Focus on WGPC: Fraudsters are gaming casino comp systems – better surveillance can help stop it
Summary
A slowdown in Las Vegas tourism has prompted casinos to ramp up free-play offers to attract customers. That incentive structure has drawn organised groups exploiting “persistence state” or “must-hit-by” slot machines by using multiple player accounts (multi-carding) and free play to trigger jackpots. Darrin Hoke, a long-time surveillance expert and WGPC instructor, warns these syndicates are extracting millions from properties and argues casinos must use business intelligence and modern surveillance techniques to detect and stop them.
Hoke highlights how persistence-state slots retain progress across spins, creating exploitable “hot” states. Groups aggregate play across many accounts, then send one member in to cash out a jackpot when it nears its threshold. Because free play lowers the cost to the player, operators can lose substantial sums while the abusive players contribute little to other hotel or F&B revenue. He suggests civil remedies such as RICO-style lawsuits and better use of analytics tools to identify suspicious behaviours (multiple cards in a session, exclusively playing must-hit-by machines, minimal ancillary spend). Hoke will cover these topics at the World Game Protection Conference (WGPC).
Key Points
- Casinos are increasing free-play offers after a Las Vegas visitation dip; fraudsters are exploiting these incentives.
- Organised groups use multi-carding and multiple accounts to combine play and exploit persistence-state (must-hit-by) slot mechanics.
- Persistence-state slots retain progress across spins, making them attractive targets when jackpots near the hit threshold.
- Advantage players can achieve large edges (20–40%), far exceeding traditional counters’ small edges.
- Some groups reportedly net up to $1m a month from a single property, driving major losses for casinos.
- Casinos often fail to leverage existing business intelligence tools to detect fraud; custom analytics and digital alerts can identify patterns.
- Civil litigation (eg. RICO-style suits) is one path for recovery where criminal charges are impractical.
- WGPC (March 3–5) will showcase protection strategies and the tech operators can deploy to fight comp fraud.
Context and relevance
This article matters to casino operators, surveillance teams, regulators and vendors because it ties a practical exploitation method (persistence-state slots + promotional free play) to measurable financial harm. As casinos worldwide lean on aggressive promotions to attract customers, the tactics described become broadly relevant: any property offering repeatable free-play credits and networked player accounts could be vulnerable. The piece underscores a larger trend — legacy slot systems and BI tools are underused for fraud detection — and points to immediate, tech-driven mitigation steps that can be implemented by operators and highlighted at industry events like WGPC.
Why should I read this?
Short version: fraud rings are quietly nicking millions by gaming modern slot mechanics and casino promos. If you work in ops, surveillance, revenue or risk, this is the kind of thing that will hurt your bottom line — fast. The article tells you what the scam looks like, why existing promos make it easy, and the practical fixes (analytics, alerts, legal options) operators can actually use to stop it. Saves you digging through industry chatter — here’s the problem and the playbook to tackle it.