Thomas Bass, author of The Newtonian Casino (1991), claimed to be able to predict roulette
outcomes in rapid real time. Also in his book, The Eudaemonic Pie, he chronicles the exploits
of a syndicate of computer hackers, called the Eudaemons. Bass claims that in the 1970s the
Eudaemons used computers in their shoes to make roulette predictions. The team used a
camera and an oscilloscope to track the motion. The computer they used to make the
calculation was small enough to fit in a shoe and they used a two team system of an
observer and a bettor. The observer input the information by tapping a micro-switch attached
to their big toe. Then an electronic signal was relayed to a vibrotactile output system hidden
behind the shirt, strapped to the chest, which had three solenoid actuators near the stomach
which would indicate by vibrating either which of the eight octants of the roulette to place a
bet on, or a ninth possibility: to not place a bet. It is claimed they had a 44% edge on the
casino!
In 2004, it was reported that a group in London had used mobile cameraphones to predict
the path of the ball.
"It had transpired that the three gamblers had smuggled into the casino a laser
scanner linked to a microcomputer in a mobile phone. As a croupier released the ball
onto the roulette wheel, the scanner noted where it had dropped and measured the
declining speed of the wheel. All these factors were beamed to the microcomputer,
which calculated the section of six numbers upon which the ball would finally settle, and
then flashed the information onto the mobile phone before the third spin of the wheel,
thus enabling the bets to be placed. The odds of winning were so reduced from 36-1
to 5-1."(^1)
In December 2004 court adjudged that they didn't cheat because their special laser
cameraphone and microchip weren't influencing the ball - they kept all of their £1.3m in
winnings.(^2)
References
(1) Atherton, Mike (2006), Gambling. London: Hodder & Stoughton
(2)The Guardian: did gang really use a laser, phone and a computer to take the Ritz for £1.3
m?
