Cheating Vegas: The casino chip forgers who scammed Las Vegas for millions
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Cheating Vegas is a revealing look at a world that’s hidden from most of us—showing behind the closed doors of Las Vegas casino security.
Featuring hidden-camera videos, and live reenactments, it has interviews with the top gaming investigators in the business.
This documentary takes you inside some of the most daring and elaborate scams in gaming history. Watch this fascinating insider video reveal all.
The story starts in Las Vegas, a place known for dreams and illusions, a stark reality lurks where a constant struggle between law enforcement and cheaters unfolds.
Cat and mouse
It's a daily game of cat and mouse where, most of the time, the good guys prevail. However, some cheaters are so skilled that they manage to outwit the system, walking away with millions.
These are their stories, told by those who dared to challenge Vegas and earned themselves a spot in the cheater’s Hall of Fame.
Las Vegas casinos operate with colored chips, which are essentially cash within their walls. These chips are produced by only a few companies, and the processes are highly confidential.
Counterfeiters begin
When two cunning individuals successfully counterfeited these chips, they earned notoriety and a place in the cheater Hall of Fame.
In Henderson, Nevada, just a short distance from Las Vegas, the Gaming Control Board unearthed a garage-based counterfeiting operation. It was unprecedented in the country.
The agents discovered an operation where chips were being altered from lower to higher denominations. A $1 chip, with some paint and glitter, could be transformed into a $100 chip, yielding a huge profit margin.
Brain workers
The brains behind this scheme were two former construction workers, 40-year-old Eric Morikawa and 20-year-old Jeremy Lewis.
Morikawa, in an exclusive interview, detailed how they developed chips that fooled even the experts.
The late 1990s construction boom in Vegas brought Morikawa to the city.
He eventually hired Lewis, despite his checkered past with drug and forgery warrants.
Trial and error
The 2004 economic downturn hit their construction business hard, leading Morikawa and his team to consider counterfeiting. They initially attempted to create chips from scratch but found success in modifying existing ones.
After some trial and error, they perfected the process of creating counterfeit $100 chips, even replicating the unique colors and security features like the glowing top hat and cane under UV light.
Their meticulous attention to detail and relentless pursuit of a profitable counterfeit chip demonstrates the lengths some will go to beat the system.
This tale, set against the vibrant backdrop of Las Vegas, underscores the perpetual battle between casino security and those trying to outsmart it.
Watch to find out more.
