Sup fellow degens, 

We talk a lot about digital grifters here: influencers dumping their bags on you; sandwich attacks; and rug pulls. 

It's a new week, Now You See Me 3 is out in cinemas, and we just have to pay respect to the classics. 

When I say “classics,” I'm talking about old-school foot-on-ground casino cheating. 

A couple from Kazakhstan proved that you don't need smart contracts to pull off a massive heist. Not Julia Roberts' smile or George Clooney’s mischievous looks. You just need some off-the-shelf spyware, guts, and nerves of steel. 

They didn't try to get lucky. They eliminated luck entirely and went with a plan. 

And they almost got away with it. 

A 44-year-old man and his 36-year-old wife were arrested at Sydney’s Crown Casino in Barangaroo after a weeks-long winning streak that raised some serious eyebrows.

Over the course of October and November, the couple mapped out and executed the scheme with an accomplice who wasn't on the casino floor. 

It played out this way: 

The wife wore a tiny hidden camera on a Mickey Mouse T-shirt disguised as a button. She sat at the baccarat table, positioning herself so the camera could see the cards as they were being dealt from the shoe. 

Not a hidden phone. Just some button camera you can buy on Amazon for $49.99 with free shipping. 

While the wife created a live surveillance of the cards, the video was transmitted to an accomplice who was likely in a hotel room in sweatpants watching Netflix. 

This person analyzed the card sequence. In baccarat, knowing the card sequence gives you an unbeatable edge. 

When you know what's coming, it's no longer luck or maths. 

The accomplice then gave instructions to the couple via tiny, deep-seated earpieces that were invisible. 

The instructions were dead simple:

No need for complex strategies. Just pure information advantage. Like Dr. Strange instructing you on what to play. 

The couple placed their bets based on the instructions given by the accomplice. Hand after hand. Night after night. They kept this up for weeks, racking up $1.18 million AUD.

Think about that. They went into a casino, an institution designed to drain you, and they flipped it into an ATM. 

The scheme unravelled when the Casino security noticed the woman behaving oddly and spotted the camera. 

Behaving oddly: she was winning too consistently and someone finally decided to look at her shirt. 

The police were called. They found the earpieces. A search of their hotel room uncovered more gambling ware, cash, and spy gear. 

How long were they pulling this before they were caught? I really can't tell. 

But casinos have billions invested in surveillance tech, AI, and facial recognition softwares. Cameras that are smart enough to read your cards from the other side of the room. 

And this couple beat them with a $50 button cam. 

That's either incompetence on the Casino’s part or they were actually good enough to pull it off for that long. 

Let's analyze this like a crypto trade 

Mistake 1: They Got Greedy 

They hit a whopping $1.18 million. That's life-changing money. That's “retire in Kazakhstan and never work again” money. 

But they kept going. They stayed at the same casino and ran the same play over and over again until someone noticed. 

Trading terms: They didn't take profit. They let a winning position become a liability. 

Mistake 2: They Didn't Diversify Locations. 

They hit the same casino repeatedly. They didn't spread the hit, take little wins, and get cumulative success. They would have arrived at the same figures or even higher.

Trading term: they concentrated all their risk at a single venue. When the venue failed, they didn't have an exit strategy. 

Mistake 3: The Odd Behavior of The Wife 

Reports say that security caught the couple because the wife was behaving oddly. Meaning she was acting suspicious. 

Trading terms: they failed the vibe check. If you're running a scam, you've got to look the part. Blend in and act natural. She didn't. 

Don't try this. 

It may sound tempting, but an orange jumpsuit may also look good on you. 

The problem is that prison is not a great place to be a degenerate from. 

But, this couple should be a lesson. If you're sitting idly and hoping to get lucky, you're doing it wrong. 

Find your edge. 

In crypto, that might be:

Just ensure your edge isn't one that would land you in an Australian jail explaining to your cellmate why you thought a button cam was a good idea. 

The house, at the end, always wins.

TL;DR: A married couple from Kazakhstan, aged 44 (M) and 36 (F), beat a Casino in Australia by scoring $1.18 million AUD over several weeks. The scam involved a $50 button cam, deep-seated earpieces, and an accomplice with a laptop.

Stay degen,

Dima