Among advantage and professional gamblers, few persons or companies are more vilified that Griffin Investigations. Simply, they are the bad guys. Griffin Investigations makes the lives of advantage gamblers miserable. Some facts about Griffin, nonetheless, may prove surprising.
It is a “mom & pop” organization. Its payroll totals, maybe, six. As of the close of 2005, they were Beverly Griffin, two full-time investigators, and clerical staff. That’s it. All the terror and terrorizing felt by advantage gamblers having their information disseminated throughout the world stems from these six people. So how can they do that?
Griffin publishes the Griffin Book, a compilation of known and suspected cheaters, card counters, shuffle trackers, team players and others that Nevada gaming licensees find undesirable. It is subscribed to by gaming licensees.
First, Griffin’s subscribers work with them. The subscribers are the casinos. They will forward the photos taken of players as they are held in the security offices. This is why it is worthwhile to prevent a photo if possible.
Second, Griffin apparently fails to undertake much in the way of double checking its sources. One of their investigators recently admitted that information in his file came from a person at one casino forwarding on a security alert to a friend at another casino who passed it on to a source who then forwarded it to Griffin. The person had been trespassed from a downtown casino. He was a hole-carder. By the time the information reached Griffin, or possibly at Griffin, accusations had been added that labeled the person a card bender, a cheater and a trespasser. Without ever having been arrested, and certainly never convicted, of cheating, this gambler then found himself published by Griffin as a cheater and a card bender. Curiously, the Griffin investigator that cataloged the event states that he came to the conclusion that the incident involved “hole-carding” rather than “card-bending.” Still, the subject was published in Griffin as a “card-bender,” a felony far removed from the legal activity of hole-carding.
Further review of information published by Griffin finds that it is replete with false statements. “Conspiracy” is a crime. Hole-carders are published as having committed “conspiracy” even though no crime is present. An Asian advantage gambler gets tagged as a member of the MIT team; he is not and never was. Machine players fall into 21-team designations. Card counters playing a $5 to $50 spread are mistaken for experienced hole-carders. And once Griffin labels a player, the ascription appears to become permanent.
Then there is the case of the serial associates. Griffin not only lists persons, but regularly provides a list of associates. You cannot control this. It is a chain list. When someone you associate with is seen associating with someone else, then the someone else may become your associate in Griffin’s annals as well. It is not even necessary that you play to make the book. Innocent people sitting at a team table totally unaware of what is occurring find themselves associates of the team.
So where does all this errant information originate? Per a Griffin investigator, the information is forwarded by “sources in good faith.” Per Robert Griffin, the information is forwarded by some of the most reliable people in the world. The sources are identified as casino security and casino surveillance. When pressed for the indicia of “good faith,” the investigator has no knowledge except to allude that there is no reason for falsification. He then balks at the idea that a gaming licensee may have any agenda concerning advantage gamblers, and any reason to lie or exaggerate.
Part 1
It is a “mom & pop” organization. Its payroll totals, maybe, six. As of the close of 2005, they were Beverly Griffin, two full-time investigators, and clerical staff. That’s it. All the terror and terrorizing felt by advantage gamblers having their information disseminated throughout the world stems from these six people. So how can they do that?
Griffin publishes the Griffin Book, a compilation of known and suspected cheaters, card counters, shuffle trackers, team players and others that Nevada gaming licensees find undesirable. It is subscribed to by gaming licensees.
First, Griffin’s subscribers work with them. The subscribers are the casinos. They will forward the photos taken of players as they are held in the security offices. This is why it is worthwhile to prevent a photo if possible.
Second, Griffin apparently fails to undertake much in the way of double checking its sources. One of their investigators recently admitted that information in his file came from a person at one casino forwarding on a security alert to a friend at another casino who passed it on to a source who then forwarded it to Griffin. The person had been trespassed from a downtown casino. He was a hole-carder. By the time the information reached Griffin, or possibly at Griffin, accusations had been added that labeled the person a card bender, a cheater and a trespasser. Without ever having been arrested, and certainly never convicted, of cheating, this gambler then found himself published by Griffin as a cheater and a card bender. Curiously, the Griffin investigator that cataloged the event states that he came to the conclusion that the incident involved “hole-carding” rather than “card-bending.” Still, the subject was published in Griffin as a “card-bender,” a felony far removed from the legal activity of hole-carding.
Further review of information published by Griffin finds that it is replete with false statements. “Conspiracy” is a crime. Hole-carders are published as having committed “conspiracy” even though no crime is present. An Asian advantage gambler gets tagged as a member of the MIT team; he is not and never was. Machine players fall into 21-team designations. Card counters playing a $5 to $50 spread are mistaken for experienced hole-carders. And once Griffin labels a player, the ascription appears to become permanent.
Then there is the case of the serial associates. Griffin not only lists persons, but regularly provides a list of associates. You cannot control this. It is a chain list. When someone you associate with is seen associating with someone else, then the someone else may become your associate in Griffin’s annals as well. It is not even necessary that you play to make the book. Innocent people sitting at a team table totally unaware of what is occurring find themselves associates of the team.
So where does all this errant information originate? Per a Griffin investigator, the information is forwarded by “sources in good faith.” Per Robert Griffin, the information is forwarded by some of the most reliable people in the world. The sources are identified as casino security and casino surveillance. When pressed for the indicia of “good faith,” the investigator has no knowledge except to allude that there is no reason for falsification. He then balks at the idea that a gaming licensee may have any agenda concerning advantage gamblers, and any reason to lie or exaggerate.
Part 1
