how John Victor Aspinall cheated the wealthy
Cheater Made Millions with His Own Casino
There is money to be made or won; there is always a chance of theft or manipulation (cheating).
In 2021, this was counteracted by all kinds of technological tours de force to exclude as much as possible, whereas it was a lot easier to cheat in the past.
A well-known cheater is John Victor Aspinall, who managed to cheat his customers out of a lot of money. Read more about this cheater in this casino news item.
Casino Owner
Aspinall studied at Oxford University, and there he discovered he was good at poker. This resulted in him earning money, which led him to realize that he could become wealthy with games of chance.
However, the problem at the time was that the British government banned gambling, so Aspinall had to find another route to make money from gambling. He discovered that route because British law prohibited gambling at fixed addresses.
This can be interpreted broadly, and Aspinall saw this as a loophole in the law and offered opportunities to gamble at varying addresses. In doing so, he managed to circumvent the legal ban relatively straightforwardly, but that is not the only thing he avoided.
It Used to be No Gambling for the Elite
At the time, gambling was seen as a bad thing, mainly for ordinary people. The elite ‘didn’t’ care about it, but that group of people owned big money.
Aspinall focused on this group of people and with success. The wealthier people were more than willing to play roulette, baccarat, and other gambling games, so Aspinall’s illegal casino snowballed and attracted more affluent people.
A masterstroke since there is much more to be earned there. Indeed, if things are manipulated, which Aspinall made a fortune.
At one point, the police raided one of the illegal gambling evenings and found a very decent crowd there. This also opened the eyes of the government, and so, by 1960, gambling was legalized in the UK through the Gaming Act.
Theft from His Customers
Aspinall saw his chance with the legalization of gambling and founded the Clermont Club, which still exists. But both before and after, Aspinall played a game, swindling his customers out of millions.
He did this together with criminals he hired to cheat against other players, intending to make more money from the rich British players.
The scam went on for a long time and was confirmed by his financial director John Burke and criminal John McKew.
This included cheating with playing cards, and all of this is covered in a fascinating documentary that looks back at Aspinall’s activities, among others.