Rating: 
Summary: Vicarious Thrills
Review: After seeing the author featured on Entertainment Tonight, and reading Howard Schwartz's review on CasinoCityTimes.com, I picked up this fascinating memoir. I found it pleasingly reminiscent of Catch Me If You Can, another highly recommended title in which a con man through ingenuity and boldness exploits various cracks in a system for profit and excitement.
While Richard Marcus's "moves" are certainly clever, especially in the latter stages when he turns surveillance cameras to his advantage (a method briefly showcased on Entertainment Tonight), that they require chutzpa more than MIT intellect makes this adventure comprehensible and plausible vicarious fodder for a non math genius.
In the end, what really made this book a worthy read are the adventure of close calls with casino personnel, and the cheaters' need to continuously update and modify their cheating methods and locales.
For those like me who have no desire to personally experience being chased down the Vegas Strip or jump off a riverboat casino, in order to elude casino "steam" yet still hold a fleeting desire for a glimpse of such adventure, I recommend Richard Marcus's story.
Rating:
Summary: They Got Away With It
Review: As a big fan of caper movies and con stories (Ocean's 11, The Thomas Crown Affair, Catch Me if You Can), I can enthusiastically recommend American Roulette.Richard Marcus (most likely not his real name, in fact, the name is the same as that of the actor in a TV series called The Pretender) tells of his successful career as a casino cheat. He started as a garden-variety gambler, lost all his money, found himself homeless in Las Vegas, and became a blackjack dealer. Marcus was recruited by a well-to-do casino rip-off gang and rose to the top over the years. He tells great stories about which casinos the gang hit, how they engineered the con, the trouble they ran into, and how they were nearly caught several times. The gang even made their way to casinos in Europe and Australia, although their base was in Las Vegas. The opening of casinos in Atlantic City and across the U.S. made for some easy pickings as well. American Roulette is not an instructional manual on how to scam the casinos. In fact, as Marcus points out, even if you were to learn the mechanics and technicalities of the scam, there is something more basic to the success of the con game and that is being cool under pressure. These characters are glaciers. American Roulette is a terrific read, and would make a fantastic movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Compelling Reading --- A Great Book!
Review: First of all, I must confess that I know next to nothing about gambling. I don't know the rules of any card games, and the intricacies of games such as roulette and keno are lost upon me. My experience in casinos is limited to dropping a quarter into a slot machine and pulling a lever, and that is just for grins and giggles. Accordingly, AMERICAN ROULETTE qualifies for me as a great book, given that it deals with a topic that I know very little about and makes it the subject of fascinating and compelling reading. AMERICAN ROULETTE is about gambling, but it is more about cheating at gambling, or more specifically, systematically cheating at casino gambling. Author Richard Marcus made a very nice living for decades by cheating casinos. He is unapologetic about it; in fact, he is quite proud of the methods he used. His justification appears to be that casinos cheat their customers, so he is merely getting his own back. This is arguably a self-serving view. Anyone entering a casino has at least a rudimentary idea of whose side the laws of chance reside; one either chooses to gamble or not. Philosophical considerations aside, however, AMERICAN ROULETTE remains a fascinating study in the hows and wherefores of casino cheating, as well as casino security. Casinos, understandably, are not in the business of losing money. While the individual scores that cheaters like Marcus might inflict may individually be relatively small, taken in the aggregate they could constitute death by a thousand cuts. Casinos accordingly are quite interested in stanching the flow and are constantly playing Tom to Marcus's larcenous Jerry. Marcus describes in AMERICAN ROULETTE how he first became involved in casino cheating. He actually started off as a casino dealer. One night he received an interesting proposition from a man named Joe Classon. Classon offered Marcus a spot on his "team." The entire purpose of Classon's team was to cheat casinos out of money. It quickly becomes evident from reading AMERICAN ROULETTE that great casino heists are not carried out individually. A well-disciplined, well-oiled team is an absolute must for any chance of success. Classon, from this account, had one of the best. He became teacher, leader, mentor and father figure to Marcus, instructing him in the methods of casino cheating and encouraging him to devise methods of his own. Marcus for the most part does an incredible job of explaining the methodology of both the games and the methods of cheating that he utilized to beat the casinos. Notwithstanding my unfamiliarity with such games as blackjack and roulette, there was only a time or two during AMERICAN ROULETTE when I felt lost at sea. After Classon retired, however, Marcus began leading his own team and utilized his potential as a casino thief to the fullest. Marcus is quite straightforward in explaining his techniques. However, though he does so in a step-by-step-manner, this is not a "how-to" book. If anything, one who would seek to follow in Marcus's footsteps would be dissuaded by AMERICAN ROULETTE. It is obvious from reading the book that a casino thief requires a combination of skills --- coordination, nerve, sleight of hand and patience --- that is rarely found in combination in one individual. Additionally, a successful casino thief needs at least one assistant that can be totally trusted. And then, of course, there are the casinos, which understandably frown on cheating. While the days of cheaters being dry-gulched are reportedly over (and I'm not entirely convinced of that) the legal penalties are quite severe. Penalties can only be imposed, however, if one is caught; and even then, as Marcus demonstrates in AMERICAN ROULETTE, they can be avoided. Marcus waited until retirement to write his "tell-all" book, which serves as an interesting counterpoint to the investigative television shows one stumbles across randomly on cable television that concern casino security. While technological advances have made things more difficult for the Richard Marcuses of the gambling world, they have not made it impossible. And while Marcus is hardly a role model, his account is an interesting and often suspenseful glimpse into a world of which relatively few are aware. Recommended. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:
Summary: The BEST Casino Cheating Book Ever!
Review: I thought that I knew everything about casino cheating. Boy was I wrong.
This book really informed and enlightened me. It's nice to see the casinos lose for a while. Next time I go to Las Vegas I'm not going to forget to pack this must read.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Read
Review: I've always found the stories of crews scoring big in casinos fascinating, and so picked this book up when I saw it. This isn't a do-it-yourself book, but rather a memoir of a long time casino cheater. A recount of his 25 or so years cheating casinos. The action is interesting and I often found myself getting nervous for them as he recounted his crews escapades. While illegal, casino cheating seems like robbing already stolen money and thus is more palatable. I was turned off when the guys would occasionally rob casino patrons when the opportunity arose. The author uses the "F" word repeatedly throughout, so if that bothers you you may want to reconsider. All in all I really enjoyed the book.
Rating:
Summary: American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down---My Wi
Review: It's a shame that Hollywood's Rat Pack is no more, because Marcus's account of his career cheating casinos (he is now retired-and not in a jail cell) would be the perfect vehicle for Old Blue Eyes, Dino, and the gang. It features high rollers, exotic locales, beautiful women, a detective obsessed with busting the protagonist, and tension in every move. At times, nongamblers will get lost in the details of the games and scams, and some readers may find it ironic when Marcus speaks of pep talks and team spirit or makes statements such as "I felt a great pleasure to be working with people who weren't dominated by greed." And while he sells himself as Robin Hood stealing from the rich casinos that make money robbing gamblers, this image is less convincing when he talks of lifting chips from drunks or other inattentive players. Despite these drawbacks, the book is an engaging and, in the end, a likable book. Recommended for most public libraries, especially those near casinos
Rating:
Summary: You'll never view casinos the same again...
Review: Not all my recreational reading is fiction... :-) I recently finished American Roulette by Richard Marcus. This book tells the story of Marcus and his 25 year career of cheating casinos all over the world. While a little repetitive at times, it's a fascinating look into a world that many of us know nothing about. Marcus started out as a dealer in Las Vegas after losing a bundle and ending up sleeping under a bridge. His personality attracts the attention of a team of casino cheats who enlist him into their group. He learns the art of "pastposting", which is learning how to switch chips after the outcome of a game is known. This can involve either adding more chips to a winning bid or removing high-value chips after a loss. This pastposting routine is used successfully at roulette, craps and blackjack, and Marcus starts to travel the world. His team quickly becomes known world-wide by casino management, but they are unsuccessful at catching and stopping the team. He "retired" a couple years ago, never having been caught and convicted during his 25 year career. The story is an interesting look at the mentality of casino and cheats, as well as the psychology involved in pulling off successful scams. It's also interesting to see how the team progresses from $100 moves to $10000 moves over the years. I'm a little surprised that he would be as detailed as he is, as it seems like law enforcement could use this as a "confession" of sorts to prosecute him after the fact. Regardless, it's a good read that will make you view casinos in a new light.
Rating:
Summary: TRUE OR NOT- EXTREMELY READABLE !
Review: Reading Marcus's 25-years-exploits in casinos around the world,the history of cheating in a specific form,using no gadgets or instruments,plus a tour du monde of other cheating operations,you will often wonder whether this can be,and is,all true.
There is a lot of Vegas and Caribbean history thrown in,a look back at New York in the fifties,but the flow of the narrative is admirable.
Marcus succeeds in bringing his characters to ring true in the ears
of his readers,you gnaw your knuckles with his motley crew of pro-casino-cheaters as they face predictably negative reactions from the house,you live with them on the road-Marcus knows how to tell a yarn.
As I hope you don't plan to implement those tricks (they're fun,yes,and deserved by the victims,probably,but like tax embezzling highly illegal !! ),the question of fact or fiction fades to the background- this IS extremely well done and entertaining reading stuff !
I can really recommend it with 5 stars,it does not pretend to be a literary classic,and in entertainment,or infotainment,it deserves class A rating.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Really, while "Richard Marcus" seems to be a very good story teller, in my opinion, this book is total b.s. The moves he talks about are incredible, and there are so many amazing coincidences throughout it, that it seems impossible that all of this happened the way he wrote it. I do have to say that I never gambled in the 70s, so, obviously many things have changed, but I find it hard to believe that his group continuously got away with the same scams over and over, and for the most part the gambling industry was none the wiser. If you want a good book on gambling, buy "Bringing Down the House," by Ben Mezrich. Now THAT's a good read!
Rating:
Summary: Very highly recommended
Review: This book is by far the best I have ever read. While reading the story of one mans unbelievable journey, you can hardly believe that it is true. It is so well written that it keeps you going, you don't want to put it down. Even if you don't understand the casino games that make this man one of the best, that's ok because they are all very well explained from payouts to procedure. You'll never look at gambling the same again!
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