Blackjack cheaters
Poker cheating

Poker cheaters use infra-red contact lenses and marked cards

If it was a film, you’d think it was too cheesy and move on, but in real life, a man going by the code name Parmesan has been jailed for cheating in Cannes poker games. That’s before you get to the best thing about it though: this man hadn’t figured out a new card counting system, he was using infrared contact lenses and marked cards.

Parmesan (real name Stefano Ampollini) first won EUR 70,000 at Les Princes casino in Cannes, with the aid of an accomplice called “The Israeli” and two corrupt staff members. After folding with two winning hands, his activities were questioned: perhaps he knew the croupier’s hands. Not a very smart strategy, that.

It wasn’t until he came back and won EUR 21,000 on his own that he was arrested, though. Considering the high tech method, that’s a pretty shabby haul, to be honest. You’d expect a real card shark to know that the casino should always win at least one hand, even if you are cheating.

Of course, it never would have happened if he’d been playing at a mobile casino, but then what use would his EUR 2,000 Chinese infrared contact lenses be.

Of course, Ampollini, along with Gianfranco Tirrito (presumably “The Israeli”) were given EUR 100,000 fines and sentenced to two years in prison, while a third man, Rocco Grassanno, was given a EUR 50,000 fine and sentenced to 30 months behind bars. It just shows: cheating really doesn’t pay.