In July, Charles Oakley was arrested for cheating in Las Vegas. The incident took place at the Cosmopolitan on the Vegas Strip. At the time the Nevada Gaming Control Board told TMZ that Oakley “was suspected of adding to or reducing his wager on a gambling game after the outcome was known.” As it turns out, Oakley was increasing and decreasing his wagers.
Cheating At Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Not Blackjack
Early reports said that this was a case of Oakley cheating while playing blackjack. It turns out that isn’t the case. Charles Oakley cheated multiple time while playing Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em poker. The former NBA player didn’t fight the charges that he was cheating in Las Vegas.
The New York Daily News has a more accurate picture of how Oakley was cheating. The newspaper says that during his “first hand playing Ultimate Texas Hold ’Em, Oakley allegedly pulled back a $100 chip after realizing he was going to lose.” He was also adding chips when to his original wager when he thought he’d win. The Daily News goes on to say “On two other hands during the same sitdown, Oakley secretly added chips and increased his payout by a combined $125.”
Cheating in a casino is dumb and cheating at Ultimate Texas Hold ’Em seems to be even dumber. Blackjack is a relatively simple game for this kind of cheater. There’s only one betting circle for the table to swap chips. Ultimate Texas Hold ’Em can have as many as four bets for each game. This game difficult to swap chips – even if only one chip is added or removed. Oakley was quite brazen trying to cheat so often in this game.
Oakley Pleads No Contest
The whole thing turned out to be more of a headache than a financial burden or jail time for the former NBA All-Star. “Mr. Oakley has pled no contest to the simple misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct which fully resolves this situation,” Oakley’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement. “He appreciates the professionalism of the District Attorney and the Cosmopolitan in resolving this event.”
Charles Oakley was originally charged with a Class B felony. If he was convicted, the felony could have come with a maximum prison sentence of between one and six years and a $10,000 fine. He decided to plead no contest to the charge of disorderly conduct. This crime is only a misdemeanor. Instead of jail time and a fine, Oakley will only pay a $1,000 fine. He was probably risking that much in the casino every 15 minutes.
Don’t Cheat, Count Cards
There’s no reason to cheat when playing blackjack. Just find a good blackjack game and play them perfectly. Cheating is the lazy way to smart gambling. You can reduce the house edge at blackjack to almost zero by playing a good game with perfect basic strategy. You can even swing the edge in your direction by counting cards and smart bet spreading. Remember, counting cards isn’t illegal. It’s just frowned upon.
