Pinching, Pressing, and Past Posting

Learn about three common cheating maneuvers you should know about as a casino dealer - past posting, pinching, and pressing.

1. Past Posting

Past Posting is when the player makes a bet or alters an established bet after a winner has already been determined in order to receive a higher payout. Past-Posting originates from horse racing where a bugler sounds a "call to the post" just before the race begins. This is also the signal that no more bets can be taken. Any bets made after that time occur after or past "the post". Past posters like to make higher denomination moves during busy times. This allows them to blend in easier and gives the floor staff less time to closely examine questionable wagers.

The cheaters will adjust their betting amount based on the table limit and how much action is normally tolerated by the staff. 1st and 3rd base are the most vulnerable spots on the table. The cheater tries to make it appear as an “honest dealer mistake” because then there’s less of a chance that surveillance is brought into it. If the dealer believes it’s his own mistake, he might fix it without calling over the floor. This is why dealers should never fix their own mistakes, no matter how insignificant they think it is. The dealer must always call over the floorman to fix any mistakes that were made on the table.

Past-post moves are more likely to be detected if Floor Supervisors and dealers follow procedures and check questionable wagers or incidents. On Roulette, Past Posting is one of the most common forms of cheating. People normally try this move after the ball just dropped and when the dealer has tunnel vision while looking at the roulette wheel, or when they have their back turned in order to get the first payout. The Savannah is a good example of this.

2. Pinching

Next is Pinching! Pinching typically occurs after a bet has lost. The player will take money off of their active wager because they know they have a losing hand. The player will remove chips through sleight-of-hand in order to reduce losses.

The player may also pinch high value chips underneath one or more low value chips visible on top, further reducing the payment for lost rounds. The top chip remains unchanged giving the same outward appearance of the bet, and will not be altered if the bet wins. The player will only do this once or twice before moving to another game.

This would be less practical to repeat over and over on the more long-shot bets.

3. Pressing

Pressing is when the player adds money to their active wager because they know they have a winning hand. If the player is using their cards or their hands to cover up or block the view of their active wager, then they might be Pinching or Pressing.

1st and 3rd base are very vulnerable positions and the dealer should pay extra attention to these seats. One way the dealer could protect the game is to case your layout! Take special note of all of the players wagers and committing them to memory, that way when they are completing a take and pay procedure they remember that 3rd base was playing $15 not $1,005.