Two men were charged with allegedly rigging poker games at two casinos in Southern California to win more than $30,000, according to authorities.
Vaagn Galustyan, 52, and Armin Martirosyan, 53, have been charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, according to a San Diego County District Attorney news release. They were arraigned Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court and face up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15.
“This method of cheating at cards goes back hundreds of years but with modern technology, the practice can be detected and those who would scam local casinos can be brought to justice,” said Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan in the release.
Galustyan and Martirosyan allegedly went to Pala Casino, located at the Pala Indian Reservation northeast of San Diego, and took seats at a poker table, according to the release. The men allegedly were seen on security footage bending the corners of the high-value cards they got, as well as marking other cards to help them decide how to bet in the following hands of the game.
The men played for a few hours and left without cashing in their chips, according to the release. They came back five hours later, dressed differently and partially cashed in their winnings for $19,250.
They went to Harrah’s Casino in Valley Center the following week and allegedly employed the same tactics, winning $13,410, according to the release.
Physically altering playing cards is a breach of casino rules and is also a crime in most jurisdictions, according to the release. Casinos look for card marking and tampering through security footage, deck changes and table inspections.
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