Poker Cheat Jailed

Poker Cheat Jailed

Tuesday, 17 March 2015

A man who cheated card rooms throughout the UK has been jailed for 18 months.

Mihai Lacatos pleaded guilty last month to cheating in casinos across the UK and winning almost £44,000 in the process.

The 62-year-old was first spotted by security staff at the Playboy Club in Mayfair, London, and his image was then given to the Met and subsequently distributed to casinos across the country.

The card marker was soon arrested, but after being bailed to return in May he was later picked up trying to leave the country using a fake passport. Following his second arrest, police were able to uncover the technique he used to mark the cards and dupe unsuspecting players out of thousands.

Using sleight of hand, Lacatos would put a slight bend in the cards so he could track them later in the game. On November 20, 2014, the Romanian was finally charged and at the end of February he pleaded guilty to 18 charges of deception and cheating stretching back to 2008.

Lacatos used the scam at venues throughout England from Portsmouth in the south to Sunderland in the north.

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Police.



Tags: Mihai Lacatos, crime, cheating