BERNARD JOSEPH (BARNEY) CURLEY
A so-called coup rather than a scam (as there was nothing illegal about it), this deserves a mention for its sheer inventiveness. Bernard Joseph (Barney) Curley, an Irish professional gambler, philanthropist and former trainer, pulled off one of the most celebrated betting coups in the history of horse racing on June 25, 1975 at Bellewstown, an obscure racecourse in Co. Meath in the Irish Republic. Curley enlisted the help of 100 punters to put small bets on a chestnut gelding called Yellow Sam.
Curley instructed the horse’s trainer to train Yellow Sam specifically for the somewhat obscure annual National Hunt race at Bellewstown, featuring mostly amateur jockeys. To ensure that the horse would run at least once with a much lighter handicap than would normally be the case, Curley first put the horse against superior horses, running at distances to which he was unsuited, so he would be considered a no- hoper. However, Curley knew that the horse was capable of winning a moderate race on firm ground with a good jockey and poor opposition.
Bellewstown had been chosen for one important reason: there was only one public telephone at the track available to communicate to the course bookies who determined the starting prices for the participants. A close friend of Barney's, Benny O'Hanlon, was told, to get on that telephone at 2.30pm and keep it busy until just after the race had begun. Pretending he was talking to his dying aunt he managed to hog the phone while off-course bookies, desperately trying to lay off their liabilities, struggled in vain to contact their counterparts on the course. But it was already too late.
In all, Curley invested just over £15,000, his entire life savings, in the gamble. Yellow Sam won the 13-hurdle race by two and a half lengths and Curley collected his winnings: a sum that would today amount to almost two million pounds. Since nothing about the coup had been illegal, the bookmakers were forced to pay out the full amount, which they did by awarding out the winnings in single notes, filling 108 bags.
MONIQUE LAURENT
Also the subject of a film “Les Tricheurs” (“The Cheaters” 1984) Monique Laurent and her two associates, her brother a croupier in the Deauville Casino in France, and her husband, were able to cheat the casino out of US$1m in less than a week. In 1973, Monique’s brother began to switch the casino’s roulette ball with his own with a radio receiver inside it. Monique Laurent carried the home made transmitter in a pack of cigarettes and, standing at another table, would press the button after receiving a signal from her brother.
Laurent’s husband was responsible for placing the bet on all six possible numbers that the roulette ball could land on. The signal would make the ball slowly stop spinning with an accuracy of 90 per cent, after which it would fall in to a group of six numbers.
However, the casino owner, who had apparently taken an interest in the striking looking Laurent, noticed that she was always alone and made very low wagers while the person who was playing at the nearby table was wagering and winning large amounts.
A debugging team was called in. Later, accompanied by the Deauville Police Chief, the owner of the casino approached Monique and asked for a cigarette. When she couldn’t produce one, the packet was confiscated and the transmitter was found. The cheaters agreed to return their winnings and, incredibly, none of them were prosecuted.
RITZ CASINO STING
A group of gamblers who won over one million pounds at the Ritz Casino in London, by using laser technology, were told by police they could keep their winnings in 2012.
A Hungarian woman and two Serbian men used computerised scanners and software to pull off the alleged sting.
The laser scanner linked to a computer was used to gauge numbers likely to come up on the roulette wheel by judging the speed of the ball on the roulette wheel and hence the number most likely to come up.
On the first night the trio won £100,000 and on the second took home another £1.2m.
The equipment allowed them to do the calculations quickly enough to place their bets as required before the roulette wheel had rotated three times. After declining offers of free caviar and champagne, the trio departed soon afterwards.
The three were questioned and released on bail and were later told that they were free to leave the country. Police sources said that there was no proof they had “technically" interfered with the equipment.
In all, Curley invested just over £15,000, his entire savings, in the
gamble. Yellow Sam won the 13-hurdle race by two and a half lengths and Curley collected his winnings: a sum that would today amount to almost two million pounds. Since nothing about the coup had been illegal, the bookmakers were forced to pay out the full amount which they did by awarding the winnings in single notes, filling 108 bags.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P59
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