Got Scammed by Casino (Bingo Balls)

Casino just outside of Antigua port. (Not Kings casino, which is in port.)



1) Hopper of bingo balls, all of which has a #.
# corresponds to a board. Some #s are worth points, others are blank and there are special #s. (More about that later.)

You pick the ball with a scoop thats big enough for just 1ball.

2) each ball costs $5. If you get 100+ points, you win $50.

3) hostess give you a free $5 bet.
I got a ball worth 50 points.

I figured I'll try more.
Bought 2 tries ($10). Next ball was 25 points. Now 75 points.
Then I got a special ball that doubled the prize but I also had to double my bet.

Now $10 wins$100.

4) so I get 2 more tries. (Running total$30)
10points and 6 points. Now 91.

5) buy another ball. (Total $40)
Got another doubler ball.
Now $200 prize but I have to bet $20.

6) buy 2 more balls. (Total $80)
5 points and another doubler. 96 points, $400 prize but I have to bet $40.

7) so bought 2 more (total $160)
A blank, and 2 points. 98 points.

8) bought 1 more. (total$200)
Doubler. Now$800 but must bet $80.

At this point I begin to think I'm being scammed. :(

Balls are in a Hopper and constantly mixed by air.
But the Hopper doesn't look enclosed. It's on the floor.
Looks like balls could be coming from below the Hopper.

So someone looking via camera could just flood the Hopper with small# balls or blanks.

Paranoia says my next ball will be a 1 then all blanks.
Or possible a doubler ($1600 but bet $160) then all blanks.

I walked away

Quote: 100xOdds

Casino just outside of Antigua port. (Not Kings casino, which is in port.)
Will upload pic later.

1) Hopper of bingo balls, all of which has a #.
# corresponds to a board. Some #s are worth points, others are blank and there are special #s. (More about that later.)

You pick the ball with a scoop thats big enough for just 1ball.

2) each ball costs $5. If you get 100+ points, you win $50.

3) hostess give you a free $5 bet.
I got a ball worth 50 points.

I figured I'll try more.
Bought 2 tries ($10). Next ball was 25 points. Now 75 points.
Then I got a special ball that doubled the prize but I also had to double my bet.

Now $10 wins$100.

4) so I get 2 more tries. (Running total$30)
10points and 6 points. Now 91.

5) buy another ball. (Total $40)
Got another doubler ball.
Now $200 prize but I have to bet $20.

6) buy 2 more balls. (Total $80)
5 points and another doubler. 96 points, $400 prize but I have to bet $40.

7) so bought 2 more (total $160)
A blank, and 2 points. 98 points.

8) bought 1 more. (total$200)
Doubler. Now$800 but must bet $80.

At this point I begin to think I'm being scammed. :(

Balls are in a Hopper and constantly mixed by air.
But the Hopper doesn't look enclosed. It's on the floor.
Looks like balls could be coming from below the Hopper.

So someone looking via camera could just flood the Hopper with small# balls or blanks.

I'm betting my next ball will be a 1 then all blanks.
Or possible a doubler ($1600 but bet $160) then all blanks
I walk away.

That definitely is shady practice. It seems the more you win they up the cost to play. They're probably attempting to lure people into becoming gambling addicts. Good for you for knowing when to walk away.

Simular thread https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/other-games/16737-friend-taken-for-1-5k-in-shady-forced-martingale-ball-game/ .

This is the razzle dazzle scam. It's been around forever. You didn't get a ball worth 50 points or 25 points. The hostess covered one of the numbers on the ball to make you think you got a valuable ball. From that point on they just have to call the balls correctly and you have virtually no chance to win.

I'm not sure this is the Razzle Dazzle scam, at least the kind where your roll several marbles on a board and add up the points, but I don't understand the rules for this bingo game very well.

If anyone can show me a source of the full rules of Razzle Dazzle, please do. I saw the game in Mexico once, but didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was a scam.

Quote: Wizard

I'm not sure this is the Razzle Dazzle scam, at least the kind where your roll several marbles on a board and add up the points, but I don't understand the rules for this bingo game very well.

If anyone can show me a source of the full rules of Razzle Dazzle, please do. I saw the game in Mexico once, but didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was a scam.

The "you have to double your bet on certain numbers" makes this sound like a variation on the Razzle. A "true" Razzle has you roll eight balls into holes numbered 1-6 (you could also roll eight dice, but the balls and holes method makes it much easier for the scammer to miscount), then you look at a chart to see how many "points" you earn. One gimmick is, the numbers are not arranged in any order; needless to say, the farther away from 28 (the mean number) you are, the more points you earn. 28 or 29, on the other hand, says "Add"; this means you have to "add to your bet" (i.e. double it), but in a traditional Razzle, the payoff is 10-1 on your last bet.

The difference between this version and the traditional one is, rather than the score being based on multiple balls, it is based on pulling single balls; presumably, there are far more "doubles" (i.e. rolls of 28/29) than point-scoring numbers (i.e. rolls near 8 or 48).

Unfortunately, the only "written" Razzle rules I can find are in a book - Scarne's Complete Guide to Gambling - and even then, they're told "second hand" rather than being an actual "list of rules."

Picture of a Razzle board:
Notice how each column alternates between two numbers - some are 1/6, some are 2/5, and some are 3/4; this makes it easy for the operator to scam the count by noting that two adjacent numbers add up to 7, then moving a ball from one space to another and counting the pair as 7.



Picture of a points chart (some have 28 as the "Add" number instead of 29):



California specifically outlaws this game - Penal Code, section 334(c):

"Any person who owns or operates any game, at a fair or carnival of a type known as razzle-dazzle is guilty of a misdemeanor.

As used in this subdivision, “razzle-dazzle” means a series of games of skill or chance in which the player pays money or other valuable consideration in return for each opportunity to make successive attempts to obtain points by the use of dice, darts, marbles or other implements, and where such points are accumulated in successive games by the player toward a total number of points, determined by the operator, which is required for the player to win a prize or other valuable consideration."

Thatdontguy,
The game I got scammed looked nothing like your marbles pic, but the points chart is similar.

If a casino in Antigua is allowed to offer that, then I don't trust ANY casinos in Antigua!

TripAdvisor thread from 2016 that mentions the same casino, and the same game.

I just wonder how they forced the 50 and 25-point balls at the start. In "traditional" Razzle, it's easy for the carny to miscount in your favor at first, then miscount against you when you are close to winning.

As i said earlier, you pull a ball with the number 112, they cover the 1 and say "you got a 12. Let's look at the chart. 50 points? Oh you so lucky!"

All I had to do was look at the picture posted and knew you got scammed. Don’t go into buildings that look like that.

Quote: RS

All I had to do was look at the picture posted and knew you got scammed. Don’t go into buildings that look like that.

when i saw the pic i thought it was a joke but i wouldnt enter that place without an escape plan or a gun and a backup knoife

From the looks of the place, how could they
ever pull a scam like that.

TBH, that "Casino," in that pic looks sketchy, like a Front for a Drug Ring, or Prostitution, or something illegal like that! :/