A Little Village man has become the first to face criminal charges for cheating at the new Bally’s Casino in downtown Chicago.
Isaias Garcia-Martinez, 51, is accused of betting a $25 chip on a 200-to-1 side bet at a baccarat table after the cards were dealt and the hand’s outcome was determined. He walked away with a $5,000 payoff before casino security recognized what had transpired, according to an Illinois Gaming Board agent’s report.
Garcia-Martinez allegedly committed the “past post” scam at a baccarat table on the casino’s third floor shortly after midnight on Sunday. Baccarat is a card game in which dealers deal two cards and players wager on which hand they believe will be closest to 9.
A round concluded in a tie when both hands had three 7s. The chances of that happening are approximately 1 in 400.
After the round was over and everyone knew the outcome, Garcia-Martinez cupped a $25 chip in his hand and shrewdly placed it on a side bet that pays 200-to-1 if both hands have triple 7s, authorities claimed.
According to a gaming agent’s report, the casino supervisor requested that a surveillance officer analyze the film of the table’s play to confirm the bet was legitimate. The surveillance operator didn’t see the “past post” until they were drafting out a “verification report” approximately an hour later, according to the agent.
Garcia-Martinez had already passed away by then. Prosecutors claim he walked away from the table after the dealer made his $5,000 payoff. According to the agent, he passed over $5,000 to another man before cashing in his original $25 chip. The second man cashed out Garcia-Martinez’s $5,000 plus an additional $1,200 in chips.
Garcia-Martinez and the other man returned to the baccarat tables around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Surveillance officers informed gaming board agents, who detained Garcia-Martinez, according to his arrest record.
During his initial appearance hearing on Wednesday afternoon, Judge Ankur Srivastava freed him from prison.