grievances for these to be heard and implemented.

Exclusions of the Rule

In the Surveillance room there are some reports that must be verbally communicated but are always backed up with a written report. One example occurs when a guest is suspected of cheating, like card counting in Blackjack. A phone call is immediately placed to the Pit Manager with an entry to the daily log.

If the suspicions are true, the Director of Surveillance and Shift Manager will receive a phone call and a detailed written incident report with numbers and times logged will be created to corroborate the claim.

Verbal communications in any situation are open to speculation, subjective interpretations and error which can endanger jobs or create liabilities within the casino. To combat these potential miscommunications, documenting every event and important conversation will benefit you personally, the department and the casino as a whole.