The James Bond Home Game Cheat

When you go on a poker forum and read a post entitled ‘James Bond-style device for cheating in home poker games exposed at ‘Defcon 24’', the bullshit detector starts kicking in. A troll no doubt messing around or a conspiracy theorist worming his way into the wrong (for card fans) part of the internet.

The true story, however, is that it might be wise to check your friends for devices next time they appear at your home-game, because the spy-novel technology appears to be the real thing – and it’s amazing.

Elie Bursztein, lead member of Google's anti-abuse research team, which invents ways to protect users against cyber-criminal activities and internet threats, explains how he managed to track down the elusive device which not only allows you to cheat at poker, but Blackjack and many other games.

Bursztein explains:

"In 2015, I stumbled upon a post in an underground forum, discussing how someone was ripped off at a poker table by a very advanced poker cheating device. From what I understood at that time, the post being in Chinese, the device was able toremotely read card markings to inform the cheater who will win the next hand.”

The amazing piece of kit, however, wasn’t cheap as the fan of magic tricks was to find out.

"The problem with all the sellers I found was that the price was very steep ( $5000!) and there was very little description whatsoever of how the device operates. If I hadn’t been confident the device existed, I would have assumed it was a scam.”

"After a few rounds of negotiation, I was able to acquire the device, some accessories and a few marked decks for roughly $1300 thanks to the help of my Chinese contacts. While still expensive, going straight to the device maker was still way cheaper than the online re-seller and guaranteed that I got the real deal. That is, after I took a leap of faith and sent them the money via Western Union.“

So what is this James Bond card-cheating machine and how does it work?

Expecting a “dedicated piece of hardware that kinda looked like a fake phone,” Burzstein was surprised when the machine was delivered, saying that it “far exceeded my expectations by being a fully functional phone with extra hardware dedicated to cheating. Also to my surprise, the device not only allows to cheat at poker but to cheat at almost any kind of card games you can think of.”

"Using a modified phone as a cheating device offers the key advantage that it is impossible to tell that it is a cheating device unless you know what to look for. It is also a decent smartphone that can make phone calls and run all the apps you love.”

He goes on to describe the interface, explaining:

"The game hall menu lists all the games supported by the device with a basic description of each. In total, there are hundreds of supported games, which supports the hypothesis that high-end cheating devices are used not only for poker but any form of gambling that involves cards.”

For the full technical details it’s probably better to read Bursztein’s fully-detailed analysis, but basically it involves specially marked cards and to read cards remotely.

"The device has a hidden camera embedded on one side. The infrared (IR) filter has been removed so it can perceive IR light. Next to it, there are three concealed IR LEDs that illuminate the deck to make the markings on the cards visible to the camera.”

If you really want to set-up ‘friends’ or victims, the marked decks you are provided with are shipped “with its seal and plastic wrap“ intact… this makes the victims of the scam less suspicious, as the pack can be opened in front of their eyes.

So folks, next time you play a private game and end up losing the shirt off your back, remember that it might not just be the result of your own bad play or bad luck.