"Vaagn Galustyan, 52, and Armin Martirosyan, 53, have been charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, according to a San Diego County District Attorney news release. They were arraigned Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court and face up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15."
""This method of cheating at cards goes back hundreds of years but with modern technology, the practice can be detected and those who would scam local casinos can be brought to justice," said Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan in the release. Galustyan and Martirosyan allegedly went to Pala Casino, located at the Pala Indian Reservation northeast of San Diego, and took seats at a poker table, according to the release."
"The men played for a few hours and left without cashing in their chips, according to the release. They came back five hours later, dressed differently and partially cashed in their winnings for $19,250. They went to Harrah's Casino in Valley Center the following week and allegedly employed the same tactics, winning $13,410, according to the release. Physically altering playing cards is a breach of casino rules and is also a crime in most jurisdictions, according to the release."
Vaagn Galustyan, 52, and Armin Martirosyan, 53, were charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime and arraigned in San Diego Superior Court. They face up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 15. The men allegedly bent corners and marked high-value playing cards at Pala Casino and later at Harrah's Casino to influence poker betting. They partially cashed in alleged winnings of $19,250 at Pala and won $13,410 at Harrah's, totaling more than $30,000. Casinos detect card tampering through security footage, deck changes, and table inspections.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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