Go behind the scenes and understand how security in a casino works:

Casino insider tells (almost) all about security

It reveals how casinos make and lose money when people try to cheat. For example:

A casino like the Bellagio probably has 2,000 cameras connected to 50 monitors, with just a few people watching live surveillance, Jonas said. But the information is there to be scrutinized when casinos notice players winning unusually large amounts of money.

In one case a dealer — who said his family had been threatened – helped players rake in US$250,000 at a blackjack table when he used a deck of “perfectly ordered cards” that had been handed to him by one of the gamblers, according to Jonas.

“They didn’t detect this as it happened,” Jonas said. “Most of the videos the casinos collect are just used forensically. When the table loses a quarter of a million dollars they go back and replay it nice and slow, see that little piece of video, and it’s time to make some calls.

Also:

Even if you are cheating, and they know you’re cheating, they might leave you alone if you’re not that good at cheating. Take card counting: While counting cards in one’s head is not illegal, a good card-counter in blackjack gains a statistical advantage over the house, and if the casino decides the counter is making too much money, he or she will be escorted off the premises.

But card counters have to be really good: One mistake an hour could swing the advantage back to the house. And casinos don’t mind that. “If you’re not perfect at card counting, you can still lose money,” Jonas said. “They’ll watch you count cards and if you make any mistake they’ll just let you play.”

More on card counting:

The article talks about favorite scams, like palming:

The palm: A player palms a card and trades it with a neighbor to make a better blackjack hand. This trick is decidedly low-tech, but nearly undetectable when done with great skill.

This video shows you how palming works: