Table games · 4 min
Swapped Shoe
A Solaire pit manager and five foreign players were convicted of swapping an eight-deck baccarat shoe for a pre-sequenced deck. The court put the loss at ₱39.7 million.
Baccarat · Shoe swap
On 30 August 2022 a baccarat table at Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque took a shoe that was not the one the house thought it had. Four years later the Regional Trial Court convicted pit manager Reynante Miguel and five foreign players of estafa over that swap. The court named Mongkol Charernwuttwong, Virat Phochareon, Sittisak Sapkasetrin, Hyun Seo Park, and Keith Yue Lung Tam.
Baccarat is dealt from a shoe. Once eight decks are stacked, they come out in a fixed order. If you already know that order, you know when banker wins and when player wins. The house edge only holds if that order stays hidden.
The court said a dummy carrier was brought onto the property that day and hidden in a restroom. Later a legitimate eight-deck carrier was taken from a cabinet at pit 56 and switched. The pre-arranged shoe went onto the table around 16:59. The five players had been betting ₱10,000 to ₱20,000 a hand. After the swap, the bets followed the sequence.
Bloomberry Resorts put the loss at ₱39.747 million. That is the figure the court used for restitution, plus interest. Each defendant was sentenced to between 4 years 2 months and 20 years. The five foreign players had already jumped bail. The court finished the case as reported.
Watch
- A shoe or carrier that leaves the pit, or goes into a restroom.
- A new shoe with no seal on it.
- Bets that jump the moment that shoe hits the table.
- A pit boss who brings the shoe as the same players sit down.