Casino Poker Cheat Found Guilty Of Illegal Card Swapping

Aspers Casino in Swansea was the scene of a cheating scam after a gang of men attempted to gain an edge over the casino by swapping their cards underneath the table at a game of three card poker.
The incident involving four men took place last year in Wales with the whole of the crime being caught on the casino’s CCTV. One of the men is already serving four weeks behind bars while two of the other gang members are still yet to be tracked down.
In the meantime, Ozgur Aytekin (34) of Southbury Road, Enfield, Middlesex was spared a jail sentence after handing himself in on January 28th. Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard how last August the four men travelled from London to Swansea claiming to be tourists. The men then headed to the casino where, as prosecutor Patricia Ashford explains:
“The defendant was sitting at the poker table playing three-card poker.The male who’s been dealt with, was sitting next to him and standing behind them was a third man who observed the game and also acted as a look out. A fourth man was also part of the team.”
“The defendant and the man next to him were seen to regularly have discussions and were seen to show each other their cards while the man at the other end of the table distracted the dealer.”
The two men playing would then swap cards under the table, giving Ozgur Aytekin the winning hand, who would then pass some of his winning chips to the man behind him.
Despite defrauding the casino out of £75 with an additional £425 being confiscated at a cash table, Aytekin managed to escape a jail sentence after his defense barrister highlighted the fact the kebab shop worker had no previous convictions, was the sole bread winner for his family and that he “derived little to no benefit, financial or otherwise in the commission of this offence.”
Ozgur Aytekin, who moved to the UK from Turkey a decade ago, was instead given a four week suspended prison sentence and ordered to undertake 100 community service, as well as paying £85 costs and a £21 compensation.