Casino Gambling Regulators Ban Card Counting Phones
Many of the applications for Apple's iPhones are amazing, and at least one has the casino and gaming industry taking notice. Regulators from the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued an alert to casinos warning against an illegal card-counting program available on both iPhones and iPod Touch.Blackjack players may protest that counting cards is not against the law, although it is generally against casino rules. However, while counting in your head remains legal, using a device to count cards is very much illegal in Nevada.
The law states that "using a device to help in projecting the outcome of the game, keeping track of the cards played, analyzing the probability of the occurrence of an event relating to the game, or analyzing the strategy for playing or betting to be used in the game" is a felony. And, for Kentucky politicians who are clearly confused, an iPhone IS a device.
Officials at a tribal casino became aware of the application and alerted the industry to its existence. While card counting may result in a player's being asked to leave, using a phone to count may result in arrest and prison.
The program is clearly designed to be used secretively, as it works in a mode where information can be entered without the screen display, and responds when the deck is full by vibrating rather than ringing.
Card counting became the rage after the success of the blackjack movie "21." Casinos were actually thrilled by the prospects of inebriated tourists clumsily trying to time bets based on counting. But the use of machinery to do so is a no-no, and will cause security to come running.
