The Cromwell Mint Casino, a popular poker spot in London’s fashionable South Kensington, was recently hit with scandal as one of its dealers was discovered to have stolen thousands of pounds worth of chips by concealing them in his socks. The elaborate con was carried out by the casino croupier over a period of several months – the exact amount stolen was not confirmed by Cromwell Mint but police are alleged to have found over £12,000 cash in the man’s apartment.

The Cromwell Mint casino, owned by the Genting group, is one of London’s premier gambling institutions. Genting, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year, is one of the UK’s oldest casino operators and run an annual poker tour throughout its forty casinos up and down the country.

The dealer was uncovered by the casino dropping the chips into a false pocket in his trousers, whereby they’d fall through a tube connecting his pockets to his socks. He then gave the chips to his female accomplice during his cigarette break who would then transfer them to a third person to cash in several days later at the casino.  Cromwell Mint began monitoring the dealer’s suspect behaviour and discovered the scam. They confronted the croupier about the theft and alerted the police, who investigated the matter and cautioned the suspect but did not arrest him. The sum of money stolen belonged to the Cromwell casino and not to poker playing customers. The dealer had been earning £30,000 a year salary plus tips but has been fired immediately by Cromwell Mint as a result of the theft.

The source from thew Cromwell Mint casino commented on the incident, saying: ‘He was sacked on the spot, but was extremely lucky to get away without being charged.’ This type of occurrence is rare in casinos, due to the thorough surveillance across the casino floor by cameras and vigilant security staff. It is quite unusual for dealers to attempt to steal chips from the table.

The last similar case in Britain was around six years ago, when a croupier was discovered hiding chips (also in his socks) whilst working at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in Central London. The man as eventually caught and charged with theft, being jailed for fifteen months.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2016 at 6:23 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.