Dealers advised to look out for smartwatches with cameras

By Thomas Moore

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Decades before Apple sold watches and before the kids in the ’70s wore Casio calculators on their wrists, comic strip detective Dick Tracy used a precursor of the smartwatch to fight crime.

Today, however, officials at Strip casinos are concerned that smartwatches will be used illegally to cheat at table games. A note in a Harrah’s Las Vegas October employee newsletter reminded casino workers that smartwatches with cameras are forbidden.

“If you see a guest with a watch and it has a camera, please make sure you explain to them in a nice way that we do not allow them,” the note advised. “It’s not that easy to tell if it has a camera, but you can see the lens on the rim of the watch.”

Smartwatch cameras can be hard to see because they often aren’t there. Cameras are not a popular feature in this category of consumer electronics.

Samsung is the specific brand Caesars Entertainment mentioned in a public comment about the issue.

“If we become aware players are wearing one, we will ask them to remove a smartwatch with a built-in camera (Samsung Gear 2) because the camera can be used inappropriately in the context of a table card game,” a Caesars Entertainment spokesperson said.

However, according to a September article on wearables.com, a website dedicated to wearable technology, only three of Samsung’s smartwatches have cameras. And there is no mention of a camera on the Samsung website advertising its soon-to-be-released flagship model, the Gear S3.

Apple watches do not have cameras and neither do any Fitbit models. Lesser known brands like Huawei watches, compatible with Android phones, don’t have cameras and neither do smartwatches made by Pebble, which are compatible with both Apple and Android phones.

Still, it’s easy to imagine how a wrist-mounted cameras could be used to cheat. With a player’s arms resting on the table, a smartwatch camera is at a good angle to potentially take pictures of the dealer’s or other player’s cards.

In addition, a person could take pictures of cards from behind the dealer and transmit them to the watch of someone playing. It would be far less obvious for that player to look at a watch than a smartphone.

And in fact, the Nevada Gaming Control Board says technology has been used in exactly that way.

“Not specific to smartwatches, but small cameras have been used to secretly record or view a shuffle or dealer card information to gain an advantage and or cheat,” said Karl Bennison, chief of the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement Division.

Unlike counting cards or similar kinds of advantage play — the name for a category of techniques some gamblers use to gain an advantage outside of game strategy — there is no debate about using technology to win casino games.

In Nevada, it’s considered cheating and is illegal. According to Nevada Revised Statute 465.075, the “use or possession of device, software or hardware to obtain advantage at playing game (is) prohibited.”

So are smartwatches on the Gaming Control Board’s radar?

“Everything’s on our radar,” Bennison said. “We put out that letter years ago on Google Glass. And like with the Google Glass, we encourage them (casinos) to take their own precautions and monitor the technology and implement their own policies.”

Google Glass was a Google initiative to create pair of futuristic-looking glasses with a built-in camera and a display. The glasses were made but never became a full-fledged consumer hit.

But that was not obvious in the months after Google announced the project. And in the summer of 2013, the Control Board sent casino operators the letter Bennison mentioned, warning them that the glasses could be used to cheat.

“While there is nothing specifically illegal regarding the possession and/or general use of these devices, the potential for inappropriate and/or illegal use in a casino does exist,” the letter said.

“For example, these devices could be used to share card information between players in poker and other table games, which could give those players an unfair advantage or allow them to cheat, in violation of NRS 465.075 and 083.”

While it’s technically possible for smartwatch cameras to be used that way, Bennison hasn’t seen it happen.

“It’s one thing to be worried about the potential and it’s another for it to be implemented and know it’s being used,” he said. “We’re not aware of anything involving smartwatches.”

Other casino operators said much the same thing.

“Formally, we do not have a policy regarding smartwatches,” said Seth Schorr, chairman of Downtown Grand. “We looked when Google Glass came out, and we did identify that as potentially a risk.

“Smartwatches are different. They are much more popular … so maybe a camera would be different thing on a smartwatch. But even then, I don’t know that it would be a challenge. It’s not something we have identified as a problem today.”

A spokesperson for the Wynn said their company was taking a similar approach.

“We do not have a formal policy related to smartwatches,” the spokesperson said. “But we treat them same way as cellphones. If guest was at a table and engaged in texting and surfing the web, they would be asked to step away from table.

“We haven’t had a formal smartwatch policy for employees, either, but they would be treated the same as (if they were using) cellphones.”