EXCERPT Steve Forte is a gaming expert and is considered to be the most skilled sleight-of-hand artist in the world. He has worked in, managed, and consulted with casinos worldwide about how to spot cheaters and con artists. Forte came to Las Vegas in the late 1970s and worked as a crap dealer at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino (owned by the Detroit mob). He regularly played poker at the Stardust and witnessed widespread cheating firsthand (controlled by Chicago mobsters), and as a young casino manager worked for notorious gangster Moe Dalitz. Some of the iconic operators he has worked for include Baron Hilton, Jackie Gaughan, Steve Wynn, and Jack Binion. Forte made his knowledge and experience available to the industry in the game protection ‘bible’ Casino Game Protection: A Comprehensive Guide, probably the most important book published on the subject and a must for any casino executive or surveillance/security personnel, and which includes detailed discussions of many different scams, hustles and cheating methods, as well as Poker Protection, which expanded the poker chapter in CGP. He demonstrates his own mastery of some of these astonishing techniques in the Gambling Protection Series of videos. Forte has been retired from the consulting business for over ten years, and is now retired from a playing career that goes back over twenty. He rarely gives interviews, but his expertise is still sought out by gamers, companies, and players. He was a consultant on the classic movies Rounders (1998) and Casino (1995)……